CHAPTER 11

Reagan

 

The book in front of me slammed closed on my hand.

“What the hell?” I snapped, yanking my hand back.

Madison stared at me across the table, drumming her fingers. When I glanced around at the rest of our team, I noticed that all eyes were on me. Oddly enough I had a feeling it had nothing to do with my outburst.

“Maybe if you were paying attention, I wouldn’t have to cause you pain.”

I flipped the book open, searching for my page with specific code I needed. “I am paying attention.”

“Oh, so you heard me call your name five times before I slammed your book closed?” She lifted a brow, daring me to say I heard her.

Honestly, I didn’t. A few weeks ago, I promised myself I wouldn’t let whatever Sawyer was keeping under wraps bother me, except since then I found that was all I could think about. It had pissed me off the first night when he refused to tell me whatever it was that destroyed our friendship. His promise that it hadn’t been anything I did had gone a long way in pushing back the feelings of anger and frustration. Then at dinner the next night, I realized how much his friends didn’t know about his life before college and the questions ran through my head over and over again like a bad movie reel.

The weird part was our friendship had gone back to the way it was before. Over the last few weeks, we’d hung out like the last seven years hadn’t happened. A bar, his concerts, the movies, didn’t matter what we did. The same laughs and fun filled every night.

Almost.

I still noticed Sawyer keeping pieces to himself. Like he’d built walls around each part of his life, only letting certain people see certain things. He was hiding too much of himself from people and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why. So yeah, I’d zoned out when we should have been working.

“Fine, I wasn’t paying attention.”

Madison leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “What’s gotten into you? Ever since you went to that concert a few weeks ago, things haven’t been the same.”

“It was just a concert. I’m pretty sure we’ve all been to one before.” George rolled his eyes. “Now can we get back to this? I want to get this contract sorted. It’s Saturday and I don’t want to be here all night.”

“It wasn’t just any concert. My best friend from high school was playing and we hadn’t seen each other since before college.”

“Really?” Chloe asked. “What band did you see?”

Madison watched me closely. Out of all the members of our team, she’d been hired at the same time I was. We’d worked together enough and she could read body language like a pro. Their questions didn’t make me uncomfortable, but she’d know in a heartbeat there was more to the story than I wanted to give away.

“Jaded Ivory.”

Chloe’s eyes practically bulged out of her head and her jaw almost hit the floor. “You’re telling me, your best friend is part of Jaded Ivory and you never thought to mention it before?”

I sat back in my chair. “Like I said, I hadn’t talked to Sawyer since before we left for college. The night of the meet and greet was the first time I saw him in seven years.”

“You know Sawyer Alason?” Madison asked slowly.

“I’ve known him since I was seven.”

She threw her pen at me, smacking me in the head.

“Stop throwing shit at me.”

“You’re the one who didn’t tell us you knew a member of one of the hottest up and coming band out there. Not to mention the hottest drummer on the planet.”

Hottest drummer? I could see that. His long shaggy hair and crystal green eyes called to people. Not to mention the rocker vibe he put off. Everyone wanted the bad boy. Even if it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Sawyer never had a shortage of people chasing him. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were women lining up for him in college. I rubbed the spot where the pen hit, hoping there was no ink on my head. “And I haven’t seen him since I was eighteen. How do you know who he is?”

Another pen came flying at my head. This time I caught it midair and slammed it to the table. “I said, stop throwing shit at me.”

A few of the legal assistants walked by the windows, watching us.

“I follow their pages.”

Madison shrugged it off like it was no big deal. She had no idea how big of a deal it was. We’d gotten to hang out without too much interference, and he’d mentioned Mari had the largest following. But it looked like Sawyer had started to get a fan club of his own. For some reason that bugged me a bit. On one hand I wanted him to succeed, on the other I wanted time to myself with him. I wasn’t sure what that said about me, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Let’s get back to work. We can talk about this later.”

Curiosity twinkled in Madison’s eye. I’d be willing to bet the first chance she had me alone, she’d be all over me trying to get the answers. Until then, I planned to force all of it out of my head and focus. George was right, I needed to get this contract amended by the end of the day. We’d made it through four of the articles and only had one left to go.

“Does anyone have section three of article five? I can’t find my notes for it.” George continued to shuffle through his papers searching.

Chloe pulled it out. “I have it. Come on. I’ll get copies made.” She stood with the papers in her hand.

George rubbed his neck. “I need a cup of coffee.” He stood to follow her out.

“We’ll be right back,” Chloe said, shutting the door behind them.

I glanced at my watch. A little after six. We’d been working since noon and I wanted to leave. Sawyer didn’t have anything tonight. It amazed me how quickly we’d fallen back into the routine of hanging out with one another whenever we were both free. Catching up, talking, or just spending time together. Almost like no time had passed.

“Why not?”

