Page 32 of Fractured Trust

Uncertainty quivered through Summer, and she bit her lip. “That’s not what it looked like.”

“I don’t care what it looked like, that’s what it was!” he roared, and Summer jumped. She didn’t know if she’d ever seen Noah so upset before.

“There were other photos,” she said, trying to cling to her conviction, the conviction that had seen her dialing his number that night, tears running down her face.

“And what did they show?”

Summer hesitated, her mouth increasingly dry as she cast her mind back, reassessing what she’d seen, the foundation of her belief starting to crack and wobble. “She was sitting pressed up next to you, you had your arm around her shoulders.”

“From before she kissed me. The photos the club wanted,” he said. His voice vibrated with anger and hurt.

Summer’s fingers trembled as she clutched them together in front of her. “If it was innocent, then why didn’t you tell me about it?”

Noah shoved both hands through his hair. “Fuck, Summer, I probably should have. But at the time, you were so damn stressed out whenever I spoke to you on the phone. I didn’t know how you’d react if I’d called you up to tell you some random woman had kissed me. If I’d known there was a photo, I would have. Of course, I would have. But I didn’t know. And I damn well would have hoped that you’d have at least talked to me before breaking it off.”

The quiver in Summer’s fingers had spread, and she was shaking all over now. “Deacon…” Her voice gave out for a second. “Deacon told me he’d seen more photos like that. From other nights. Other women. He said he didn’t want to show them to me, that it would only hurt me more.”

The memory of Deacon’s words echoed in her ears.“I’m so sorry Summer, but there’s more… it looks like it’s been happening for a while… don’t look, don’t put yourself through that…”She sucked in a shuddery breath.

Noah stilled, raising his head to stare at her. “Deacon said what?”

“He… he said that he hadn’t wanted to tell me what you were up to, but that he thought I had a right to know.”

“And you said he was the one that showed you the photo?” Noah’s voice was low, but it resonated with tension.

Summer nodded hesitantly.

Fury was rolling off Noah in icy waves. “That fucker,” he seethed. He began pacing furiously, back and forth between her small kitchen and the living area. “That fucking bastard.”

“Noah,” Summer reached her hand out to him, trying to stop his frantic movements, but he ignored it. Rather than his pacing helping to calm him down, Noah only seemed to get more agitated.

“Noah!” Summer tried again. “He was just trying to do the right thing.”

Noah stopped and stared at her, his eyes flame-blue and wild. “The right thing?” His voice was like gravel. He swung away from her and braced his hands on the kitchen counter, the line of his back strung tight with tension. Anger seemed to pulse through him, manifesting in the coiling and uncoiling of the muscles in his arms. In the almost rhythmic flexing of his fingers where they pressed against the countertop.

Summer could hear the rasp of his breath in the silence. She hugged herself, heart squeezing tight as she watched him try to wrestle his emotions under control. She had a sudden vision of him reaching for drumsticks that weren’t there. Knew that if he could, he’d be releasing everything he was feeling on his kit.

Or if things were different—how they used to be—he’d reach forher. She’d wrap her arms around him, hold him tight, press her lips to his until the storm passed. Then she’d lay her head against his chest, so she could hear the drumbeat of his heart, slow and steady under her ear.

But things weren’t different. And she could only stand there helplessly as his tension seemed to ratchet higher.

“Fuck!” he yelled suddenly, making Summer’s pulse jolt.

His hands fisted on the countertop, but his head dropped, hanging low between his shoulders. “Fucking Deacon.” It came out a broken whisper.

Summer couldn’t stand it anymore. She rushed forward, reaching for one of his hands, a single tear spilling over and trickling down her cheek as pain threatened to choke her. “I told you we shouldn’t talk about it, what’s the point except to reopen old wounds.”

She looked up at his face, more tears trembling on her lower lashes. A muscle pulsed in Noah’s jaw, his lips a thin line, eyes pools of torment as he stared at her, breathing heavily.

“There weren’t any other photos, Summer. The one you saw was the only time something like that ever happened. There couldn’t be any more photos.” His voice was like sandpaper.

Summer looked down at where she was holding Noah’s fist, her fingers smoothing over his knuckles as she tried to get him to relax it. “Deacon said—”

“Don’t you get it, Summer? He lied. The bastard fucking lied to you.”

Her head jerked up, and she stared at him. “He wouldn’t— Why would he do that? He was your friend.”

“Because he was a fucking jealous prick, and he’d always wanted you. He used to joke about stealing you off me all the time. I always laughed it off, but Zac warned me to watch out for him. Told me he was the worst kind of friend. I should have fucking listened.”

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