Chapter 28

Axton

“What the fuck is that?” I ask Carson, pointing in the direction of the familiar couple.

“Addi,” Carson says. “And Marcus.”

“They’ve got their arms around each other,” I hiss.

“They’re dating.” Carson shrinks back when I practically growl at him.

When I left, I knew I could come back to something like this, I just didn’t think it would be so soon. I only got back from tour last night.

“Like, they’re serious?”

He shrugs. “Don’t really know. I’ve seen them together a couple times over the last month or so.”

“Month? She’s been seeing someone for a month and you didn’t think to fucking tell me?”

“I didn’t want to ruin your tour, Ax. It’s not a big deal.”

“To you,” I mutter. “It’s not a big deal to you.”

“You had enough problems on this first leg. I didn’t want to add to it. Excuse me for trying to look out for you.”

“That tour sucked. I hate that we committed to the second leg as well.”

“It’ll get better,” he offers, handing me a beer someone gave him. “Seems you need this more than I do.”

“You said that a month in, and the second month was worse.” I sit down on a square bale of hay twice the distance from the fire than I normally would. “I know Easton is an asshole, but he’s Mr. Sociable compared to Brent Johnson and his band manager, Greg.”

I practically chug my beer, watching the line of Addi’s delicate neck as she tosses her head back and laughs.

“I have to talk to her.” I finish the beer and toss the bottle to the ground.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Carson mutters, but he doesn’t try to stop me when I begin to walk in their direction.

“Hey, Adelaide,” I say, a couple feet away even though their backs are facing me.

Marcus swings Addi around so fast, she nearly loses her balance. I reach for her, but he pulls her tighter to his chest. The possessive action is as clear as day, even without taking into account the sneer tugging at his lips and fire blazing in his eyes.

“Axton,” Addi says, no surprise in her voice. “I didn’t know you were back.”

I want to call her out on her lie, but I remain silent. I’m damn near certain people have been chatting about me since I showed up last night. I even posted about hoping to see her while I was home for a month before heading back out to finish the last leg. It pisses me off even more knowing I looked like an asshole for the last month, pining for and posting about a girl who had a man—one my best friend didn’t tell me about.

“Got back last night,” I say, playing it cool. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Axton Lane.”

I offer my hand to him, knowing he has to pull his right arm from around her if he wants to be polite. My arm hangs for a long moment before he decides not to be a douche. Well, he doesn’t want her thinking he’s a douche. He confirms it with me when he grips my hand too hard. I give it right back to him, until his right eye twitches.

“Marcus Campbell,” he grunts before releasing my hold. “You know my girlfriend?”

I smile and look at the gorgeous girl he’s once again pulled into his side. “Of course. There isn’t a chance of a girl this gorgeous in a hundred-mile radius existing without me knowing it.”

Addi frowns, but the light from the fire glinting in her eyes tells me she’s not upset.

“We’re friends,” she clarifies.

I bite my bottom lip, hoping to draw her eyes to my mouth. It’s a test. Her breath always hitches and her cheeks pinken when she’s turned on by me. She passes, or fails, depending on how you look at it. Instead of drawing her eyes, she looks up at Marcus and gives him a reassuring smile.

“I didn’t expect you to be out here tonight,” I say.

She gives me a small smile, but it’s nothing like her real one. “Marcus had a few friends coming in from out of town.”

I look from her to Marcus, seeing the glint in his eyes. He knew I’d be here tonight. He was hoping something like this would happen.

“It was nice to see you again, Axton.”

Not for the first time since meeting her, Addi dismisses me with a couple words. Only this time, I can’t beg, joke, or try to persuade her to spend time with me.

“You too, baby.”

She hisses as I turn on my heel and head back to Carson, who’s sitting in the same spot, a disinterested look on his face.

“Seems like that went better than I thought it would,” he says, handing me another beer and my guitar.

He must have gotten it from the truck while I was talking to the happy couple. His uncanny sixth sense is once again accurate. My fingers itched to either punch Marcus in his fucking nose or play. At least playing won’t land me in a jail cell for the night.

“I should kick his fucking ass,” I mutter before taking a long pull of the ice cold beer.

“Hey, Axton,” a girl coos as she steps in closer. “Mind if I sit beside you?”

“Not tonight, sweetheart,” I mutter without pulling my eyes from my fingers as I begin to strum my guitar.

“She was perfect for you,” Carson says.

I pull my eyes from my hands in time to watch her walk off. Willowy and dressed to impress—short skirt and cowboy boots, of course. “Maybe in a different life.”

My eyes roam, searching until they find Addi in the crowd. There’s now several inches of distance between them. He’s talking to a friend, his back slightly to her. By their postures, it’s obvious he’s upset and she’s more than a little uncomfortable at being ignored by him.

“Leave it alone,” Carson says beside me.

“That guy’s a douche,” I growl.

“He may be, but it’s no longer your concern. You walked away.”

“She pushed me away,” I correct. “I had to go on tour. I had no other choice.”

“Well, that may be the case, but it’s not like you stayed away from the women on tour. You can’t get angry at her for doing the same things you’ve done.”

I did wait.

I spent so much time wedged into the bunk while all the other guys partied and fucked, my back will never be the same.

My fingers change their intention when she loops her arm through his, forcing him to either accept it or push her away. The rhythm, followed by the words of Cole Swindell’s “Middle of a Memory,” comes easy to me, but when she turns to face him, placing a hand on his chest and standing on the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek, I barely finish that song before “Break Up in a Small Town” by Sam Hunt begins.

He turns to glare at me from over the top of her head. The smirk on his lips combined with the way he pulls her against him, both of his hands cupping, then gripping, her ass, I nearly give him the finger.

I don’t have to plan any retaliation because the second Addi looks over her shoulder to follow his eyes, she shoves at his chest, separating the two of them. She says something, but he doesn’t bother to look away from me. Even as she storms off, he holds my eyes.

“Smart girl,” Carson says, clearly catching the whole thing, too.

I nod and finish the song. Holding his eyes, I can practically see the steam billowing from his ears. Once the last chord silences, I lift my beer up in salute. He glares for a second, then disappears into the crowd to search for Addi.

“I thought Marcus was a decent guy. Grabbing her like that? Not cool,” Carson says.

“I agree, but Addi can make a normal guy do crazy things.”

Carson chuckles. “Or make a crazy guy do normal things.”

“True,” I agree before wrapping my mouth around the lip of my beer bottle.

“Think she’ll be okay?” We both watch as they show up, arguing, on the opposite side of the campfire.

“Keep an eye on her,” I tell him before playing another song.

Unable to think of a more fitting song, I begin to sing Jake Owen’s “The One That Got Away.” She’s so busy ripping into him, finger pointing at his chest, I doubt she can even hear my words.

He doesn’t get aggressive with her, never once taking a menacing step in her direction. I can give him props for that, but I still watch carefully. One tiny twitch indicating he even wants to get physical with her, and I’ll use my guitar to break his face.