Page 68 of Reckless

When she turns back to me, there are tears brimming on her lashes and the tip of her nose is red.

“Hey.” I lift my arms and pull her into me. “Hey, come here.”

Sol melts into me, keeping her arms around herself, but she presses her face into my chest. After a few moments, I feel wetness through my shirt. She’s crying in earnest now.

“What is it, Sol? What’s wrong? You know I can’t stand it when you cry,” I say, stroking a hand up and down her back.

My heart is pounding. This isn’t normal. God, what if she is right and everything is going to shit? I’ve been so far up my own ass, hanging out with Krista, that I’ve switched off. No wonder she thinks I don’t care.

She makes a hiccupping sound that’s part sob, part laugh. We stand still for a few minutes until she gets herself together. She draws away and walks back to the couch, sitting on the edge with her knees pressed together. Her elbows rest on both knees and she presses her palms to her cheeks, wiping at the tears.

I give her a minute to get herself together, then go sit on the coffee table in front of her.

“Talk to me.”

“I need a drink.”

The tequila bottle is beside me. I grab it and go to pour her one, but the one I poured earlier is still sitting on the table. I try to hand it to her, but she shakes her head. We sit in silence as she works things through. From experience, I know it’s best to let Sol work on her own timetable. But I am worried. She’s always trying to look after everyone else.

Ethan does nothing but give her grief with the way he behaves. I’ve tried to tell her repeatedly she doesn’t need to keep him in line or worry about him. He’s a grown man who can take care of himself, but she can’t help it. As much as she moans about him and calls him all the names under the sun, he’s her little brother.

“About six weeks ago, we were in Vegas for that music festival.”

“Yeah.” I remember. Vaguely.

We’d been one of the headline acts the last night. Once we finished our set, I barely remembered any of what we performed. The crowd was still screaming for us, so we must have done something right. I barged off the stage and headed back to the bus, not even bothering with the dressing room.

The rest of the guys had gone out after the show, but I stayed on the bus, trying to sleep but staring at the ceiling for hours instead.

“I met this guy. We were both at the blackjack table.”

Her voice brings me out of that bad memory.

“I was losing, as usual.”

“You’re a terrible gambler.”

“It’s fun,” she gives me a sad smile. “It’s not like I need to worry about losing a few grand.”

“That’s how all gamblers end up in the hole.”

“Shush. You know I’m not stupid. Anyway, we got to chatting. He was gorgeous. Kind of aloof, and he got pissy when people tried to talk to him, but with me, he was charming. You know how I’m a sucker for a guy in a suit,” she reaches for her braid and pulls on it.

“Aren’t we all?” I laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

Sol smiles, but it falls almost immediately. “We went to his room. He was in one of the biggest suites in the hotel. It had a swimming pool in the living room.”

I move closer to her. “What happened Sol?”

If she tells me this guy hurt her, I’m going to absolutely lose my shit. I will go get Riggs out of that room and kick his ass for letting something happen to her, then I will find the asshole and fucking kill him.

“It’s not what you think. We had a good time,” she shrugs. “In fact, it was probably the best night of my life. We weren’t supposed to be staying in Vegas, so I snuck out of his room when he fell asleep. I left him my number on a napkin with a lipstick kiss,” she laughs like it’s the most ridiculous thing ever.

“He didn’t call?”

“No. And what’s worse, I don’t know his name. We never gave our names. Though I’m sure he recognized me. Why wouldn’t he when there was a giant Reckless Soul poster just outside of the casino advertising the festival? Oh god,” she puts a hand over her mouth. “This is hard.”

“Solene, please fucking tell me what happened. What did he do?”

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