“That was a low blow—” I start, but before I can say anything else in response to his outburst, he goes off again.
“Oh, come on! You stand there and try to use myallegedsex life against me but I can’t bring up what you did to begin with? Where do you get off? You’re the one who broke our marriage—broke me—and then left town and never looked back.”
“I did! I fucking did come back,” I splutter through the sobs wracking me. My stomach twists so violently at the flash of memories that night triggers for me that I fear I’ll be sick. Bracing a hand over my lower stomach, I take a staggered step back.
His face pales to a sickly shade of white and his shoulders drop.
“You know I came to Boston, but it didn’t matter then and it’s beside the point to bring up now,” I whisper, too drained to continue this conversation.
“Fuck! T-baby, I’m sorry,” he says softly, but I turn my back on him and swing the door to my tour bus open, entering before securing it shut and locking it behind me.
Throwing myself face down onto my usual bed in the back, I debate whether or not I’ll choose to sleep here tonight instead of the hotel suite I’m sharing with Jax.
My mind whirls as I try to figure out what the hell that was. What happened out there just now wasn’t us—not the inseparable Taevin and Jackson I remember. The version of us I’d branded myself with and clung to the memory of like it was my lifeline.
It’s only after my tears have dried and I’m drifting off to sleep that I realize I don’t recognize that version of us because that was our first actual fight. Even when I broke us, we didn’t try to cut each other like that.
12
Now
Fuck!
I’m not sure how things escalated so quickly earlier, but I know I took it too far.
It was like I couldn’t stop myself from pouring out my feelings to her, even though I knew it wasn’t the time or place to do it. She drives me wild—completely fucking mad. It’s like I’m a hormonal teenager all over again. Tae went from bringing out my cheesy as fuck passion as a teenager to bringing out a new possessive side of me now. She went from making me want to girlfriend her up and spoil her to making me want to win her back and take care of her at all costs.
One minute she has me reminiscing about what it was like to hold her in my arms, wishing I could’ve done just that the other night in my kitchen. Then the next morning, she’s giving me the cold shoulder. Actually, she’s been practically ignoring me every second she can since I found out about Enzo fucking Calvetti. And then when I finally got her talking to me before her soundcheck, I had to go and fuck it all to hell.
I couldn’t help it—I saw red when Kyle touched her. A foreign possessiveness I’m not sure I’ve ever felt fueled me to threaten her manager, and in hindsight, I know I was out of line.
Which led me to the position I’m in now, standing outside our shared hotel suite like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs, unsure if I should go inside or give her more space. Taevin texted me about two hours ago to let me know she had to come back to the hotel to get her hair and makeup done by her “glam squad,” whatever the fuck that is.
Braidy gives me a nod as I stand there awkwardly and weigh my options. “Boss lady said you were free to go in. Guess that must mean she’s forgiven you.”
I shake my head. “Afraid I haven’t done anything to earn her forgiveness yet.” Holding up the tray in my hands, I add, “Hoping these will help me take a step in the right direction.”
He chuckles. “I think you’ll do just fine. She’s been texting every ten minutes asking if I’ve seen you or if you’ve stopped by yet.”
“That’s not necessarily a good thing, Braidy.”
Finally, I decide to man the fuck up and go inside the suite, and when I do, I question whether I walked into the wrong one. A rack with dozens of sequined and bejeweled outfits is set up right near the door, damn near blocking the entryway. The kitchenette countertop is covered with shoes and boots, cowgirl hats, and more jewelry than someone could probably wear in their lifetime. But none of that compares to the lit up vanity that wasn’t there an hour ago when I left. Its countertop is filled with dozens upon dozens of makeup brushes and products. And sitting in front of that on a barstool is Taevin in an oversized, white hotel robe, hugging one knee to her chest while the other leg dangles over the edge of the stool tapping to the beat of the music playing in the background.
Dumbfounded, I stand there and take in the scene of her in hair rollers, bopping along and lip syncing while a woman looks like she’s beating Tae’s face with some orange thing. She has her eyes closed, so she hasn’t noticed me standing there staring at her like a creep with a bag of lunch in one hand and a drink carrier in the other.
After her hospitalization in Paris, and hearing what her doctor in Minnesota had to say, I’ve been an anxious mess when it comes to Taevin’s performance tonight. She mentioned on the flight here that she has had more inflammation than normal due to her tumor, and she was worried about it affecting her vocal chords.
A faint gasp leaves the woman’s lips before she shrieks, “Oh holy shit! I was about to scream but then I realized who you were. YouareTaevin’s secret husband, right? Well, I guess it’s not so secret anymore since the news broke about an hour ago.”
My hackles rise. “What are you talking about?”
Taevin’s eyes shoot open before she narrows them at me through the reflection in the mirror. “Oh, just what I told you would happen. You let the cat outta the bag, and now we’ll have to suffer the public disgrace and scrutiny when you inevitably give me my divorce.”
Eyeing the makeup artist suspiciously, I shuffle my feet from side to side, unsure if and how I should respond to that.
“You don’t have to worry about Elsie, she’s like a sister to me and has been with me for five years now. Even so, she’s signed a big, fat NDA so she won’t say shit. Right, Else?”
“Damn straight, beautiful,” Elsie agrees as she looks me up and down. “So, Mr. Secret Hubby, are you going to continue to stand there like a weirdo with those mysterious drinks in your hands, or are you going to take a seat and join our conversation we were just having about you?”
