Impulsive (25 page)

“Well, I guess we’ve got that in common.”
 

From behind the protection of her sunglasses, she watched him frown and sit back in his chair. Even though the sun was blazing, a shadow covered his face. His gaze bored into her like twin ice picks. She set her jaw and pretended not to notice. After a few uncomfortable minutes, he stood and stalked into the house, leaving her alone in the sunshine.

Luke rounded the corner of the stairs, and Tasha crashed into him. The book in her hands fell to the floor. He caught her by the elbows to steady her. The expression of alarm on her face chilled him.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. When she wouldn’t look at him, he put a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up to his. Her hazel eyes, usually so clear and bright, were clouded.
 

“I want to go home,” she said and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest.
 

“Are you okay? Don’t you feel well?” He smoothed a hand over her hair. Her body trembled beneath his touch. Worry tightened his chest.

“I’m fine. I just want to leave.” When her face tipped up to his again, the need to protect her overwhelmed him. “Please.”

“Okay.” He drew in a deep breath and gave her a reassuring smile. “Let me go get Elijah. We’ll have to borrow a car or have somebody drop us.” Her smile eased a little of his concern, but the shadow in her eyes continued to trouble him.

She went off to collect her things while he tried to track down Elijah. He found him alone in the study, staring out the window at the crowd gathering by the pool. Apparently, they’d caught their second wind and were preparing for another night of drunken debauchery. Rock music and laughter filtered through the open windows.

 
“We’re leaving, man,” Luke said. “Can you get us a ride back or loan us a car?”
 

Elijah didn’t turn around. “You don’t want to leave yet. The party’s just getting started. It’s going to be kick ass.” His voice sounded strange and thick.

“Yeah. We’re out,” Luke said. “I think Tasha’s had enough.”

“Well, send her back. I’ll have Tony or one of the guys drive her. You can stay. We’ll hang out. It’ll be like old times.” Elijah turned to face him, eyes bright, his jaw tight.
 

“If she goes, I go,” Luke replied. “We’re a package deal.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that out.” They stared at each other for a beat, the silence uncomfortable between them for the first time in years.
 

“I think we’ve both had enough,” Luke said. His gaze drifted to the party, the naked girls, the craziness. None of it appealed to him anymore. He just wanted to hang out with Tasha at her apartment and not have to share her with anyone.

“Seriously? You’re turning into an old man.” Elijah’s tone held a note of jest, but his eyes were serious.

Luke studied Elijah. Memories, good and bad, sifted through his mind. Visions of ten year old Elijah, thin and neglected, alone in the house next door for weeks at a time. The way his eyes lit up when Luke’s mother invited him to supper or gave him clothes when his parents failed to care for him. And the way Elijah never believed he was good enough to deserve anything but the worst a person had to offer.
 

“There’s more to life than drinking and debauchery. Some day you’re going to figure that out.” The music outside grew louder. It was time to go.
 

“You can take my car , I guess. The keys are in it. I’ll have somebody come get it tomorrow. Or you can bring it back if you want.” Elijah’s voice cracked.

“We both know I’m not coming back,” Luke replied.
 

***

“Are you ready?” Luke appeared in the doorway to the bedroom, sun-bronzed and handsome. The sight of him filled her with relief and warmth. He smiled at her and held out his hand. “Come on.”

She took his hand. They were halfway to the garage when she stopped. Random thoughts kept shuffling through her mind. Elijah’s eyes watching her kiss Luke. Elijah’s confession at dinner:
I tend to hurt the ones who love me most.
 

“I think I forgot something,” she said. “Can you hang on a second?”

“Sure, I’ll pull the car around front and you can meet me there.” He released her hand, fingers lingering as if he was afraid to let her go. As if she might not come back to him.

She gave him a reassuring smile then ran down the hall to the study. Elijah sat on the floor next to the desk, his back to the wall and a bottle of Jack Daniels clutched in his hands. The vacant look in his eyes frightened her.
 

“We’re leaving,” she said. She waited for him to say something, but he just sat there, staring at the wall.
 

“See ya.” He raised the bottle to his lips and tipped it up. The muscles of his throat worked as he swallowed.
 

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Everything. Nothing.” The flatness of his voice rang warning bells.
 

“Elijah, you’re scaring me.”
 

“I’m so fucking bored.” Bitterness and anger made his liquid voice sharp. “I’m so fucking bored with this life.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I get it, you know?” The ominous tone of his voice sent a shiver down her back. “Why he loves you…I get it.” For the first time, he raised his gaze to meet hers. The smell of whiskey floated between them.

“You’re not making any sense.”
 

“He’s not gay. He and I…we never…it was never about us for him. It started out as fun when he was in college. We always shared back then. Luke. Me. Caroline.” His disjointed words came haltingly at first then quicker as if in a rush to escape. “There were others, too. But with you, it’s different. I saw it in his eyes the very first time we met backstage at the concert. For him, it’s all about you. It hurt, the look in his eyes.” He swallowed hard. “Because I knew then that I’d lost him. And I thought if I took you away, maybe I could get him back, but now I see…” One hand reached out to caress her cheek, his fingers cool on her heated skin. “You’re different.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t.” The bitter note of pain in his laughter squeezed her heart. “Because you don’t play games.” He set the bottle of whiskey between his legs and clutched his head with both hands, pulling at his hair. “And the joke is on me, because I fell in love with you, too.”

The walls of her chest constricted so hard she could barely draw breath. She moved the bottle aside and took him in her arms. He flinched at her touch, but she held him tighter, running a soothing hand down his back. The heat of his breath warmed the crook of her neck, and the thump of his heart beat against her chest.
 

“I’m sorry, Elijah,” she murmured into his hair. His arms tightened around her.

