Page 2 of Fractured Frets

“Slip?” Lewis—our bassist—lowered his voice. “Is Maddy really going to file for an annulment?”

Fire burned like acid in my eyes as I stared at everyone hovering around the living room. “That’s what she said before she left.” The notion of voiding our marriage drilled a huge hole into my heart. I slapped my hand against my chest. “I don’t want her to do that. I fucking love her.”

Sutton took a tiny step toward me. “She loves you too.”

“Then why the fuck does she want to end it? We haven’t even started our life together. I don’t understand.”

“Maybe you rushed into it, considering you hardly see each other.” Cole smirked. “Or maybe she’s already secretly hitched?”

Cole always joked and made light of situations. But this time...?Epic fail.

“She’s not already married.” I winced, but nothing stopped the ache slicing through the center of my soul. “I know her. We wanted this. I swear.” I turned to Sutton for answers. “Do you know why she’d want out?”

“Well, yeah.” She swept her long blonde bangs off her face with her manicured fingernails. “I could write a list a mile long. Can’t you?”

“Of course I can.” I downed another mouthful of vodka, then rattled off the obvious points. “Her mom’s not well.” Maddy was an angel sent from heaven. Taking care of her mom, who had advanced lupus, took up a lot of Maddy’s time when she was in LA. “We live in different countries, but distance has never been an issue” Vancouver wasn’t that far away. Maddy would only be based there while she starred in a TV show. We talked and texted all the time, every day without fail. We caught up every two to four weeks, for anything from a couple of hours to a couple of days. We hadn’t lived together, but I didn’t need to. “And she’s had other boyfriends and has been engaged before.” Shit...I’d been close to getting down on one knee for my ex, Courtney, too...until Flint had interfered. Ending things with Courtney had hurt—but that wasn’t in the same league as this. “None of those things matter. What the fuck am I missing?”

“Slip...she wasn’t just engaged.” Sutton’s voice came out as a pained whisper. “Didn’t she tell you? About Noah? He left her at the altar. He took off with his longtime friend, Jocelyn. That shattered her heart. Don’t you remember their breakup being in the news?”

My stomach sank into my ball sacs. Fuck. I didn’t know that. Noah, the fucker. Being dumped on your wedding day would gut anyone. But that was five years ago. Back then, the guys and I had created enough of our own headlines with our after-show drunken, drugged-out parties, womanizing ways and wild antics. I hadn’t had time to worry about other people’s lives. We’d been having fun, making music, traveling, and living life. “Sorry. I’ve never kept up with celebrity gossip.”

“The news was everywhere.” Sutton grimaced as if dumbfounded by my lack of knowledge. “He dumped her in the church, in front of their family and friends...and photographers from People magazine. It was awful. She was so humiliated. Hurt. And heartbroken.”

Who wouldn’t be?

But why hadn’t she told me about that? We’d told each other everything...well almost. She’d clearly held onto some secrets, but then...so had I. I’d sworn mine would never hurt her or anyone I cared about. I was doing everything to ensure that never happened.

Stretching my head from side to side, I massaged the back of my neck, digging my fingers into the tight muscles, unable to relieve the tension. I didn’t know every detail about Maddy’s past, but I didn’t need to. We’d both had broken hearts. We’d both moved on. We both loved each other. That was enough.

I lowered my gaze and stared at the floor. “What happened with Noah was shitty.” We all had scars from the past. “But Maddy and I are meant to be together. This is right. I know it is.”

“Then don’t fuck it up.” Flint’s tone held a warning sting. “Talk to her.”

“She’s not answering my calls or texts.” I’d sent at least fifty messages to her on the flight back from Las Vegas. Not one reply.

The gossip sites were in meltdown about what we’d done. We’d been photographed last night. That was another shitshow we’d have to deal with. Why couldn’t the press just leave us alone? I hated that I couldn’t walk out my front door without being snapped by the paparazzi.

Flint closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. The muscles in his jaw twitched and ticked. I loved Flint like he was one of my brothers. But was this just our past on repeat, with tension mounting in our band caused by feelings over girls? Women were the only thing that caused issues between us guys. Were we on that road again? We wouldn’t be if Flint stayed out of it.

“Try harder.” Flint’s voice ricocheted off the ceiling.

“Why?” I snapped. “You’re only worried that Mads and I will cause issues between you and Sutton. Well, get this straight.” Swaying toward him, I got up in his face. “I’m not like you. If Mads and I don’t work out, I won’t ever blame your girlfriend for our breakup.”

“Fuck, Slip.” Sorrow dissolved the color from his ice-blue eyes. “Are you gonna hold what happened with Courtney against me for the rest of my days?” My ex, and his ex, Lena, had been best friends. They’d been inseparable. Flint should’ve followed our dibs rule we’d set years ago in high school. He shouldn’t have dated my girlfriend’s best friend. The rule was in place for a reason...to stop causing problems when things went wrong.

Frustration slithered through his voice. “I’ve apologized countless times. I didn’t handle breaking up with Lena well. But Courtney did cause my breakup. She was a bitch. And you know it.”

“Just stay out of this.” I didn’t need him, or my friends or family interfering like they’d always done. This was between Maddy and me—no one else. I didn’t need more stress. I had enough with the tour, my aching hip, and the press on my tail.

“I can’t do that.” Flint’s volume dialed down. “I’m worried about you, Slip.”

“I’ll sort it out.” Maybe . . . hopefully. God, I want to.

“Let me call her.” Sutton grabbed her phone off the sideboard and called Maddy, but then the light faded from her eyes. “She’s not answering. She’s at her condo in Vancouver. I can see her pin on Snap Map.”

Flint nodded, then threw me an icy glare that sobered me. “Go see her. We have two day’s grace in our schedule. Get on a plane to Van City. Fly to Tokyo from there. You’ll be a fucking mess until this is resolved.”

He wasn’t wrong there. Something had gotten in Maddy’s head, and I was hell-bent on finding out what that was. But a shudder ran down my spine. I had a hunch. That hunch stood by the hallway glaring at me, cuddling Charlotte, Cole’s daughter, in her arms. Harper.

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