Page 94 of Of Heartbreak and Harmony
“You played bass, right?” He nods, and I plaster on my most cocky smile. “Me too. Were you at the show tonight? It was sold out.”
Becket snorts. “We’re not fans.”
I let out a humorless laugh and nod slowly. “Of course not.”
I don’t break eye contact with Becket as I slide my arm from Callie’s shoulders to her waist, resting my hand on her abdomen. His eye twitches.
“Well, it’s great to meet you, but we really shouldn’t be out of the VIP lounge. Safety, you know.” I wave the hand not gripping Callie in the air, pointing out the growing crowd around us.
“We were talking to Callie.” Becket takes a step toward us, so I take a step back, keeping Callie at my side.
“Sorry,” I say, clearly not sorry. “But my girl and I really need to get back to our date, and they won’t allow you into the lounge.” My words are veiled arrogance with feigned sympathy, and I can tell how much it irritates him. I could easily get them into the lounge, but I won’t, and he knows it.
“Look man, I know you think you’ve got some sort of claim on her now, but we’ve known her a long time, and we’d like to talk to her,” Ezra says, then he looks at Callie. “You met this douche, what, a month ago? Use your head, Cal. We’ve been with youfor years.”
I hear the hidden meaning in his statement.You can’t trust him. He’s going to hurt you. This relationship won’t last. Come back to us.It fuels the fire inside me, coaxing out my possessive side until my hold on it slips. I force a smirk, flicking my eyes from Ezra to Becket.
“Callie and I actually go further back than the media knows,” I say suggestively, and I feel her stiffen slightly under my arm. “We only recently reconnected.”
Adrenaline pumps through my veins as I toe the line of truth. The surprise on the guys’s faces is rewarding, but it’s the need to finally come clean that keeps me talking. Keeps meconfessing.I turn my attention to Callie’s surprised face, my smile softening as I trace my eyes over her features.
“When I first saw Callie, she was dressed like a phoenix, and I thought,I have to know this woman.She was gorgeous and intriguing, and I couldn’t stop myself from approaching her, even in a crowd full of people.”
Her eyes widen asshe tips her face up to mine, and I put my knuckle under her chin gently, holding her there. My voice drops slightly, so her bandmates can still hear me, but the message is clearly for her.
“I couldn’t stay away from her. She consumed my thoughts. I onlygot a few days with her then, but now that she’s back in my life, I plan to make up for lost time.”
Her eyelashes flutter, and her lips part on a small gasp. I watch her beguiling green eyes as they change from confused to shocked to downright murderous. Her nostrils flare and she flicks her eyes to Becket.
“Beck, I’ll call you.”
She turns and storms back toward the lounge, and I follow. She bypasses the couch where we had been sitting and heads down the hallway of the VIP bathrooms before whirling on me. Fury. Nothing but pure unadulterated fury. I plant my feet and square my shoulders, readying myself for anything she might throw at me. It’s been a long time coming.
“How long? How long have you known? Because you sure didn’t fucking act like you remembered me when I signed that contract.”
The words are a furious hiss. She’s so angry that her hands are fisted at her sides, and she only unclenches her teeth to speak. I respond calmly and honestly, hoping like hell to defuse the situation. This conversation needs to be had, and I knew it would likely be messy. She deserved answers, and after weeks of keeping this from her, I deserve her ire.
“Since Glendale.”
Her jaw falls open and she scoffs as she puts it all together. “That was weeks ago.”
“The memories came back in waves.”
She narrows her eyes and cocks her head, taking a single step in my direction. “And how much do you remember?”
“I remember everything.” I close the distance and hold her eye contact.
“What?”
“Everything. I remember all of it.”
Her eyes bounce between mine, her expression softening in a way that fills me with hope. She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip, then lowers her gaze to my mouth. When she speaks again, it’s a shaky whisper.
“Was it real? What you just said? About when you first saw me?”
I take another step toward her so there’s only a few inches of space between us.
“It’s real. It’s all been real. Every fucking word,” I confess, and when her breath hitches, I lose all restraint. “Goddamn it, Calla Lily.”
