Page 5 of Fractured Dreams

Tex contemplated staying where he was and relaxing for the rest of the night, but tension was still vibrating through him for some reason; he could probably do with blowing off some steam.

He looked around the room at all the women. Tall, short, skinny, curvy, all LA gorgeous in different ways but still somehow all the same. Maybe it was the covetous look in the eyes of so many of them as they watched him and the other guys that was putting him off.

Tex glanced at Lexie and Connor, watching as Connor whispered something in her ear, Lexie’s resulting blush visible even in the low light of the club. Envy hit him again, not the brief needle sting from before, but a dull throb that settled low in his chest. He wondered what it would be like to find the person who made you feel whole. To know that they’d always be there for you; to never again have to search the room for someone who might make you feel something—anything—like real intimacy, even if only for a few hours. All the while already knowing that you’d be leaving straight after the act because you hadn’t found whatever it was you were looking for.

Tex dragged his gaze away from his friends and back to the club. Time to focus on what he did have: a dream gig doing what he loved, good friends, plenty of money, and more women than he could ever want.

He drained his beer, then got up and headed in the direction of where Noah was chatting with a couple of look-alike model types, whose eyes lit up as they saw him making his way toward them. One of them might do for the night.

But his steps slowed as he approached the group, and he stopped before reaching them. Blowing out a harsh, frustrated breath, Tex turned away and instead took a seat at the bar next to one of the band’s security detail, who was using the vantage point to keep his eye on everyone. The big man nodded at him, then turned his watchful eyes back on the crowd.

Tex ordered a whiskey then cast a glance back at the two women, one of whom had returned to smiling flirtatiously up at Noah, while the other was still eyeing him, an expression of blatant invitation on her face. He looked away, taking a sip from the glass the bartender had placed in front of him.

It would be easy—so fucking easy. It always was. But he hadn’t even spoken to her and he already knew how it would end. A few hours of mindless sex that would satisfy his body—and hers—but inevitably leave him unfulfilled. Because when it came down to it, nothing ever changed.

There was never a fucking spark.

Chapter 3

The car Eden’s brother had sent to pick her up stopped out the front of his stunning Malibu beach house; the one she invariably regretted having to leave whenever she visited. After living all of her life in Ohio, she loved having the opportunity to be near the ocean, and Noah’s home had floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views out over the water, as well as access to the private stretch of sand it sat above.

Noah had offered to buy her a beach house of her own if she came to work in LA after her internship, but Eden preferred to do things by herself. If she decided to move there, she wanted to be like everyone else her age and rent a crappy apartment, not live off her brother’s generosity.

She also hadn’t made a final decision yet about where she was going to work once she finished her internship. If she liked Oregon, and if the clinic in Portland offered her a permanent position, she would definitely consider it.

But it would be nice to live closer to her brother. There might be an eight-year age gap between them, but he’d always looked out for her—sometimes a little more than she would like. And now that she was all grown up and out of the ‘annoying teenage angst’ phase as he used to call it, they’d developed a tight bond.

Eden opened the car door before the driver had a chance to do it for her, stepping around to the trunk to get her bags. Before she could grab them, the big house’s equally impressive double wooden doors swung open and Noah came striding out, a wide grin on his face.

Smiling broadly in return, Eden threw her arms around her brother and hugged him tightly. She’d missed him. What with his crazy schedule as a jet-setting rock star, and her studies, she hadn’t seen him in close to a year, though they called each other regularly.

“How’s it going, short stuff?” Noah asked, tugging the end of her ponytail the way he used to whenever he teased her as a child.

Eden let out a long breath. “Much better, now that I’m here.” She meant now that the long trip to get there was over, but some of the truth of how she’d been feeling since the breakup must have seeped into her tone, because he held her shoulders and looked into her eyes, brows drawn.

“What happened, Eden? I know that bastard did something, so you might as well tell me. You know I’ll keep pestering you until you do.”

Eden gave a good-natured groan. “Let me get settled, then we can have a drink and I’ll tell you. You have to promise me you won’t go off the deep end and try tofix thingsfor me though.”

“I promise,” he said, his expression sincere, but with one of his hands held behind his back suspiciously.

“Are you crossing your fingers right now?” she asked, rolling her eyes, and trying to smother her smile when he nodded and grinned unrepentantly. “I swear Noah, it should be you who’s the youngest child.”

Noah laughed, blue eyes sparkling. “Nah, having all this at twenty-one would just be obnoxious,” he said, waving his hand in the general direction of his large house before reaching into the trunk of the car, passing her violin case to her, then grabbing her two medium-sized bags and heading toward the front door.

Eden thanked the driver before jogging to catch up with Noah. “It’s obnoxious now,” she said. “And I’ll be twenty-two in a few months, thank you!”

“Practically an old maid,” Noah teased.

Eden put her hand on her heart and feigned hurt. “How could you be so cruel as to refer to my newly and painfully gained status as a single woman?”

Noah’s face fell, as if he actually thought she was serious, and he stopped as they reached the open front door. “Eden, I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

She laughed. “Noah, I’m kidding! I won’t say it doesn’t hurt, but not as much as it would have done if I’d thought Mason was the love of my life.” Taking in his creased forehead, she softened her voice. “It’s fine.I’mfine. Or at least I will be, I promise.” Noah had always been too worried about her well-being—just like her parents.

It wasn’t like Eden didn’t know why her family was so overprotective of her. Noah had told her once that her parents had called her their last-minute miracle baby, because they’d tried for seven years to get pregnant again after having him. They’d already been in their mid-thirties when Noah had been born, so they’d almost given up hope when they had finally gotten pregnant with her. Then she’d been born eight weeks early and with a hole in her heart.

It must have been a stressful time for her family, and even though the hole had eventually resolved on its own without surgery, leaving her with no lasting ill-effects from her early birth, her mom and dad had never been able to quite let go of their need to wrap her in cotton wool and keep her safe. And although Noah wasn’t as bad as their parents when it came to her, he also seemed to struggle with the concept she was all grown up now, and no longer a little girl that needed to be protected.

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