Fractured Trust by L. M. Dalgleish
Chapter 5
“Are you sure this is a good idea, man?” Tex asked.
The four of them were sitting around a table overlooking Noah’s palm tree-fringed pool and the ocean beyond it. Drew had just left, after running them through the schedule for the lead-up to Fractured’s first tour in almost two years.
Noah shrugged, taking a pull of his beer. “I don’t see why not. Summer needs a job, and Eden needs help. They used to get on well; I figure it’ll be a good fit. And honestly, the way that bastard was talking to her pissed me the hell off.”
Tex frowned, and glanced over at Connor and Zac, sitting opposite them. “I mean, I get why you’d say it in the heat of the moment. But that didn’t mean you had to follow through. Are you sure there isn’t more to it?”
“I wasn’t about to turn around straight after he’d walked out the door and tell her I was only messing around. Whether or not she would ever admit it to me, she’s in a tough spot. She needs a job, and not just a crappy one she picks up out of desperation.”
Noah raked his hand through his hair, considering how to explain it to his friends when he couldn’t even really explain it to himself. “I don’t know. It was like she wasn’t the Summer I remember. She seemed different somehow—defeated. And I’ll bet that douchebag had a lot to do with it. As annoyed as I am at what she did to me, I didn’t like seeing her that way.” Annoyed was an understatement, but he didn’t want to get into exactly how much it still bothered him.
“Well, that’s all very fucking noble of you. But you don’t think seeing her all the time is gonna be difficult for you?”
“No, why would it?”
“Okay, let me rephrase. You don’t think seeing her all the time is gonna make it hard for you.” The smirk on Tex’s face and the flick of his eyes to Noah’s crotch emphasized the innuendo. The other two assholes chuckled, but wisely kept their mouths shut when Noah cut his eyes in their direction.
“Just because you couldn’t control your dick around my sister”—he scowled at Tex, who simply smiled complacently back at him—“doesn’t mean I can’t control mine. Especially around the woman that broke up with me via voicemail, wouldn’t answer my calls, and ended up getting married to my friend only a few months later.”
“Yeah, that’s a pretty good list of reasons not to get all hot and bothered over her,” Tex drawled, cocking a brow at him. “And yet…”
“There’s no and yet. The last thing I want is to go through that shit again. But she needs help, and I’m not so much of a vindictive asshole that I’d leave her hanging because I’m too busy holding a grudge. It’s been over a decade, and it’s not like I need anything from her. I have plenty of other options to keep me satisfied.”
“That’s true. But then so did I, and that didn’t stop me,” Tex said, and Noah grimaced at the reminder. “The only real, long-term relationship you’ve had was with Summer. You were crazy about her; we all knew it. Everyone thought you two were gonna end up together. There was a pull between you, an energy when you were both in the room that I’ve never seen you have with any other woman—no matter how fucking hot they were. So, you can sit there and try to convince us it’s gone away, that you won’t be tempted to fall back into what you had, but I’m not sure I’m buying it.” He glanced over at Connor and Zac for confirmation.
Connor leaned forward, his green eyes serious and his subtle Irish lilt stronger than normal, emphasizing his concern. “Look, we get what you’re saying. You’re doing a nice thing, nicer than she probably deserves.” Noah stifled his instinctive reaction to protest, because Connor was right. “But you’ve got a lot on your plate at the moment. You’re drumming for two bands, you’ve got two tours coming up that will be putting a ton of pressure on you physically and mentally, the last thing you need is to get sucked back into caring about someone who’s already proven she didn’t care about you.”
Zac, who was sitting forward with his elbows on the table, absently spinning his bottle in the ring of its own condensation as he listened, looked up at that, meeting Noah’s gaze. “Whatever happened between the two of you, I don’t think it had to do with either of you not caring about each other.”
Noah shrugged, feigning a nonchalance he didn’t feel—had never felt when it came to Summer, unfortunately. “Even if I wanted to go there—and I don’t—Summer won’t. She couldn’t handle being with me back then; I doubt anything’s changed since. And I’m not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice.”
Tex gave him an appraising look as he took a sip of his beer, then he shrugged. “You’re probably right.”
Noah studied his three friends for a second, then shook his head and changed the subject. “I can’t believe we’re all finally heading out on tour again. It’s been too damn long.”
Tex grinned. “Yeah, it’s been forever. Not sure how I’m gonna handle being back in those bunks for two months straight, but I’m looking forward to rocking out on stage every night again.”