“You could come away with me,” he said into her neck. “All three of us. We could go anywhere, do anything we want.” He pulled away and studied her face then smiled wistfully. “But you won’t. Like I told Luke, you guys will get married and have tattooed babies, and I’ll be the weird dude who embarrasses everyone at family dinners.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way, you know. You don’t have to be like this.”
 

His bitter laugh made her stomach ache. He was so broken, yet perfect. Everyone wanted to be him but him. “I never told you my secret,” he said. His eyes flicked up to hers, soft and hazy with remorse. “When you did my tat, you told me about your dad, and I promised to tell you a secret in return.” He swallowed hard. “So now you know mine. I’m trusting you not to tell him.”

 
“I think he already knows,” she said and leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips. “And just so you know…I love you, too, you crazy fucker.”

She hated to leave him there, alone with his demons, but his struggle had nothing to do with her. Luke was waiting to take her home, and suddenly there was no place she’d rather be.
 

When Tasha slid into the passenger seat of Elijah’s car, her eyes were strangely bright. Luke studied her for a beat then put the car in gear. They were halfway to the end of the driveway when she put her hand over his. His gaze flicked up to hers, disturbed by the glimmer of tears. She bit her lower lip, her eyes searching his.

“Did you arrange this? Did you ask him to be with me? With us?” The depth of pain in her eyes knotted his gut.
 

“You should know by now no one makes Elijah do anything he doesn’t want to do.” Their eyes met. “Except Elijah.”

“I know.”
 

The interior of the car blocked out the noise of the party around them. The engine purred down the driveway. He let the silence sit between them, waiting for her to process whatever she was going through.

“Just so you know,” she said, “I love you.”
 

He stopped the car and turned to face her, his heart beating erratically. “Did I hear you right?”

“Let’s not make a big deal out of it,” she said, although her mouth curved into a smile. “But I’ve given it some thought, and I don’t want to be with anyone but you.”

“Does this mean we’re not friends anymore?” he asked and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. He’d never seen a smile more beautiful than the one she gave him.
 

 
“You’re my best friend,” she replied. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Epilogue

Two weeks later, Tasha received the deed to her mother’s house. There was no return address or note inside, but she knew where it came from. The next issue of
Rolling Stone
featured Elijah on the cover, shirtless and sporting the phoenix tattoo. He mentioned her by name in the interview, and her list of clients expanded exponentially. Gary made her a partner in the tattoo studio. Elijah sent texts and the occasional picture, but after a few months they became fewer and farther apart. Eventually they stopped altogether.

Luke moved into her apartment after Christmas. The best part of her day was finding her best friend in the kitchen each morning with a smile on his face and a cup of coffee in his hand for her.

When she looked back at their summer together, it all seemed like a fantastic daydream. She thought about Elijah whenever she saw a pair of bright blue eyes or heard a funny story. When a Seven Drift song came over the radio, Luke’s eyes would meet hers. They’d both smile, but they never talked about it. It was over, and she’d never share him with anyone again.

Two years later, she was in the kitchen making dinner on a Tuesday when Luke called her into the living room. The evening entertainment show featured a story about Elijah Crowe. His picture flashed across the TV, along with several clips of Seven Drift concerts.

“What happened?” she asked. “Is he okay?” She put a hand on her chest to calm her fluttering pulse. “Turn it up.”

Elijah Crowe, notorious drummer of Seven Drift and winner of eleven Grammys, walked off-stage in the middle of a concert last week amid rumors of contract disputes and hasn’t been heard from since...
 

Luke’s cellphone dinged with an incoming text. He read the message and handed it to her, a smile on his face. “You’d better lock up the liquor cabinet.”

What’s up, my bitches? Make up the spare bed. I’m coming home.

💋💋💋

The End

If you want to know more about Elijah Crowe, check out the sneak peak of
Drift
at the end of this book.
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeana Mann is the author of sizzling hot contemporary romance. Her debut release
Intoxicated
was a First Place Winner of the 2013 Cleveland Rocks Romance Contest, a finalist in the Carolyn Readers’ Choice Awards, and fourth place winner in the International Digital Awards. She is a member of Romance Writers’ of America (RWA).
 

Jeana was born and raised in Indiana where she lives today with her two crazy rat terriers Mildred and Mabel. She graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Speech and Hearing, something totally unrelated to writing. When she’s not busy dreaming up steamy romance novels, she loves to travel anywhere and everywhere. Over the years she climbed the ruins of Chichen Iza in Mexico, snorkeled along the shores of Hawaii, sailed around Jamaica, ate gelato on the steps of the Pantheon in Rome, and explored the ancient city of Pompeii. More important than the places she’s been are the people she has met along the way.
 

Be sure to connect with Jeana on Facebook or follow along on Twitter for the latest news regarding her upcoming releases.

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Published by Ishkadiddle Publishing

Copyright 2015. Jeana E. Mann Author.

Cover by
SelfPubBookCovers.com/Tigerlil
y

Edited by Rhonda Helms

ISBN: 0989771467

ISBN 13: 978-0-9897714-6-7

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. To obtain permission to excerpt portions of the text, please contact the author at
[email protected]

All characters and events in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to real persons, alive or deceased, is purely coincidental.
 

www.jeanaemann.net

Drift

A faint pink-and-orange glow tinged the western skyline when Elijah Crow stumbled from his tour bus. A headache brought about by excess alcohol and not enough sleep throbbed from his temples to the tips of his hair. The twin figures of his manager, Gabriel, met him at the bottom of the bus steps, frowns plastered on their faces. Elijah squinted, and the two forms merged into a single furious man. One Gabriel was bad enough; two would be a fucking nightmare. Gabriel put a hand on Elijah’s chest in time to stop him from tumbling into the new Jag parked alongside the bus. Gabriel’s precious baby.