The possibility of her being into me made me rock on my heels, as if the movement could right my world that just flipped upside down. I could resist my own budding feelings for her if I knew she was unlikely to reciprocate, but if she was starting to feel something for me, refusing her would be impossible. I was stronger than I looked, but I was not strong enough for that.
She was definitely grinding into me, the movement slow and deliberate, and I stifled a groan. She tipped her head back to rest on my chest, giving me a view of her exposed neck, and I didn’t waste a second before pressing my lips to the smooth skin.
I didn’t have a chance to ask myself what the fuck I was doing before her scent once again assaulted my senses. She smelled phenomenal, like flowers and honey, and I lapped at her like a starving man at a buffet. The music swallowed up her moans, but her neck vibrated with the sound against my lips. My balls tightened as I slowly dragged my right hand from her hips to graze the underside of her breast.
The song ended suddenly, and I broke away, my breaths fast and ragged. Adeline’s chest moved with the same rapid pace as she spun around to face me, her face flushed and a little broken. “I’m going to get another beer. I’ll bring you one back.”
“Ade—” Before I could finish saying her name, she was moving, twisting through the crowd and disappearing from sight. I sighed, running a hand through my hair and looking around for the other guys, none of whom I could see. Mastery was switching some equipment, and the crowd was frothing all around me, waiting for the music to start again.
“You traitorous piece of shit.”
The venomous words came accompanied by a hard jerk on my wrist. I whipped around to see a short woman I didn’t recognize grabbing onto me, her fingernails biting into my skin.
“What the fuck?” I said, trying to shake her off. She wouldn’t let go, and I had to figure out how to get her away from me without using force.
“Charlie dies, and you move on to some bitch less than two months later?”
Her words were so shocking that I froze. Judging by the gray hairs peeking through the grown-out roots of her jet-black hair, she must be in her forties or older. I could smell the alcohol on her breath, but she didn’t seem disoriented or unsteady. Her band T-shirt was so worn that it took me a while to recognize it was one of ours.
She tugged on me with surprising force. “You fucking deaf?”
She must be a crazy fan, I concluded, but that didn’t explain how she knew about Charlie and I. Everything between us had happened in private, away from any prying eyes.
“Let go of me,” I demanded. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She scoffed. “Please. You think you could hide the truth from your fans? We know you were together. We think he was the one who wrote the majority of your songs, and you took credit for it. He gave you everything, and this is how you repay him? By replacing him before he’s cold in his grave? It should have been you who died.”
Something in my face made her reel back a few inches and finally release my wrist.
“Fuck you,” I snapped, her words slithering over my skin like maggots.
“Charlie was an angel,” she yelled, her spit flying into the air between us. “A pure soul. I think you drove him to his overdose. Maybe you’ll do the same to the new bitch you were wrapped around.”
I saw red. I couldn’t stay here, because I knew I’d do something I’d regret for the rest of my life if I did. Charging past the woman, I elbowed my way through the crowd until the doors to the venue flung open before me and the late summer air began to dry the tears streaking from my eyes.
ADELINE
I spotted Silas at the end of the other bar and rushed toward him, gripping a beer in each palm.
His smile was silly as he wrapped an arm around my waist. “Is that one for me?”
Was he drunk? I moved one of my beers out of his reach. He’d had enough for now.
“It’s for Abel, but I can’t find him. I can see he hasn’t read my texts. I’m getting worried, can you help me look for him?”
Silas’s face dropped. “Shit. He’s probably off sulking somewhere.”
I felt guilty. Had our spontaneous flirting triggered this in him? He’d seemed totally fine when I’d made my escape. I’d needed a second to collect myself on a day that was proving to be the wildest one in my existence.
My heart had threatened to burst out of my ribcage when Abel came up behind me, in an attempt to make sure I didn’t get pushed around. His touch on my hips had set my skin on fire. I didn’t know if it was the two beers I’d had by that point or the adrenaline I’d been riding for hours, but when I’d felt him hard against me, I didn’t want to pull away. Rather, I’d wanted to crawl inside of him, or even better, have him inside of me.
There was something unbelievably thrilling in knowing I was able to turn him on. Our relationship had always been so complicated. I never knew exactly where we stood with each other. When Abel started kissing my neck, I’d wanted so badly to kiss him in earnest, but something had held me back. What if this wouldn’t last? What if once the magic of the day wore off, he’d revert to being cold once again? I’d needed to get some space and cool down, so I’d left him.
Silas grabbed the beers out of my hands and put them behind him on the bar. “Did something happen between you?”
I was too tired of keeping secrets to lie to him. “Maybe. Kind of. We had a moment but then I went to the bar and he was gone when I came back.”
Silas gave me a pitying look. “He’s a tough nut to crack. The fact that you had any kind of a moment is an accomplishment. Just give him time. He’ll come around to see you like the rest of us already do.”
