“Parker!” Caleb yelled, he wrapped an arm around me and titled my head back, helping me pinch the bridge to stop the flow of blood.
“Don’t fucking touch her!” Nathan roared. He ripped off his shirt and thrust it at me as he pushed Caleb out of the way.
“Ashley!” Katie screamed as she ran to me. “Are you okay? Oh god, we gotta get out of here before the police get called.”
“I’m fine,” I said.
I moved away from both boys and closer to Katie. My eyes darted back and forth between them. Both of them were breathing heavily and frowning, blood trickled from the side of Caleb mouth and Nathan’s eye was already starting to turn purple.
I shook my head, feeling lost and disgusted all in the same breath.
I let Katie lead me out of the party and I ducked my head to avoid the whispers and stares. Once outside, we walked the short two blocks back to my beach house. The boys followed us the whole way. No one said a word, but the tension was so thick, I felt its suffocating fingers closing around my throat.
I disappeared into my room and Katie helped me clean up. She was unusually quiet as we cleaned up and I changed shirts. When I came out, both boys were still there, sitting on opposite couches. They stood when I came in.
My stomach churned. The silence was thick and oppressive.
“Ash, I’m really sorry. I—” Caleb began.
I shook my head. “It’s okay, you didn’t mean to. I shouldn’t have—”
Nathan snorted.
I turned narrowed eyes on him. “What the fuck did you think you were doing?”
His eyes snapped up from glaring at Caleb to mine. I could see the anger and something else dance in his blue eyes. A muscle in his jaw ticked, and the veins in his neck strained against his tanned skin.
“I was thinking I saw some jackass kissing my girl.”
I ground my teeth together. “I am not your girl.”
His face paled for a moment and he frowned. “Four days ago, back home, you—”
“I told you I wanted you to leave,” I took a deep breath and looked away. “Just like I want you to leave now.”
Several silent seconds ticked by. Then, Nathan moved across the room and stopped right in front of me. His voice was low, soft, and a little pained. “This doesn’t change what I said. I won’t stop. Ever.”
Two seconds later he was gone. When I looked up Caleb was scowling. I opened my mouth to try and explain or say something—anything—but he held up his hand to stop me.
He shook his head and then crossed the room and wrapped both arms around me. “I’m so sorry about the nose, Parker.”
He kissed the side of my head and then murmured, “I should go.”
Before I could stop him or find the words to speak, the front door clicked shut.
Chapter 23
The following Sunday, I was woken up by a loud banging on the front door. Katie and I both stumbled from our rooms, bleary-eyed, and I opened the door. My mouth popped open at the sight.
Drew stood there, angry and upset all at once. His eyes were bloodshot red, and dark circles sagged under his eyes.
“I need to talk to you, Katie.”
She rolled her eyes, snorted, and crossed her arms across her chest. His face dropped, along with most of his anger.
“Please, baby.”
I opened the door a little wider. When I looked over Drew’s shoulder, I saw Nathan, leaning against his truck. My sympathy for Drew and Katie quickly turned to annoyance. Our eyes locked and I scowled, but Nathan’s face remained stoic.
“Katie, I’m sorry, alright? I’m an asshole. But I love you. Please. I’m miserable here, baby,” Drew pleaded. I saw Katie’s lower lip tremble. Drew must have saw her resolve slipping too. He moved around me, into the house, and wrapped both arms around her. She started sobbing into his chest.
I looked back at Nathan. He pushed himself off the car and ambled towards me. The crazy irrational thing was, I couldn’t help but admire him.
His sun-kissed skin looked so warm and inviting. The way his blue t-shirt stretched across his broad chest and hugged his biceps was a sin. The color made his piercing eyes look even bluer.
There was something in his confident stroll, in the way he never took his eyes off me, in the strong set of his jaw that absolutely mesmerized me. That had me fantasizing and remembering the way it felt to kiss him, the way he gripped me and held me against him.
The way it felt when he was mine.
Our conversation nearly two weeks ago in my apartment replayed in my head. Was he ever mine?
I love you. I’ll never stop loving you.
He’d said it so easily. Like it was a hard fact. I wasn’t even sure I could say that I still loved him. Did I?
I was still so mixed up over him. Attracted. But hurt.
I watched him as he sauntered up the path towards me, closing in like a lion trapping its prey. His jeans hung low dangerously low on his hips. Desire and lust stirred deep in my belly.
I snorted. Attracted? Christ, that man reduced me to a quivering aching ball of pure want.
How the hell did I go from angry and heartbroken over this man to ready to beg him to take me to bed? I wondered.
