Maxon

I stood there when we finished our encore, lingering a few seconds after the guys leaped off the stage into the waiting, screaming crowd of The Jack. I silently begged her to turn from where she stood like my own personal siren, my jaw clenched tight and blood buzzing.

When there was nothing, I unhooked and dropped my bass to the stage, ignoring the shocked gasps as I stormed off to the back of the bar.

After most shows, we all exited the stage to celebrate with just the four of us for a few moments. Reveling in the sounds of our fans screaming in the crowd as we took a shot and wondered still how this had become our lives before we ventured into the chaos of paparazzi and eager women and parties. But not at The Jack.

We played. We jumped off stage so the guys could drink with the fans. And I slipped away with Libby to whatever secluded place awaited us.

It’s how it had always been.

Then again, we’d never played a show here when she wasn’t waiting for me in the back before we went on. Even before the fame and money. Even before Jordan. Not one.

Until tonight.

And she’d flipped me off and fucking turned from me.

I stalked across the back room, my long legs eating up the distance too quickly no matter how often I turned. Until soon, the room felt too small, and I felt caged.

It’d been nine years since we’d left Wake Forest and Henley had blown up bigger than we’d ever imagined. And in those nine years, Libby had always been right here. Teasing me with kisses and touches and telling me she wouldn’t be waiting the next time. And I was fucking terrified next time had actually come.

A weight settled low in my gut, and it felt impossible to breathe.

I let out an animalistic roar, shoving my foot into a metal folding chair and sending it flying across the room.

I turned at the soft gasp that came from behind me, my eyes narrowing and body tensing when I saw the girl standing just inside the doorway. She was wearing shorts so damn short the pockets were sticking out. And I was pretty fucking sure the only piece of material under the leather jacket she was unzipping was a bra.

“So . . .” she began just as the zipper passed her waist. “You looked a little angry out there. I thought you might need someone to cheer you up.”

The guys would tell me not think. To finish tearing off the jacket for her and take her up against the wall.

But I wasn’t them. And Libby was out there with my goddamn heart.

“You thought wrong,” I responded, my tone practically a snarl.

She tilted her head teasingly as she shrugged the jacket off one shoulder . . . and then the other. Her lips twisted into a sensual pout. “Are you sure about that?”

I jerked my head toward the door behind her. “You can leave, or I can make you.”

Her pout turned into a hungry grin as she moved deeper into the room. “I won’t say anything to the press.”

My teeth gnashed so hard it made my jaw ache. I closed the distance between us, ignoring the hopeful look that lit her eyes just before I snatched her arm in my grasp and dragged her back the way she’d come.

Yanking open the door, I forced her out of the room and sneered, “You aren’t gonna say anything because there’s nothing to talk—” I sucked in a sharp breath when I saw the group of people lining the hall just outside the door. Oxygen filled my lungs for what felt like the first time since we’d began our set . . . only for the air to rush out just as quickly. “Where is she?”

The girl I’d just shoved out of the room looked from the group to me, her face set in frustration and embarrassment as she pulled her jacket over her shoulders and stomped down the hall.

I looked back at the group of people. Some I’d grown up with, others had come to town a handful of years before I’d moved away. There was a girl I’d never seen tucked close to Libby’s brother, Dare. At the moment, I didn’t care to meet her. She wasn’t the girl I wanted to see.

“Where is she?” I demanded again when no one said anything.

Dare exhaled slowly, his dark eyes slanted at me. Tipping his head to gesture down the hall, he said, “Well, it looks like you’re doing just fine.”

A frustrated laugh burst from my chest. “Nothing happened. But I need to know what is happening with Libby. She’s been ghosting me since I told her about this tour. And then . . .” I flung my hand out like Libby would be standing there. “Shit, I don’t know.”

Libby’s best friend and roommate snorted but didn’t look up from where she was tapping on her phone. “I was hoping you’d realized by now how badly you fucked up, but apparently you’re too stupid to. Bummer. I’ve rooted for you from the beginning.”