Once again Madison’s voice drew me from my thoughts.

“Why not what?”

Madison’s brows were drawn together. “Why haven’t you seen him?”

Wasn’t that a good question? “I have no idea. The day before we were both supposed to leave for college, I stopped by his house to pick him up for one last day of freedom since we were headed to different schools and his car was gone. I knocked on the door. His mom answered and told me he’d left the night before. That was all she would tell me. I tried texting him, but I got nothing back. When I saw they were playing at the Pinnacle Arena, I decided to go and finally figure out why he disappeared all those years ago.”

“And?”

“And nothing. I still don’t know.”

Her eyes widened. “He still didn’t tell you?”

“Nope. Said it was something he had to work through on his own, but it had nothing to do with me.”

“Wow. That’s fucked up.”

“Thanks for the keen observation, Madison.”

“Don’t start. You know you’re thinking it. It’s why you can’t concentrate for shit lately. You need to ask him again if it’s going to be screwing with you.”

I sighed. “I’ve thought about it. The first night when we talked he told me he wasn’t ready to tell me. That someday he would be. I think I need to get my best friend back and worry about all the other shit later.”

George and Chloe came back to the table, papers and coffees in hand.

“Good luck with that,” Madison said.

Chloe’s gaze darted between us. “Good luck with what?”

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “Let’s get this contract done, so we’re not here all night.”

George nodded. “That’s what I want to hear.”

I picked up my pen to make a note in the margin when my phone buzzed on the table. Sawyer. In an effort to avoid distracting everyone in the room again, I sent the call to voice mail and sent him a quick text.

Me: In a meeting. What’s up?

I didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

Sawyer: Cole got me tickets to tonight’s game. 50 yard line. You in?

“How much longer do you think we’ll be? About an hour?”

Madison narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“Sawyer got tickets to tonight’s game.”

She shook her head. “I still can’t wrap my head around you”—she waved her hand up and down at me—“being friends with him.”

“Would it make you feel better if I wore ripped jeans and had sleeve tattoos?”

“Okay, point taken. I think an hour is good. You guys?”

I looked over at Chloe and George, who both agreed.

“Awesome.”

I started typing when Madison put her hand over the screen. “You better damn well be telling that man to meet you here. You did hear me say the sexiest drummer on the planet, right?”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I nodded and she moved her hand.

Me: Yeah. Wanna meet me at my office in an hour?

Sawyer: Sure. I’d love to see where you work.

We went back to dealing with the last article, but I found I had to force myself to concentrate on what we were talking about. Every once in a while I noticed my gaze stray to the door, waiting for Sawyer to step through. Almost completely done with the contract, I reread the last paragraph when the door opened.

“Mr. Setton, there’s a Sawyer Alason here to see you. Should I have him wait in your office?”

Madison glared daggers at me. She might actually hurt me if I didn’t have him brought in.

“Thanks, Bridget. Can you bring him here?”

“Certainly, Mr. Setton.” And even though Bridget was normally as straitlaced as a person could get, I noticed the twinkle in her eyes when she turned to get Sawyer.

Less than a minute later, Sawyer strolled in. Larger than life.

“Hey, we’re almost done. Give me another fifteen?”

“Yeah, no problem.” Sawyer pulled out the chair next to mine.

A foot connected with my shin. “Fuck,” I yelped, reaching down to rub the abused bone.

I looked up to see Madison glaring at me. With a roll of my eyes, I gestured to the rest of my team. “Sawyer, this is Madison, Chloe, and George. They’re all associates with the firm.”

“Hi, nice to meet you.”

“Hi.” Chloe practically bounced in her seat. “I love your music.”

That half grin appeared. The one full of confidence and self-assuredness. The one I couldn’t look away from. “Thanks. I’ll have to get you passes backstage one of these days.”

Chloe slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming and looking unprofessional to the people seated at the cubicles right outside the conference room window. George chuckled and simply returned Sawyer’s hello. The real surprise was Madison, who sat there, mouth agape, simply staring. For the first time since I’d known her, Madison didn’t seem to have a single word to say. Maybe it was time for a bit of payback.

I set my elbow on the table, resting my chin on my palm. “Madison, I thought you were a big fan of Sawyer and Jaded Ivory.”

Her eyes flared as a light flush crept up her neck and jaw. “I…um…”

Sawyer turned the full power of his smile on her. It took my normally outspoken friend and turned her into a mute. I knew I was in for it later.

“Can we get this last part done, so we can all get out of here?” George said.

“Yes, please,” Chloe agreed.

While working through the last part, I found myself hyper aware of Sawyer sitting next to me. Weird. It wasn’t the first time we did work together, even if this time Sawyer was only watching. I had a feeling it had more to do with the way Madison continued to peek up at him through her lashes. For some reason it made me want to claim possession of him. He was my friend not hers. I kept my mouth shut, recognizing how ridiculous that sounded. Didn’t stop me from thinking it.

