Page 87 of Fractured Rhythm

“Too bad you had to go and get famous,” she teased, brushing her hand over my knuckles. “Don’t worry about it. I’m only here because of you. There’s nothing in this town for me, aside from you and your family.” Her head dropped to stare at our hands, and I hated it. How different our family lives were. How different our parents were.

“You are amazing,” I said, and she finally looked back up at me.

“Why?”

“Because you got out of the mess. You went to school and found a career you love. You got out. I can’t imagine how hard it is, growing up with your parents, but you did this without them, and you should be really fucking proud of that,” I said.

Her smile stole my breath as she beamed at me. “I love you, Bash.”

I leaned down, brushing my lips across hers. “I love you more.”

The elevator dinged, and we headed out the back entrance and into our waiting car. Traffic was never an issue in Forest Creek, and we were at my parents’ in less than twenty minutes.

As soon as Bud opened my door, I heard Charlie banging away on one of Jamie’s old kits. I hadn’t had the heart to get rid of it, and it was a punch to my gut to hear someone else playing on it.

I grabbed my guitar from the trunk and headed straight for the noise, with Cassie on my heels. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d played in this garage.

“’Bout time you guys showed up,” Jax called out when we walked through the door. “What were you doing?” he taunted.

“We talked about this, Jax,” I warned.

“Calm your tits. Your parents aren’t even in here,” he said, holding up a hand in surrender.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Are we going to play or gossip?” Charlie asked.

Tristan chuckled as he lightly plucked at the strings on his bass guitar. He was used to our antics. Jax had always been and would always be a ball buster.

“We can gossip and play. You have a lot to learn, Charlie,” Jax said.

“How about you just sing, Ellie?” she fired back and Jax grumbled.

I felt pure joy. Our chemistry had continued to meld perfectly together. The teasing and the easy playing drove that home for me, and I was grateful that we were able to get to this point after everything.

Cassie sat down on the worn couch in the corner as we started messing around with a few old songs.

“That one was always my favorite,” Cassie said as we moved into “Believe In.”

“It’s about you,” I said. “It’s a ballad; how could it not be?”

“You two are fucking adorable,” Jax taunted before he fake gagged.

“One day, my friend. One day this will be you, and we will torture the shit out of you,” I said. Then I ignored him, shot a grin toward Cassie, and went back to playing.

“You guys hungry?” my mom asked when she poked her head into the garage an hour later.

“Always,” Jax said, making a beeline for the door before anyone could say another word.

“Guess that means we’re taking a lunch break,” Tristan said, following Jax and my mom.

“You sounded great behind his old kit, Charlie,” Cassie said as we headed into the house.

“Thanks. That means a lot coming from you,” Charlie said with a smile before she made her way into the dining room.

“So how many songs did you write about me?” Cassie asked.

“Pretty much all of them. If it’s about love or heartache, it’s about you,” I said. I lowered my head when she parted her lips and kissed her. I poured everything I had into that kiss. Just like I did with every song I’d ever written about her.

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