Page 4 of Fractured Dreams

He took a swig from his bottle and let his eyes roam the packed dance floor. There was no shortage of beautiful women, many of them casting glances toward where the band sat in the hopes of being noticed. Ithadbeen longer than usual since he’d gotten laid. Maybe he should do something about that tonight.

But first he wanted to relax with his friends for a while. His mind drifted back to what Noah had told them about Eden, and he turned to the drummer. “So how long was Eden with this loser?”

Noah’s brow furrowed as he thought. “I think it was a bit over a year. She’d just started dating him last time she visited.” Tex had been on the East Coast during that visit, which was why he’d missed seeing her.

“What do you know about him?”

“He’s the lead singer of a local band, so yeah, I may have warned her off dating him.” Noah winced in remembered regret.

Tex laughed. “And how did that go down?”

“You know Eden, she doesn’t like being told what to do.”

Tex scrubbed a hand over his mouth, hiding a smile. “For such a shy little kid, she sure did grow up knowing her own mind. And letting you know it too.”

Noah groaned. “Tell me about it. I don’t know why she doesn’t realize I’m only looking out for her.”

“I don’t remember you particularly appreciating being dictated to at that age either. Sometimes people have to make their own mistakes.”

“I know that, I do. It’s just guys can be such dirtbags, especially musicians, as we know firsthand.”

Tex raised a brow. “I resent that implication.”

Noah snorted. “Oh sorry, I forgot you’ve been such a saint over the last eleven years.”

Not sure if Noah was being serious, Tex frowned. “None of us have been saints, but I’ve never led anyone on. Everyone’s always known the score. And if no one gets attached, then no one gets hurt.”

“So, what are you going to do when you meetthe one?”

Tex shrugged; as far as he was concerned, it was simple. “Make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”

The skin around Noah’s eyes tightened, and his lips thinned. “Yeah, well, even with the best of intentions, that’s not always possible. You know this lifestyle isn’t conducive to lasting relationships, weeks—months—away at a time, groupies all over you, the paparazzi, tabloids. It takes a certain type of woman to deal with all that shit.”

Tex jerked his chin over at where Connor and Lexie were talking to Zac. “What about them? They’re making it work.”

“Lexie is a freelancer; she can go with us when we travel. Unless you expect whichever woman you fall in love with to leave her job to follow you around, then that’s not always going to be possible. And if she’s left at home while you’re traveling, well, that’s a fuck-ton of pressure on a relationship. You’re asking for a lot of trust, and when you lose that trust, believe me, everyone ends up hurt.”

Tex grimaced. Noah’s relationship with his high school sweetheart, Summer, had gone bad after the band headed off on their first tour. Noah had never spilled all the details of what went down between the two of them, but the normally laid-back drummer had spent months after the breakup in an alcohol-induced haze, until their manager at the time had taken him aside and read him the riot act. Luckily for all of them, Noah had eventually pulled it together, but there was no doubt that whatever had caused their split had affected him deeply.

“Anyway, Eden deserves better than a sleazy musician,” Noah said. “No matter how grown up she is now, she’s still innocent. I know she had it harder than me as a kid, and I just want to make certain she has a great life, an easy life. And that includes no more scumbag boyfriends treating her like shit.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Tex agreed. He didn’t have a sister, but he imagined he’d have similar concerns about who she dated if he did. “Do you know what the asshole did?”

“She didn’t say, but from how she sounded on the phone when I spoke to her, I’m guessing he cheated on her.”

Tex’s brows lowered and his jaw tightened as he pictured Eden’s pretty face wet with tears after finding out her boyfriend had screwed her over. He hated the thought of some bastard breaking her heart. She was such a sweetheart, she deserved someone who’d treat her right.

Realizing he’d tensed, Tex took another sip of beer, trying to relax. Well, she’d be there soon enough and would have all of them to make sure she was okay.

Noah echoed his thoughts. “She’ll be coming out with us a lot while she’s here, so we all need to watch out for her. I don’t want any assholes trying to take advantage of her while she’s emotionally vulnerable.”

Lexie, who was sitting on Connor’s lap with his arms around her, had been listening in to the last part of their conversation. She leaned forward so they could hear her over the music, her long, dark hair falling over her shoulder. “I don’t think you’re giving your sister enough credit, Noah. I think she’s stronger than you realize.”

Noah shrugged. “You may be right, but she had a pretty sheltered childhood, and she’s not used to LA, so I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Fair enough,” Lexie said, leaning back against Connor’s chest. Tex could see she wasn’t convinced but probably didn’t want to press the issue since she’d only met Eden once before. “I’ll help as much as I can, considering I’m still getting used to your crazy lives myself.”

“Good,” Noah said, taking it for granted that they were all on board with his plan to look after Eden. He downed what remained of his beer, placing the empty bottle on the table in front of him. “Think I’m going to work the room,” he said, eyes on the girls lining the bar, most of whom had their attention firmly on the corner where they were all sitting, probably only kept at bay by the beefy security guards sitting around them. All bets would be off as soon as any of them stepped out of the safety zone, though.

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