By the time we finished, I was more than ready to get out of there. Irrational as it might have been, I wanted to get Sawyer out of there and spend time, just the two of us. I packed up all my stuff and told them I’d have the final draft typed up for Monday. As we walked out of the building, I remembered the one problem with him picking me up.

“I have to warn you that my roommate is a total asshole.”

“That bad, huh?”

I followed him to his car. “That bad,” I agreed. “He’s the type people post about and the shit goes viral.”

“Oh, man.” He winced and unlocked his car. “Why live with him?”

“Rent isn’t cheap, so I advertised for a roommate. Trust me when I tell you he seemed normal until after he moved in.”

Sawyer rolled his eyes. “Kick his ass out.”

“I’m working on it. I need to save up enough to pay for the condo for a few months while I look for another roommate.”

I climbed in and groaned. “Shit, you weren’t kidding about your car being a disaster.”

It wasn’t like there was food or fast food wrappers everywhere, but it seemed as if sheet music and old drumsticks covered almost every surface area of the car.

“Hey, I tried to warn you.”

I shoved the shit off my seat and to the floor. “Fair enough. I’m warning you that we’re taking my car to the game.”

Sawyer laughed and the heavy baritone settled the nagging, jealous feeling inside me. I didn’t have to share him with the world today. Today he was my best friend. Just the two of us, like it had been when we were kids.

I directed him to my building. He stepped out of the car to come upstairs with me. As we approached the elevator, I silently prayed Harrison wasn’t there. He was absolutely infuriating to live with. I couldn’t imagine how he’d treat a friend of mine. The elevator doors closed behind us.

The doors whisked open and I stepped out onto my floor. I almost groaned when I saw Harrison’s favorite little sign hanging from the doorknob.

Do Not Disturb.

Don’t ask me where he got it. Hell, I’d already torn up and thrown away more than a dozen, yet they kept reappearing. I reached for the handle, blatantly ignoring the sign, when Sawyer grabbed my hand and pulled it back.

“Dude, doesn’t that mean he’s got company?”

I glanced over and rolled my eyes. “If only. This is only one of the ways he’s made life difficult so far. It usually means he’s watching some foreign film and expects me to stay out of my place for hours while he finishes the movie and writes a complete review of it on his blog.”

Sawyer narrowed his eyes. “Who does that?”

“The idiot I live with, unfortunately.” I pushed the door open. The only light in the room came from the TV to the right.

“Reagan,” Harrison snapped. “What have I told you about the do not disturb sign?”

I flicked on the light. “And I’ve told you I have the lease on this condo. I’m not staying out of my place for hours for this shit. You want to bring home a chick to fuck, then I’ll listen. Until then.” I took the sign off the handle and tore it in two. “Stop putting them up. I’m just gonna ignore it.”

Harrison hopped up from his seat and ran to the light switch, halting his steps the moment he noticed Sawyer behind me. His lip curled. “And why would you bring this…this thug into my place of sanctuary?”

Sawyer had about five or six inches on Harrison and gazed down at him, amusement lighting his eyes. Afraid of what Sawyer might say, I stepped between them.

“Sawyer is one of my closest friends and is welcome here anytime I bring him. I’m not really concerned about your opinion. Now, if you’d get out of the way and let me change we could already be out of your hair.”

Harrison reached for the light.

“Don’t even think about it. I’m not stumbling through the place in the dark. I’ll turn it off when we leave.”

Harrison spun on his heel, grumbling under his breath the entire way back to the couch. I ignored him and went straight for my room. Sawyer’s footsteps sounded behind me and I thanked my lucky stars he didn’t stay there to engage him for his shitty behavior. The minute my door closed behind us, I turned on my heel to apologize to Sawyer and noticed the crinkles around his eyes.

“That is way more than an asshole. Good thing I don’t live with him. I’d need to hire a lawyer.”

I let out a sigh. “Tell me about it.”

“Is he a lawyer too?”

I gripped the hem of my shirt and tugged it over my head, dropping it into the hamper by the closet. “No, he’s an engineer. But I’m surprised he’s able to keep his job. He spends most of his time on his blog.”

I dug through my drawers, looking for one of the Hayward T-shirts I still owned. I could sense eyes on me when I noticed Sawyer had gone silent. When I turned around to see if he was all right, I realized he was on his phone. Strange. I gave myself a mental shake. Apparently, everything that happened at the office still had me paranoid. Why, I hadn’t a clue. If Sawyer had been interested in Madison flirting that was up to him. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I suddenly felt possessive over my relationship with Sawyer. It could have been my fear of him disappearing again after I’d gotten him back. Whatever the cause I needed to get a grip.

I yanked the shirt over my head and shoved my wallet and phone in my pocket.

“Ready?”