Page 30 of Love You Like This

Great

We make plans for dinner here in Malibu since he doesn’t have any big projects he’s working on at the moment. Since I have the entire day to myself, I spend the morning working out and email my attorney to see if they’ve heard from the woman who thinks I’m her baby’s father. Then I binge watch a few episodes of Law and Order because there’s nothing else to do and my house is too quiet.

Usually I love coming home to an empty house after weeks on the road with the band, but today it just feels lonely. Maybe it’s knowing that Stone, who I would normally go bother, is probably thoroughly enjoying his free time with Hazel. I’m sure I could walk over there, but the last thing I want to do is walk in on them.

In our younger days he and I would share women, and occasionally men, but they were groupies. Hazel is his everything. She’s sacred to him, and I respect that way too much to risk intruding.

From them, my thoughts inevitably wander to Jade. If she gave me another chance, I’d never disappoint her again. I know that leaving the way I did when we were kids was shitty, but everything was rushed and chaotic. The last thing I thought was that she’d immediately block me on everything and change her number like that. She knew it was a possibility that I’d get accepted last minute to Juilliard.

I pull up my text chain with her and click on her profile picture to see her location. She’s at home, mere miles from me. I could hop on my bike and go past her bungalow. That’d be too stalkery, though. Not that I’m not a stalker. I check her location daily, especially when we’re out on tour and she’s going to her workout classes alone. I could have given Darren a big, sloppy kiss when he suggested we all keep each other’s locations for safety.

I leave for the restaurant twenty minutes earlier than necessary out of sheer boredom and decide to do a drive-by of her house. As I drive up her street, I see an unfamiliar truck in her driveway. It looks like a construction truck, but there’s no signage on it. The tailgate is down, and a toolbox is open in the bed.

There’s not even an internal debate in my mind as I put my car in park and walk up to her front door. What if the guy is a crazed maniac about to abduct her? Or worse? My heart thumps in my chest when I get to the front door and see it cracked open.

Panic sets in when a hear a loud thumping coming from one of the bedrooms in the house. My stride quickens to nearly a jog by the time I burst through the doorway. What I see stops me in my tracks.

Jade swings around a pole in tiny shorts and a sports bra while some weirdo stands leering at her holding a hammer in one hand.

“What the fuck is going on here?” My voice is low and menacing enough to make the guy jump.

“What the hell, Xander?” She drops from the pole immediately and presses her hands to her waist, having the audacity to look pissed at me for caring.

“What the fuck, indeed, Jade?”

“Uhhh, are you Xander Jacobs?” the guy asks. “I’m a huge fucking fan, man.”

“Who are you?” I ask turning my attention to him.

The guy has glasses and a missing tooth. He’s probably about my age, maybe a couple years older. He holds out his hand for a shake, but all I give him is a scowl.

“He’s helping secure my new pole, if you must know.” She glowers at me. “Thank you, Matt. Double check your Venmo, but I sent the payment.”

The guy pulls his phone out and checks. “I got it. Thank you. Let me know when you decide to add to your deck.” He looks back at me. “Can I get your autograph?”

I end up scribbling my signature on his fucking tool belt with a fake ass smile just so he’ll get the fuck out. She goes to follow him, but I press my hand against her stomach, halting her progress.

Fuck, I missed how soft her skin is. My fingers twitch as I battle the desire to run them over her body.

She slaps my hand away. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“I was driving by and saw a weird truck in your driveway with your front door open.”

“And?”

“What do you mean, and? I was worried. You’re a woman living alone.”

“It’s the middle of the day.”

“The truck was unmarked. What kind of company uses unmarked vehicles?”

“He’s not a company. I hired him off Task Rabbit.”

“Jesus fucking christ, Jade. You can’t just hire people off Task Rabbit like that.”

“Actually, I can, and I do. All the damn time. It’s actually you who can’t just barge into someone else’s home.”

“Why the fuck were you on the pole when I walked in?”