“How did I fuck up?” I asked incredulously. “I just got here.”

Einstein glanced at me before looking back at her phone and pushing from the wall she’d been leaning against. “Exactly.”

My hands curled into fists when she and two of the guys walked away, leaving me alone with Dare and the girl he was holding.

“I’m Dare’s wife, Lily,” she said after a couple minutes passed in silence.

I blew out a pent-up breath and raked my hands through my hair. “That’s nice.”

“Watch it,” Dare hissed at me.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” she continued as if we hadn’t said anything.

I sent a glare in her direction to find her staring at me like she was trying to figure me out. She wasn’t looking at me like she wanted to unzip my pants and suck my dick like so many women did—even with their guys clinging to them. She was just looking at me curiously as she burrowed deeper into Dare’s side.

It was nice.

I cleared my throat and said, “The media lies.”

She pointed to Dare and clarified, “I’ve heard a lot about you from this one and the others. But none of them said you were such an asshole.” The words were said so smoothly they caught me off guard.

I don’t think I’d ever been called an asshole in my life.

A breath of a laugh rasped from my throat. “Yeah, well, you caught me on a bad night. A long time ago I ripped out my heart and left it with a girl. And now she’s refusing to talk to me.”

“For all your talk about what my sister means to you, you’re all over the news for your relationships with other women,” Dare snapped.

“The media lies,” I repeated. “Not that I claim to be a saint when I’m gone . . . but do you think your sister is either?”

“Not something I want to think about.”

“I’ve begged her to come to California with me from the beginning, and she’s refused. And every time I come back, she makes it clear she won’t be leaving with me right around the time she lets me know she won’t be waiting for me the next time I come back.” I leaned up against the doorjamb and crossed my arms over my chest. “Except she always was until tonight.”

Dare was shaking his head slowly, almost like he didn’t realize he was doing it. “You really don’t get it, do you? You fucking ruined my sister.”

I already had an idea how mad she was. But hearing that sent a punch to my gut—and I still didn’t have a clue what I’d done.

He pushed away from the wall, taking Lily with him. “For the record, I’ve never rooted for the two of you.”

One of my eyebrows ticked up. “Not a secret.”

“I like you, Maxon. Always have. I just don’t like you for my sister,” he said unapologetically. It was how he’d talked since we were kids. Straight and to the point. No bullshit. No shame. “I didn’t know Henley would turn into what it has, and I’m happy for you. But I knew even if you guys never hit it big, you’d try to go somewhere . . . and that still would’ve led you down a road surrounded by drugs and other bullshit I didn’t want her around.”

I ground my jaw and nodded stiffly.

They’d only made it a step away when I said, “You should’ve known I’d never let her near that.” When he looked back at me, I let out a heavy breath. “She gets off work around the time shows end, or we stop practicing for the night. Most nights, I stay home and just talk to her while the guys go to parties and clubs. When she doesn’t answer for days at a time is when I let the guys drag me out.”

Dare huffed. “You think you could’ve kept Libby from that life?”

That girl was reckless and uncontrollable and free in everything. The way she thought. The way she lived. The way she loved.

If you told her not to do something, she’d do it just to show you that you couldn’t stop her.

She was my rebel.

But she craved the way my calm clashed with her wild, and she came to me to escape the world.

I was the one Libby ran to when she’d run from her family. I was the one she ran to when she needed peace injected in her life . . . like she knew I had the ability to keep her tied to earth.

“I would’ve never let her near that shit,” I repeated slowly, coldly.

With a slight nod, they left, and I stood there wondering what the hell I was going to do.

When the show ended, I’d wanted to stalk over to the bar and pull Libby away from it and out of The Jack until we were far from people and she had to talk to me.

Now that I’d had a chance to calm down somewhat, I could be patient.

Jesus, if anyone could be patient, it was me.

I’d waited most of my life to make her mine.