Noah studied him. “How’s Eden doing with it? Is she all right with you being gone for that long?” He’d been worried about how his sister would cope being left behind while Tex was on tour. She seemed fine with it, apart from her obvious sadness at the thought of being away from him. Maybe that meant she was a stronger person than Summer had been, or perhaps it was simply that Eden’s feelings for Tex were deeper than Summer’s had been for him.
Noah rolled his neck to dispel the tension gathering there. Back to thinking about Summer again. His fingers itched to hit something, and he tapped out a beat on the arm of his chair.
Tex’s smile had slipped a fraction. “She’s okay. We’ve planned a few weekends she’ll be able to fly out and meet up with us, so we don’t have to go the whole two months without seeing each other. Not sure I could manage that.”
Noah nodded. He looked over at the other two. Connor’s wife Lexie would be traveling with them, since she was the band’s official photographer. Those two had it good; crazy in love and not having to worry about time apart while Fractured was touring. Fucking Connor didn’t have a care in the world now, even though he’d come close to screwing it all up with Lexie back when they’d first gotten together. Come close, but somehow still managed to salvage the relationship. Now the smug bastard was just sitting there in the sun, relaxing back in his chair with a far-off smile on his face that let Noah know he was thinking of his wife.
Noah’s eyes met Zac’s amused ones, and he realized he had no idea whether Zac was with someone at the moment. The bass player never dated anyone for more than a month or two at a time, and since he was the type of guy that kept his cards way too close to his chest, usually by the time any of them found out he’d been seeing someone, the relationship was over.
One night when they’d been out partying, Noah had asked him what the deal was with that. Zac had stared at his drink for so long Noah had thought he wasn’t going to answer. But just before he was about to shrug and change the subject, Zac had said tersely, “It’s better that way,” and then refused to say any more about it.
And Noah got that. It’s not like he was the king of sharing either. After all, why burden everyone with your emotional baggage when they were probably already knee-deep in their own shit? He’d much rather just keep a smile on his face and let everything roll off his back until whatever was bothering him resolved itself. And for those times when he couldn’t quite manage to rein in his emotions, well, that was the good thing about being a drummer. You could just bang the hell out of your kit until you felt better.
Zac stood up and grabbed himself another beer from Noah’s bar fridge. He dropped back down in his seat, cracked the top and took a sip then fixed his gaze on Noah. “We’ve got two weeks until we head out for the Crossfire tour. It would be good for us to get in the studio to practice with Beau and Devon a few more times before we leave.”
Noah sat back in his chair and stretched his legs out. “Yeah, that’s cool. I’ve got some spare time. Set it up and let me know.”
Connor leaned over and tapped his hand on the table. “Don’t forget, we’ve got to begin putting together some songs for the new Fractured album, too. I’d like to have a good idea what direction we’re taking it before we head off on tour, and that’s just over two months after you get back. We should try to get a start before you guys leave so that Tex and I can work on it while you’re gone.”
“Yeah, we’ll fit it in.” He glanced at Zac, who tilted his chin in confirmation. Once again, the question nagged at him. How were things going to work out long-term with Crossfire and Fractured? Was it possible to maintain the same level of commitment to both? And if not, what then? Zac didn’t seem to have any concerns, but then again, Zac didn’t make figuring out what was going on in his head easy. Looking at him now, his green-gold eyes calmly unreadable, Noah contemplated again whether Zac might ever consider leaving Fractured to head up Crossfire on a full-time basis.
A hollow ache bloomed in Noah’s gut. Fractured had been his dream since he was fifteen and he and the others had first started throwing around the idea of starting a band. Playing music for a living with his three best friends; what could ever compare to that? The idea that the band might split up filled him with dread. What did he have to show for his life if it wasn’t for Fractured?
Fuck, he needed to lighten up. This thing with Summer had really thrown him. Here he was, hanging with his friends by the pool of his Malibu beach house, with a successful career doing what he loved and more money than he could ever need, and he was allowing thoughts of his ex to get the better of him.
Noah threw back the rest of his beer, then put the empty bottle down on the table and tipped his head back, letting the sun warm his face as he listened to his friends talk setlists and concert dates. Everything was going to be fine. He was more than capable of giving his all to both Fractured and Crossfire. Zac wasn’t going anywhere. And as for Summer, well despite everyone else’s concerns, he wasn’t planning on falling back at her feet. He meant what he’d said before. There was no way he was going to make the same mistake twice.