Page 69 of Fractured Trust

Almost before she’d finished talking, he was picking up his bag and tugging her by the hand toward where she’d parked her car. She waved at Eden and Tex, who barely acknowledged them they were so involved in their own enthusiastic reunion. Lexie smiled and waved, and Connor even spared her a smile as Noah towed her behind him. Zac was standing talking to Drew and gave her a nod of farewell. Before she knew it, Noah was opening the passenger side door of her car for her.

“It’s my car, shouldn’t I be driving?”

“I drive faster,” he said.

Laughing, she slid inside, and he dumped his bag in the back before rounding the car and climbing into the driver’s seat.

The trip home was quick. Maintaining a conversation was more difficult than it should have been because she was so keyed up. By the time they pulled into his driveway, she was almost shaking with anticipation.

Before she had a chance to open her own door, he was out and around to her side, opening it for her. He grabbed her hand and tugged her out, taking her mouth in another deep, intoxicating kiss. Then he hustled her up the stairs, only pulling himself away from her long enough to key in the entry code.

“Noah,” she laughed. “What about your bag?”

“I’ll get it later. I need to be inside you. Now.”

Well, she wasn’t going to argue with that. He pulled her through the big wooden door, kicking it shut behind them. Then he was pushing her back against it. His mouth was on hers again, his hands weaving through her hair, his hard body pressed up against her. Summer slid her arms around his chest and arched up into him.

This right here was all she’d ever wanted. She prayed that this time she was strong enough to deal with what it meant, because she never wanted to be without him again. But, as his hand tugged down the neckline of her dress, then her bra, and his mouth descended, all her thoughts flew out the window and the only thing she could focus on was him.

* * *

An hour later and Summer was wrung out in the best possible way. She was lying draped over Noah on the big couch in his living room. They hadn’t even made it to the bedroom. He’d taken her right there against the door, then again on the couch before he’d relaxed enough to slow down.

Now he was finally still. Everything except his fingertips, which were trailing languidly up and down her back.

She was completely still too, her mind quiet, just enjoying having his body underneath her, relishing the closeness. He’d been lying with his eyes closed, but when she looked up at his face again, her eyes met his. She sucked in a shuddery breath. They were so warm, so full of love that she almost couldn’t bear it. God, what if she hurt him again, what if—

Summer stopped herself, remembering what she’d learned from her therapy. Concentrate on where you are right now and forget about the what-ifs. Focus on what’s in front of you today, you can worry about the future some other time. And what was in front of her was Noah. The man she loved. The man who loved her. Right here and right now, it was just them, just the warmth of his skin against hers, just the strength of his arms around her, just the heat in his eyes.

The tension eased from Summer’s muscles and Noah reached up to cup her jaw, his thumb stroking her cheek. He’d kept his gaze on her the whole time, and he must have seen the turmoil in her eyes, but he hadn’t jumped in to interrogate her about what she was thinking. He’d given her time to work through it on her own, the way she needed to. But now he spoke.

“You and I can get through anything as long as we’re together, Summer. As long as we make sure to always be honest with each other about how we feel, okay?”

She swallowed, her heart swelling even more in her chest. “Okay.”

“Just remember, I love you, and I’ll do anything you need me to do.” His eyes searched hers. “Would it help if I went to your therapy sessions?”

Her throat tightened. God, what had she ever done to deserve him? “Maybe one day. Thank you for offering, Noah. It means a lot to me.”

He nodded, then ran his fingers through her hair. He studied her, and she thought he looked a little nervous. “So, I need to talk to you about something,” he said.

“Okay, what is it?”

“After you came to see me on tour, I made a decision. Before I tell you though, I need you to know that this was about me, not you, all right?”

An echo of nervousness rang through her, but she only nodded and kept her eyes fixed on his.

He exhaled. “So, I know you don’t want me to give up drumming, which I get, and I appreciate, because you’re right, I love it. Not as much as I love you, but yeah, it’s a big part of who I am.”

She watched him carefully. Where was he going with this?

“It was something that Eden said, actually. She mentioned how it would be harder for you and me since I’d be touring twice as much because of Crossfire. And I realized I didn’t want that. The thought of being away from you just touring with Fractured is hard enough; being away from you even more because of Crossfire is too much. I can’t and won’t do that. So, I told Zac I was quitting Crossfire.”

Summer jerked upright, alarm billowing through her. “Noah, you love Crossfire. You told me how good it was putting the band together with Zac.”

Noah pushed himself up too, and grabbed her hands, holding them tightly. “Yeah, I did—Ido—love Crossfire. But you have to understand, Summer. Crossfire was there when I needed it. When Fractured went on hiatus, I understood why. It’d been an intense few years, and the guys needed a break. But I didn’t. Or at least, I didn’t want one. I’d spent the last eleven years trying to fill every spare moment with something, anything, to distract me. To convince me that my life was perfect just the way it was and there wasn’t anything, or anyone, missing from it. The thought of being on hiatus and having nothing to do scared the hell out of me. So, I jumped at the chance to back up Zac. And it was great, finding Beau and Devon, developing our sound, the thrill of starting off small again, having to prove ourselves to the fans. It was a lot of fun. But that’s all it was. I enjoyed it, but Fractured will always be my priority. It’s where my heart lies.

“And now I have you again and suddenly I don’t need to be distracted. I don’t need to fill every spare moment, because I want to fill those moments with you.I don’t want to be traipsing around the country when I can be here. I don’t want to be at practice or extra PR events. I’ve lived this life for a long time without you by my side. I didn’t want that back then and I don’t want it now. I want to experience it with you. And I can’t do that if I’m never here. So, I meant it when I said I made this decision for me, not you. Not because I think you can’t handle it, but because I can’t.”

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