The somber look on his face vanished and a cocky smirk titled his full lips.
Arching an eyebrow he asked “Hungry, doll face?”
My cheeks burst into flames. Was I that obvious?
“Huh?”
His smirk turned into a full out grin. Like he just read my freaking mind. Dammit, get a hold of yourself, Ashley.
He leaned against the door frame and chuckled. “Are you hungry? Do you want to go get some breakfast and let those two work it out?”
I looked behind me and noticed Katie and Drew were nowhere to be seen. I turned back to Nathan and frowned.
“Did you tell him she was here?”
Nathan snorted. “Of course I did. My friend called me, in a panic, feeling like an asshole and thinking he lost his girl.”
“Ahh, so you recognized the feeling?”
Nathan frowned, but he recovered quickly. With his smirk back in place, he leaned closer. “Have breakfast with me, doll face.”
My heart stuttered. I bit my lip and looked up at him through my lashes.
There was something altogether different about him today compared with the last two times I’d seen him. He was missing that desperation that had tugged so hard at my insides. He seemed light.
Playful even.
It reminded me of the first night I’d met him. And our first two dates. I swallowed hard against the lump that formed in my throat.
His eyes darted back and forth between mine. “Just coffee?”
I pressed my lips into a thin line. Was this his new plan? Was he changing tactics on me?
“Just as friends.”
He raised both eyebrows and gave me a pleading look. My heart twisted. He was doing a really good job of chipping away at my defenses.
“Okay,” I finally said. “But stop calling me that.”
I turned to go inside and he followed me.
“Okay,” he said happily. “Next time I’ll just kiss your smart mouth.”
I was glad I was facing away from him. My whole face was probably as red as a lobster.
~000~
Nathan took me to his place for coffee. After he fixed us two cups, we sat out on the balcony of his condo, admiring the ocean view.
Nathan and I talked for hours. He told me about football and his new teammates. I talked about being on the road and the first time I had heard my song on the radio. We laughed and talked until the middle of the afternoon.
It was amazing. And made me wish I could trust those promises I could see in his eyes. He didn’t even try to hide his feelings for me. The heat and desire and love shone like a bright beacon in the night.
As corny as it sounded, I could feel it calling out to me somewhere deep in my gut. In my soul.
Shit, I’m in trouble. I really
need to get out of there. Before I said damn the consequences and did something stupid. Like kiss his face.
Just as I was about to tell Nathan I needed to get back home, he reached out and grabbed my hand.
A shock of electricity skittered along my skin.
“Stay,” he said softly. “We can watch a movie or something.”
Our eyes collided and I stared into the blue depths of his. The memory of the first movie we had watched together replayed in vivid detail in my mind. Was he thinking about that night too?
“I have Netflix,” he said, like that was what I needed to make me say yes.
I laughed. “Well, in that case.”
Nathan led me into his bedroom and handed me the remote. I began to scroll through the selections.
“No,” Nathan said adamantly when I landed on one. He plopped down onto his bed next to me, close enough I could feel the heat from his body.
I frowned. “Why not?”
“Because,” he huffed. “The guy basically gets his heart broken into smithereens.”
“And that bothers you.”
“Well, yeah,” he said. He turned to me and the force of his gaze knocked the breath from my lungs. “It hits a little close to home.”
My heart sped up. Trying to deflect, I said, “High school sweetheart?”
The half-smile that had been on his face dropped, his features solemn and serious. “No.”
You, I thought. He didn’t say it in words, but it hit me like a freight train anyway. He leaned into me. It wasn’t until his breath hit my lips that I found my voice.
“Wait,” I whispered. Panic laced my tone. “I can’t do this.”
But I didn’t move away. I sat there, frozen, lips a mere inch apart from Nathan’s. The moment seemed to last forever, the tension was so taut between us I was sure any moment the string would snap.
And then what would happen?
Finally, Nathan closed his eyes, sighing as he touched his forehead to mine.
“What are you doing?” I asked. Was that my voice? I sounded breathless.
“Trying to not kiss you,” he whispered hoarsely.
“Why?” Oh god. What was I saying?
Nathan made a noise in the back of his throat. “Christ, Ashley, you’re killing me here.”
Unbidden, tears fell from my closed eyes and streamed down my cheeks. Nathan brought his hands up, cradling my head and shoved his fingers into my hair. “Baby, you’re breaking my heart. Please don’t…I can’t—”
He leaned into me, his breath hit my lips and I parted them instantly. Kiss me. Please, God, let him kiss me. Now.
He growled in frustration. “What would happen if I kissed you right now, Face? Would you let me? Would you stay? Or would you be gone when I woke up in the morning?”
