Page 19 of Fractured Trust

Lexie lowered her camera as they approached, and noticing them, she turned, a radiant smile spreading across her pretty face.

“Hi Eden,” she said, giving Noah’s sister a hug. Then, still smiling, she turned to Summer. “You must be Summer. It’s so nice to meet you finally.”

“It’s great to meet you too. I’ve been admiring your photos in our office for the last two weeks.”

“Oh, thank you. Those are some of my absolute favorites of the guys. We couldn’t have any old pictures gracing the walls of Eden’s workplace.” She gave Eden a wink, then gestured back at the stage. “The opening band’s about to come on, so you guys got here just in time.”

Lexie turned her big gray eyes back on Summer. “Is this the first time you’ll have seen the guys play for a while?”

Suddenly self-conscious, knowing for sure that Lexie knew her backstory, Summer tucked some loose hair behind her ear. “Um, yeah, it’s been… a long time.”

“I never get tired of watching them. They’re electric when they’re all together.” There was no judgment in Lexie’s gaze, and Summer’s tight muscles loosened. She liked Lexie already. And while she wasn’t sure whether it would work out, considering Lexie was Connor’s wife and Eden was Noah’s sister and dating Tex, Summer hoped that maybe she could be friends with both women. Even with things not being great between her and Noah.

Eden had been rummaging around in her purse, and finally, with a triumphant look, pulled out a flask. After glancing surreptitiously around, she unscrewed the lid and grinned at Summer and Lexie. “Want something to drink?”

A smile twitched at Summer’s lips at the impish expression on Eden’s face. She took the flask, smelling the potent waft of alcohol, and quirked a brow at the blonde woman.

“Just a little something to get us warmed up.” Eden’s smile broadened.

Laughing, Summer took a small swallow, wondering if she was going to burn her throat. But the drink was surprisingly smooth.

She handed the bottle to Lexie, who took a sip, then passed it back to Eden. “Tex has been getting me into whiskey,” she said after having some too. “He’s starting me off easy with Jameson, but when he’s not around, I sneak in some soda.” She took another drink, then whispered, “Don’t tell him.”

Summer laughed. “Cross my heart.” Already she was having fun. And while a part of her wished they were there to see any band other than her ex’s, another part, a larger part than she wanted to admit, was looking forward to seeing them play again. To seeinghimplay again.

Before she knew it, the lights dimmed, and the opening act came onstage. They were good, and Summer stood listening to the heavy beat of the music with the two other women, sharing the flask between them, warmth from the alcohol radiating through her as they all got increasingly giggly. It had been far too long since Summer had hung out with girlfriends.

She was having so much fun that when the opening band finished up and left the stage, she didn’t feel any apprehension at all. When the lights went out again, she was filled with nothing but excitement. And when the big video screen at the back of the stage lit up with jagged, blue lines, adrenaline surged through her at the earsplitting roar from the fans.

Summer’s heart flip-flopped as four silhouettes appeared in front of the screen. The screams and whistles built in volume, a wave of sound crashing through her. When the lights flashed back on, the four men everyone had been waiting to see were right there in front of her.

She kept her eyes fixed on the three she hadn’t seen since she was eighteen. Tex was instantly recognizable with his size, long sun-streaked brown hair, and tattoos; dark-haired Connor, his green eyes, far more vivid than her own, immediately flashing toward Lexie as he gave his wife a heart-stopping smile; and Zac, his darkly handsome face serious as his eyes panned out over the crowd.

It was so strange seeing them like this—men, not the teenagers that still lived in her memory. Huge stars, not the hopeful boys she’d once known. A dull ache throbbed in her chest as she realized how much she’d missed out on over the last decade. But determined to have fun, not get caught up in painful memories, Summer simply stole the flask of whiskey off Eden with a grin and took another sip. Then she turned her attention back up to the stage.

She finally let her eyes seek out Noah as he settled himself behind his kit on the drum riser. The alcohol in her system even allowed her to keep watching him when she otherwise would have forced her gaze away.

When he tossed his sticks up in the air and caught them, twirling them around his fingers, she even smiled as she remembered him practicing that trick when he was a teenager. He glanced over in her direction and caught her eyes on him. She blinked, her first instinct to look away, but she stopped herself. She thought he might frown, annoyed to see her there, especially after their last interaction. But to her surprise, he held her gaze for a few seconds before nodding at her and turning back to the crowd.

A small, relieved smile turned up the corners of her lips. It only grew wider as Tex’s fingers flashed over the strings of his guitar; as the low tones of Zac’s bass resonated in the delicate bones of her middle ear; as Noah’s kick drum started the driving beat; and as Connor’s deep, lyrical voice wove its way through her senses.

Summer had long ago stopped following Fractured’s music, except for what she inadvertently heard on the radio. But hearing them now reminded her of just how good they were. The air around her vibrated with an electricity that hadn’t been there during the opening act, and without conscious thought, her body responded, moving in time to the pulsing rhythm.

The first song ended to a deafening roar of appreciation from the crowd. Noah immediately launched into the next one with a brief introductory tom roll before Tex jumped in with the song’s signature riff, instantly recognizable, even to Summer since it had gotten so much air play over the last few months. The fans went wild in response, and swept up in the excitement, Summer cheered along with them. When Connor started the first verse, his voice as smooth and dark as black velvet, Summer found herself singing along with everyone else.

Several songs later, in between numbers, Noah reached behind him, gripped his shirt, and pulled it off over his head. The sweat gleaming on his skin emphasized his hard muscles, and the shrieks and catcalls from the crowd told Summer exactly how much they approved of what they saw.

Her smile faded. Who could ever compete with that kind of adulation? With the fans and the groupies? She glanced over at Eden, who was staring at Tex with her whole heart glowing in her eyes, and she wondered how she did it. And Lexie, her camera turned toward the crowd as she snapped photos of the fans, many of whom she must know would love to spend a night with her husband. How did she do it? How did either of them handle knowing that there were so many women out there who would happily throw themselves at their men?

Summer’s breath hitched as a memory clawed at her.

“He didn’t even care enough to be careful, Meg. There’s no coming back from that.”

Her mom’s hushed, angry words caused Summer’s head to swivel away from the TV toward the kitchen where her mother was talking to her Aunt Meg. Summer turned the sound down slightly and strained her ears to hear what they were saying.

Her dad had moved out a week ago and as much as her mom tried to keep up a brave face, she hadn’t been able to hide her red-rimmed eyes. Summer thought maybe her mom was crying herself to sleep every night the same way she was.

Aunt Meg tutted. “You should never have trusted him, Tina. As soon as he hired that pretty, young thing, you should have known it was going to end this way.”

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