Page 52 of Fractured Trust

Noah was going to comment when Summer held her hands up only about three inches apart, causing Connor and Tex to burst into laughter.

Completely unfazed, Noah grinned and leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out. “Yeah, laugh it up. She’s talking about width.”

His friends chuckled and Noah tried again to catch Summer’s gaze, wanting her smile, her eyes on him. As if sensing his gaze, she turned her head, but before he could get the smile he wanted, two bodies blocked his view. Irritated, he looked up to see a couple of women standing in front of him, looking down at him with bright, excited eyes and big smiles on their faces. Both were dressed alike in halter-neck tops and skirts which barely covered the tops of their thighs. One of them was clutching her phone in her hand.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe it’s actually you,” the one holding the phone squealed. “Can we please, please get a photo with you, Noah? You’re our absolute favorite.” She turned her eyes to Tex and Connor. “We love you guys too, but…” She shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head over at the table where Eden and Lexie were sitting with Summer.

Yeah, he guessed he was their favorite because they thought he was single, unlike the other two. Good to know it wasn’t his mad skills as a musician or his sparkling personality. Repressing the urge to roll his eyes, he sighed. Best just to get it over and done with.

“Yeah, sure,” he said. He’d been planning to stand up to take a quick selfie with them, but before he had a chance, they dropped down on the couch on either side of him. It was a tight fit, so they had to press up next to him, and out of habit, he put his arms around them both and smiled for the camera. Before her friend took the shot, the girl on his right put one hand on his chest and dropped her head onto his shoulder, and fuck, he already knew how that shit was going to look.

Gritting his teeth, sure his smile was going to look anything but friendly in the resulting photo, he waited for the girl on his left to take the shot. When she finally did, he quickly withdrew his arms and waited for them to get up and leave. He tried to look over at Summer to check whether she was watching, but now someone was standing between them, and he couldn’t see her.

He realized the girls still hadn’t moved, and he looked from one to the other. They were both smiling up at him, the one on his right still with her hand on his chest.

“Okay, I think we’re done,” he said, watching their faces fall but too worried about Summer’s reaction to care if he came across as rude.

The girls stood up and thanked him for the photo, still seemingly reluctant to leave, but when he just smiled politely and nodded at them, they turned and wandered off.

Finally, the person who had been blocking his view of Summer moved, and Noah’s heart sunk. The laughing, happy woman he’d been watching before had gone. Instead, she was sitting stiffly, eyes cast down at the drink in front of her as she played with the straw.

Fuck, she obviously had seen. He was about to jump up and head over there, so he could reassure her, when Connor’s low voice stopped him.

“Don’t.”

Noah jerked his head around. “What?” he snapped.

“You can’t keep running to her every time she gets upset.”

“Why the hell not?”

It was Tex that answered. “Because you’re not always going to be around to do it, Noah. If this thing between you has any chance of working, she needs to be able to handle it on her own.”

“She needs to know I’m doing everything I can.”

“Youaredoing everything you can. Look, you can’t control other people’s actions. You can’t control the fans and the groupies. Unless you quit being a drummer, they’re not going anywhere. You can’t control them, what they want from you, the things they do and say, and you can’t control Summer’s reaction to it. The only person you can control is you. And you’re already doing the only thing you can, which is acknowledging your fans, thanking them for their support, andnotallowing them any other liberties. That is the only control you have over this situation. Now Summer has to step up and do everythingshecan. You’re both going to have to fight for this; it can’t just be you.”

Noah ground his teeth together, fighting the urge to go to her, to take her in his arms, press his lips to hers and tell her she had nothing to worry about. But Tex and Connor were right, if she couldn’t handle it when he was right there in front of her, and she could see there was nothing going on, then there was no way she’d be able to handle it when he was all the way across the country. She needed to take that next step. And if she couldn’t… his heart sank. If she couldn’t, then there was no future for them, no matter how much he wanted there to be.

He knew she had to be feeling the same connection he was. He could see it shimmering in her eyes when she looked at him, feel it in the urgency of her touch. She had said she wanted things between them to be casual, but it didn’t feel casual. It felt like she couldn’t get enough of him, just the way he could never get enough of her.

Summer had slipped back into his life and his heart effortlessly, between one breath and another. The life he’d been living without her had been like a song without a drumbeat—it might sound okay to some, but to him, it would always be incomplete. He’d spent the intervening years trying to fill the void she’d left, always pushing himself harder, doing more, making sure he never had time to think about what he’d lost. Now his song had a beat again, but he couldn’t relax because he didn’t know how long it would be until the song ended.

Noah reached out for his beer and took a long swallow. He’d give her a few minutes to deal with whatever she was feeling, then screw his friends’ advice; he was going over there.

Chapter 25

Summer laughed at a funny story Lexie was telling her and Eden. The alcohol buzzing in her veins left her mellow and relaxed as she sat at the high round table with the two women. She glanced over at Noah, where he was sitting on a couch with Connor and Tex. He was mid-laugh at whatever Connor was telling him, and something warm spread like molasses through her chest. A smile curved her lips and when she turned her eyes back to the women sitting next to her, she caught their shared grin.

She groaned to herself; she was doing a terrible job at keeping control of her feelings. Did she look as lovesick as she felt? Almost as if she could feel his gaze on her, Summer’s eyes were pulled back in his direction. This time, however, two gorgeous, barely dressed women were standing in front of him, blocking her view. One of them held a phone out, and Summer guessed they were asking for a photo. She tried not to tense as the two of them dropped onto the seat on either side of him. He put his arms around their shoulders, and they both leaned in, breasts practically popping out of their tops. Anxiety scratched persistently at her chest, but she did her best to tamp it down. When the girl not holding the phone placed her hand on Noah’s chest and her head on his shoulder, making it look like they could be lovers, rather than complete strangers, the prickle behind her eyes told her she was losing the fight.

There’s only so much temptation a man can take…The words clawed at her.

Summer looked down at her glass and played with her straw as she concentrated on breathing in and out. She was being ridiculous; sheknewshe was. Noah had done absolutely nothing to make her doubt him. And yet… She swallowed hard. This was why she couldn’t be with Noah long term. She could barely handle seeing him taking a photo with a couple of fans at a club, she’d never be able to deal with what she knew things would be like when he was on tour.

The warmth of the alcohol fading, Summer raised her eyes back up and met Eden’s gaze. The crease between her friend’s brows let her know she’d seen her reaction, and her cheeks burned. Tex was over there with Noah, getting the same treatment from interested women, and yet Eden didn’t seem worried. How did she do it? How did Lexie? And why,whycouldn’t she?

Eden took a delicate sip from her glass, then put it back down on the table. “So, you can tell me to mind my own business if you like, but can I just say something?”

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