His harsh voice destroyed the moment and the lust filled haze I’d been swimming in only a moment before. I shoved myself away from him.
“That’s not fair,” my voice wobbled. Fresh anger and adrenaline shot through my veins making my stomach clench and my body shake.
“Tell me this,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “Would you stay? Would you give me another chance?”
“I don’t…I—” I stuttered. I didn’t know. I didn’t even trust him. How could I?
I turned away and he covered my hand with his, stopping me from leaving.
A tense moment passed and then he whispered, “Where are you going to go right now? To him?”
I wanted to scream and say no. I wanted to deny it so vehemently that he’d recoil from me and feel guilt deep in his gut.
But the truth slapped me across the face. Hard.
The fire that Nathan had lit inside me, that was raging in an all-out inferno needed to be doused. And Caleb would do just that. He’d obliterate the pain and memories. I could bury my heartache, my frustration and hurt in his skin.
Instead of answering, I rose from the bed, gathered my purse and practically ran from the room. Just as I went to open the front door, Nathan slammed his hand against it. I could feel his hot breath on my neck, and the tension coiled in his muscles.
“Ashley,” he murmured next to my ear. “I know I keep fucking things up. Tell me how to make it right.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to fight the urge to turn around and fling myself at him. To let his kisses, his touch, push away the bad. To just remember his skin, his mouth, the fervor and passion in our connection and let it ease, erase, and restore.
And then I thought of every time I’d let him in before.
“Just let me go,” I whispered.
Nathan didn’t move for a long time. Finally, he responded, “I don’t know if I can.”
Without another word, I opened the door—surprised and disappointed he let me—and hurried out the door and to my car. When I got home, I collapsed onto my bed. I didn’t call Caleb or even look at my phone when it buzzed on my nightstand.
Instead, I stared up at the ceiling fan until my eyes felt too heavy, and sleep—and the peaceful oblivion it offered— found me.
Chapter 24
You gone and broke the wrong heart baby, and drove me redneck crazy.
~Tyler Farr
When I got to the studio on Monday morning, Caleb was waiting outside for me.
“Hey,” he said, giving me a tight smile. My usually calm unaffected, laid back Caleb, looked anything but. His dark eyes were serious and locked on me. He held open the door and followed me inside. As soon as we got in, he grabbed me, and hauled me into a nearby writing room, locking the door behind us.
“What are you—?”
He spun me around, pushed me up against the door and kissed me, stealing the breath from my lungs.
When he finally pulled back, it was only enough for his gaze to meet mine. For a moment, dread and fear washed over me under his scrutinizing, assessing stare.
What was he about to ask me? Please don’t ask me about Nathan. I need you to try to get over him. No matter how wrong that is.
Suddenly, his whole face changed and his mouth curved up on one side. “Wanna go on our second date?”
Huh? I batted my lashes in confusion and frowned.
“Second date? When was our first?”
“In Chicago,” he responded easily, shrugging. His cool unaffected attitude was always so effortless, but just then I saw the cracks in his facade. My stomach clenched.
I am a horrible person.
“Caleb, I don’t think…I mean you should—” I stuttered.
“Ashley,” he said quietly. “I know you have a past…a very jealous, angry past.” He rubbed his jaw and I noticed for the first time the discolored bruise along his jawline. His mouth quirked up. “Honestly, I can’t say I blame him. If I lost you I’d—”
He stopped and I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. What? He’d what?!
He looked away and shook his head, rubbing his hand over his shaved head.
His words from a previous conversation while we were on tour made the words catch in my throat.
I’m not worried about losing you.
“You’d what?” I asked, suddenly desperate for the answer.
His head snapped up. After a couple of silent moments, he said, “Go with me on Wednesday to the Music Awards.”
My eyes widened. He wanted our second date to be public?
My stomach was doing backflips in my gut. If we went to the awards show together, the tabloids would have a field day. Especially after the picture and the fight. Is that what he wanted? Was this some ego trip? A way to claim me in public so Nathan would know?
I wrinkled my nose and pursed my lips. I swallowed hard and tried to speak around the thick knot forming in my throat. “That would be confirming…the rumors.”
I looked at him pointedly. Caleb cocked an eyebrow at me and planted his hands on either side of me, boxing me in. He smelled so good. My insides fluttered and everything inside me tightened in response to his closeness.
He
was all bad boy swagger. Wrapped up in a sexy inked-up package. Trouble.
He leaned forward, sliding his nose along mine and pausing with his lips hovering just above mine. In a low husky whisper he murmured, “And you don’t want that?”
The Best Kind of Trouble Page 16
