Page 10 of Fractured Dreams

As Tex took a second to retune his guitar, he watched Eden warming up, the instrument tucked between her jaw and her collarbone as her bow made long, slow strokes across the strings. A tiny crease formed between her brows as she concentrated on creating clear, precise notes, before transitioning into faster-paced scale runs.

She’d let her hair out of its bun, and it hung, longer than he remembered, in a tumbling wave that almost reached the small of her back. As her bow moved faster with the more rapid strokes, his eyes involuntarily dropped to where her T-shirt pulled tight across her breasts with every movement. Blinking, he quickly looked back up just as Zac said something that made her stop playing and laugh, her face lighting up. Tex shook his head, wondering exactly how much her ex was probably kicking himself right about now.

“So, what are you going to play?” Lexie asked from where she was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her camera in her lap.

Eden responded first. “Can we do a Fractured song? I’ve been practicing in case I got the chance to play with you all again.”

“Which ones do you know?” Zac asked.

“All of them,” she stated, a small smile playing on her lips.

Tex let out a short laugh, and she turned her gaze on him, eyebrow quirked, smile still on her lips. “What? I’ve been looking forward to this day.”

Intrigued by the sparkle in her eyes, he leaned back in his chair, holding her gaze. “Okay, what about “Our Time has Come”?” It was one of the lesser-known songs from their first album.

Eden’s brows arched, and for a second, he thought she was going to admit she didn’t know how to play it. Instead, eyes alight with the challenge and still fixed on his, she raised her bow and played the opening riff.

A wide grin spread across Tex’s face, but he didn’t say anything, just sat forward, put his fingers to his guitar strings, and added his harmony to hers. The others jumped in too, Zac on his bass, Noah on the hand drums he used for jamming, and Connor, holding his guitar but not playing, only crooning out the lyrics.

Tex kept his gaze on Eden’s face the whole way through the song, even when her eyes drifted closed as she played. He was fascinated by how the emotion she was drawing out of the instrument was reflected in the softness of her expression, the subtle upward or downward tilting of her lips, the slight flutter of her lashes against her cheeks. He took a deep breath in to ease a sudden tightness in his chest. It’d been a while since they’d had the opportunity to play this song; he’d forgotten how poignant it was.

When they reached the end, Eden added an intricate flourish before opening her eyes, her gaze immediately meeting his again. She cocked an eyebrow at him, and all he could do was smile in admiration as he shook his head, conceding defeat.

The others challenged her some more, not only with Fractured’s lesser-known songs but also some of their harder to play ones, but she knew them all note-perfect. In fact, the violin added a whole extra dimension to the music, and at one stage Tex caught Connor’s eye and raised his brows. Connor’s nod of acknowledgment showed he’d had the same thought: they should consider adding the violin to at least one of their new tracks.

As Tex watched Eden play, her graceful body swaying with the music, he had a sudden moment of disorientation. The memory of the shy, gangly little girl playing with them in her parent’s garage overlayed by the far more confident young woman she’d become. It was probably the first time he truly appreciated that Eden was all grown up.

And he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

Chapter 5

Eden could sense Tex’s gaze on her as she played. Even with her eyes closed, even as she lost herself in the music, a part of her stayed focused on him.

When she’d first begun to play, she’d been filled with nerves, although she’d tried her best not to show it. But a couple of songs in, she’d relaxed as her enjoyment of the moment had taken over. Still, she was strangely conscious of Tex’s attention whenever it was on her. Maybe it was what he’d said about being proud of her career choice, or because he’d always seemed to enjoy her playing when she was younger, but she found herself hoping to impress him with how she’d grown as a musician.

As they neared the end of the current song, Eden opened her eyes again, wanting to see the flash of Tex’s smile as the clear, sweet sound of her violin wove through the soulful chords from his guitar. His gaze met hers, and he gave her a wink, sending a thrill of pleasure coursing through her. She pulled her eyes away, focusing on the movement of her bow across the strings as she played the final note.

Dropping the instrument from her chin, Eden arched her back and rolled her shoulders to stretch them. It was getting late, and they’d been at it for ages. Apparently, everyone had the same idea, because the guys stood and stretched too, grinning and laughing with each other as they put their instruments away in their cases. Eden watched them as she carefully packed her violin away, smiling at their camaraderie and how they so obviously still loved playing music together, even after all these years.

Drew had left earlier that afternoon, but Lexie had been sitting quietly off to the side taking photos. She wandered over to Eden. “That was wonderful. You play beautifully, and the violin is so expressive.”

“Thank you. I love it. I play the piano too, and I learned basic guitar while I was at college because that’s the easiest instrument to use for music therapy, but the violin is my favorite because it’s so evocative.”

“Well, hopefully we’ll get to hear you perform again while you’re here.”

Eden smiled at her. “I’d like that.”

Once everyone had packed up, Eden and Noah walked them all to the front door, watching them leave one by one. Tex was the last to go, roaring off on his motorcycle. She had no idea what type it was, but it was huge, and black, and pretty damn sexy, she had to admit.

With a final look at Tex as he disappeared around the bend in Noah’s driveway, Eden turned and followed her brother inside, her shoulders slumping with exhaustion as the door closed behind them. As fun and exhilarating as the day had been, it had been long, and Eden just wanted to go to sleep. But after saying goodnight to Noah, brushing her teeth and collapsing into bed, she found she couldn’t relax. As tired as her body was, her mind was still on a high. So, as she lay there in the dark, Eden let her thoughts wander back over the day.

She smiled to herself as she remembered all the shit the guys had given each other during the afternoon and evening. She and Lexie had shared several amused glances as the four men, and occasionally Drew, attempted to one-up each other with insults.

But Eden’s smile soon disappeared as she recalled how Noah had tried to convince her to stay with their parents while he was away on tour. As if she were a child. She was particularly embarrassed that he’d raised the issue in front of everyone else. Was that the way they all saw her? Like she couldn’t look after herself?

Eden rolled on to her side, blowing a breath out in frustration. What would it take for her family to see that she was a strong, independent woman, who didn’t need protecting?

Although… Eden chewed her lip. She had to admit, she wasn’t exactly looking forward to spending several weeks rattling around Noah’s big house on her own. Not that she would tell him that now, though. She might have even suggested inviting Tabby to stay with her, but she knew her brother was stringent about his privacy, and she didn’t want to invite a stranger into his home. As much as she trusted Tabby, there was a reason Noah and the other guys were careful about who they let into their private sanctuaries. There were a surprising number of people who could be unscrupulous in their dealings with celebrities, and everyone in the band had been burned before.

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