Page 31 of Fractured Trust

“Why did you want to come in, Noah?” Summer’s voice was low, a hint of apprehension threading through it; she knew what he was going to ask.

“Because I need to know.”

Summer dropped her keys in a small bowl and crossed her arms, her eyes dipping to the floor. Then she met his gaze and let out a soft breath. “Okay, let’s get this over and done with.”

Now that they were finally going to have the conversation, Noah struggled to find the words. How do you ask the woman you once thought was going to be the love of your life why she threw it all away? Was he sure he wanted to know the answer?

He cleared his throat. “Right, well. I guess I only have one question, Summer. It’s the same one I’ve asked you before. What the hell happened?”

She shifted, her shoulders sagging briefly before she seemed to rally herself. She straightened and stared him directly in the eye. “You’ve had over a decade to figure it out, Noah. Or have all the women blended together in your mind?”

Frustration sizzled in his veins. It was the same old thing over and over. He’d never fucking cheated on her, so where did all this shit come from? He was tired of it.

Enough was enough.

Chapter 13

Noah took a step toward her, his expression dark, sending nerves and something else trembling through her.

“I never touched any fucking women when we were together, so tell me, where the hell did this all come from?”

Her eyes narrowed, and her jaw tightened. “I saw the proof with my own eyes.”

He growled. “You couldn’t have seen anything, Summer. How many times do I have to tell you? There was never anything to see.”

Summer stared at him, the hot sting of tears burning her eyes. She shook her head in frustration. “This is pointless, you’re never going to admit to anything. And what does it even matter now? It’s in the past, we’ve both moved on.”

His eyes seared into hers, his voice hoarse when he answered. “Because maybe I haven’t moved on. Maybe I still wonder what the hell happened and what I could have done differently. Maybe I’d just like to finally lay the fucking ghost of this relationship to rest. And maybe I deserve an explanation after I came back for you during the tour only to see you kissing my fucking friend, not even two weeks after you’d broken it off with me!”

Summer’s eyes widened, and her breath caught in her throat. “You… you came back? You… saw that?”

“Yes, I fucking came back. And yes, I got there at the perfect moment to see the girl I loved in the arms of my friend. At least I thought he was my friend. Turns out I didn’t really know him at all. Or you, for that matter.”

Anger flared, bright and hard. “Yeah, well maybe your friend didn’t agree with your actions. He was the one that showed me the photos, Noah. God help me, I didn’t want to look at them, but he thought I should know.”

The memory of Deacon’s voice bounced around her head.“Summer, I think you should see this.”

She shook it away and glared at him.

“Know what! What was I doing in the damn photos that was so bad?”

“You were kissing her!” Summer yelled, the same pain that had filled her back then, storming through her veins again. How could it still be so close to the surface after all these years? Surely, she should have moved past it by now. It had been a kiss, that was all, but that photo—that kiss—had ripped her heart in two.

Noah’s face blanked. “I don’t…” He shook his head in confusion.

Summer let out a pained laugh, crossing her arms tightly over her stomach as she pictured the photo in her mind, still so clear after all this time. “You were in a booth at a club. She was almost straddling you and you had your… your tongue down her throat.” A harsh breath shuddered out of her. She could still recall the way her heart had stopped when she’d seen it. The way it had felt like it might never start again. And that when it did finally swell and pound in her chest, it hadhurt. The very beating of her heart had hurt her. “I knew it was you because I could see the leather wrist cuff I bought you before you left on your arm. The arm attached to the hand that was buried in her hair.”

Noah’s confused expression slowly cleared, and he stared at her, an unknown emotion flashing across his face. He rubbed his hand over his eyes and exhaled harshly. “Fuck.” Then again, louder this time. “Fuck!”

When he didn’t immediately deny it, Summer’s heart sunk. As if a small, irrational part of her had actually been hoping he’d tell her she was crazy, and that it had never happened. That he’d never touched another woman while she was still waiting at home for him like a lovesick fool.

She glared at him; every muscle strung tight. “So now you know. Feel better?” An unfamiliar bitterness coated her voice.

“Summer…” Her stomach twisted uneasily at the pain in his voice. “I never knew there was a photo. Our manager back then warned us not to look at what was being written about us in the tabloids.” He stared at her, his eyes dark with turbulence. “I didn’t… fuck. I wasn’t kissing her, Summer.Shewas kissing me.”

Summer snorted. “I’m sure she was.”

“No, I mean, she literally jumped on me and kissed me and if the photograph had been taken a second later, it would have shown me pushing her off. In fact, if my hand was in her hair, it was because I was trying to detach her mouth from mine.” He gripped the back of his neck. “She was one of the promo girls at the club. Their PR manager wanted to get photos of them with the club’s name on their tops sitting with us. And for some reason, this girl decided that gave her the right to put her hands and mouth on me.”

---