Page 69 of Fractured Dreams

Eden struggled against Tex’s hold, her tears flowing too profusely for her to do more than choke out the words, “Let me go.” His arms tightened, then reluctantly released her. She staggered a few steps away from him, then turned, breath catching at his shattered expression. “Don’t go, sweetheart, please just—”

She launched herself at him. Shock flashed across his face, but he caught her, arms wrapping around her again. “Tex,” she sobbed, unable to get anything else out.

He gave a stunned laugh, his arms tightening around her, both of them ignoring the shouts and whistles from the crowd watching them while being held back by the band’s security. “Fuck, I thought I’d never hold you again. When I saw you run, I knew I couldn’t let you go.”

He gripped her chin, tipping her head back so she was looking him in the eye. “I hate what I did to you Eden, I hate that I ever caused you a second of pain. What I did—” He clenched his eyes shut for a second, and when he opened them again, anguish darkened his gaze. “I fucked up. There’s no excuse for how I hurt you. But if one good thing came out of this mess, it’s that I finally confronted my fears. And even with all the mistakes that Noah and I made, I’ll still thank him every day for forcing me to do that. Otherwise, over time they would have dragged me down, made me hesitate, made me doubt. I would have spent every day just waiting for you to change your mind and run.”

Tex grasped the back of her neck, his fingers tangling in her hair, his eyes hot on hers. “Now I’m showing you right here, this is who I am. This is my life and I’m asking you if you want to be a part of it. It might be hard sometimes, but I’ll never let a day go by when I don’t make sure you know exactly what you mean to me. And if for some reason it doesn’t work out between us, the journey with you will still have been worth it.”

Eden didn’t think she had more tears to cry, and yet they welled up and trickled down her face at his words. “I love you, Tex. Still. Always. God, I hated you for what you did, sending me away like that. But I hate myself more for not listening to you at the wedding. I was angry, and I’m so, so sorry. I don’t want to stay in Portland, I want to be here, with you. Or anywhere, as long as we’re together.”

“Thank fucking Christ,” he growled. “I told myself I’d respect whatever decision you made, but I might’ve been lying to myself. I would have tried to wear you down, turned up under your window with a boom box and sung to you until you gave in just to shut me up.”

Eden’s heart swelled at the reminder of what he’d done for her. “It was beautiful, Tex, your song. So sad, but beautiful.”

A small smile tipped the corners of his lips. “That damn tune was running around in my brain from the very first morning I stayed with you. I couldn’t get it out of my head, but it kept changing, evolving, like we did. It was always a song about us, I just didn’t realize it until I knew I needed you to hear what I had to say.”

Eden put her hand up to cup his cheek, his scruff rough against her palm. “I heard you, this time.” She fixed her eyes on his. “You need to hear me too. Never do that again. Never make a decision about what’s best for me—forus—without talking to me. I need to know I can trust you not to treat me like a child.”

Tex shook his head. “I didn’t treat you like a child Eden, I treated you like someone who has the capacity to hurt me far beyond anyone else. I let my fear of that rule me. But I can promise you, it won’t happen again. I’m not letting you go. Not unless you tell me in no uncertain terms that you want me to.”

Eden let everything she felt for him show in her expression. “I don’t think that’s something you’re going to have to worry about.”

Tex lowered his head toward her. “You’re mine, sweetheart. And I’m yours.” His lips descended farther, stopping a hairsbreadth away from hers. “Always.”

It wasn’t a proposal—it was far too early for that—but it was a promise, one she was fully on board with. “Always,” she whispered, then pressed her lips to his.

The crowd went wild.

Epilogue

Tex had told himself he was going to wait for Eden to turn twenty-five before he proposed, but it was getting harder every day to wait. Only another year, and she’d be the age his mom was when she’d left him and his dad. Although he knew Eden loved him, he just wanted to make sure she never had any regrets about becoming his.

It was morning, and he was lying stretched out on their bed. One arm behind his head, the other absently scrolling through comments on the band’s social media pages. Eden was in the shower since she was working that day. He’d offered to join her, but after giving him a long, slow, hot kiss, she’d pulled back, smiled, and said she had something to do that morning before she had to head off to work, and she couldn’t let him distract her. Again.

They’d been right about her music therapy job not being a good fit once the tabloids found out about another member of Fractured being off the market. Which happened about five minutes after their display at the album release concert. Eden did manage to finish her internship in Portland and achieve her clinical certification, but once she was back in LA, the risk of random paparazzi deciding to follow her around was too great to make a hands-on therapist job practical.

Instead, Eden had reached out to a woman she’d met with at one of the LA centers, asking if she could help with promotion. That had been the start of it, and now Eden was working as a liaison between various music-based charities throughout the US and members of the music industry. It was a job she loved, even if it wasn’t the career she was originally hoping to have. But they had each other, and that was more than enough for both of them.

The shower shut off, and a few minutes later the door to the bathroom opened. Tex turned, a smile of appreciation crossing his face when she emerged in only a short, silky robe. Her hair was still wet from the shower and it had dampened the material so that it clung to her skin enticingly.

He stood, crossing the room and pulling her into his arms, never tiring of having her body pressed against his.

“So…” she started, then paused. Tension vibrated through her delicate frame, and he pulled back to look down at her, a frown creasing his brow at her hesitancy.

“Is there something wrong?”

“Well, I don’t think so, but…”

Tex was beginning to get alarmed at her unusual hesitancy. He held her shoulders, looking searchingly into her beautiful blue eyes. “Tell me, Eden.”

She gave him a little half-smile. “Well, um, surprise, I’m pregnant!”

She made little star hands as she said it, which was fucking adorable, but Tex was too frozen to comment on it. “Pregnant,” he repeated slowly.

Eden fidgeted, her brow furrowed and her eyes flicking anxiously backward and forward between his. “Yes, I mean, I took a test. Just then. And it’s positive. I’ve been so tired lately, and remember when I was sick, and the doctor gave me antibiotics? Well, I think that interfered with my birth control. And I know we didn’t plan for it, but you want kids, right?” She stopped her babbling, chewing on her lip when he still didn’t reply, his brain frozen on those two words he hadn’t expected to hear anytime soon.

Finally, his head caught up with his heart, which had started hammering with excitement as soon as he’d comprehended what she was saying.

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