Bax in the clothes he currently wore. The sack of burritos in his grip.
Her fingertips went cold. Numb.
Baxwith his ex.
Courtney’s hands felt heavier than usual against the screen.
Bax handing Em cash.
Courtney’s tongue couldn’t seem to move.
A comfortably close cheek kiss between them.
The worst part? Em wore her Bax bracelet.
That just rubbed salt on the wound that Courtney thought had already closed.
She did a quick search, and though this had just happened, the interweb had already splashed Bax and Em photo montages across their pages. The Harley excitement from moments ago was replaced with dread seeping deep in her gut.
“Bax?” His name sounded funny coming out of her mouth. “Did you forget to tell me something?” The words sounded foreign—hurt, even.
But, no, this was Bax. There was a solid explanation, and she’d hear him out.
“You saw Em?” she asked, shaking off the dread because they’d worked for more than that.
There was an explanation here, something that made sense.
Something that wasn’t “Dimefront Lead Meets Up with Ex” and “Trouble in Dimefront Paradise.”
He glanced at the burritos and stared at the plastic cup of sour cream.
She wasn’t hungry anymore, not even the blandest of salsa held appeal.
“It’s not what you think,” he said, his knuckles turning white against the knife.
“I’m not thinking anything right now.” She tried to give him a reassuring smile. “Linx? Do you mind giving us some space?”
Linx didn’t seem to like it, but he left.
“What happened?” Courtney asked, keeping her tone neutral.
He strode to her, flipped through the photos. “Apparently, I got set up.”
“That much is pretty clear.”
“Nothing happened.” He pointed to the screen. “That’s the closest she got to me, and I didn’t like it. Didn’t want it. Left immediately.”
“Okay.” Courtney chewed her bottom lip, putting her cell away. She’d need to come up with an official response from the band, from Bax, from her. Something that said,Hey, we’re happy, without coming right out and saying it.
Maybe a baby update announcement? That would do it.
Or maybe not? Maybe this type of clickbait didn’t deserve her attention.
Perhaps…
“I don’t want to hate her.” Bax’s fingers looped in the waistband of his jeans. “But she’s making it hard.” He rubbed a hand over his hair. “The thing I don’t get is that she was really genuinely happy for us. She knew I wanted kids. She was on the fence. Here I am with a kid on the way. A little girl.” He glanced up at Courtney, his eyes more vulnerable than she’d ever seen before.
Something about the way he said that Em knew he wanted kids. That Em was on the fence. That gem of knowledge sat sideways in Courtney’s stomach.
