I’m sitting on the couch in the studio as Spencer lays down his parts on our new song, Outer Moon. Most of the guys are here, immersed in their phones or our groupies. Looking over at the desperate group of females, I notice Cade smack dab in the middle. When did he join them? Last I heard he was headed to take a piss. He must have hit a detour. He is being his usual flirty self, except he hasn’t been like this in a while. Breigh couldn’t make it to the studio today, so maybe he’s taking advantage of her absence? She’s been at the last two recording sessions. I glance at Cade giving him a ‘what gives?’ look, hoping he will get the hint, but he’s too wrapped up in the female attention to notice.
Walking over to him, I know what I am about to do is breaking the bro-code. If he pulled something like this on me, I’d probably punch him in the face. The thing is, something has been shifting inside of me lately. The old me would have walked away, or worse, egged my friend on. The new me realizes what a catch he has with Breigh and how good they are together and I don’t want to see my friend throw all of that away.
“Well, don’t you look cozy?” I mention, pointing at his position in the middle of the group. All eyes turn on me.
“Oh, hey asshole, we were just talking about you,” Cade says with a smirk.
“Is that so?” I ask, eyeing him down.
He nods. “The girls were asking if we want to grab a bite to eat after this.”
My eyes roll before I can stop them. “Naw, man. I was thinking maybe we could call up Breigh and Em and see if they want to hang out after.”
Cade’s eyes grow wide and then angry. He’s not happy with me for mentioning the girls in front of them. Typical Cade. The four females that are hanging on his every word are now exchanging worried and angry glances with one another. “He’s talking about my sister and her best friend,” he says quickly, trying to do damage control.
“Oh, sounds boring!” one of the girls’ drones. “Come hang out with us; I guarantee we’ll be a lot more fun.”
Cade stands up and then pushes me roughly into the bullpen. “Come on, Brax, don’t be a Debbie Downer,” he says with a smirk.
I can already feel the hands touching me and instead of instantly making me hard, it’s kind of repulsing. The only person’s hands I want on me right now are Emerson’s. “Sorry, ladies, I’m going to have to ask for a rain check.” I bounce up beside Cade, his glare hard to ignore. “Have a blast for me though,” I say as a parting gift before returning to the other side of the room. I can’t wait until this bullshit is done so I can hang out with her.
***
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down,” I say stifling a laugh. I am holding Emerson off and it’s as if she’s a starving puppy. She came over after I got home from the studio and has been on me like white on rice ever since.
“What?” she demands out of breath.
“This can’t be all about sex,” I say. “We need to lay down some ground rules.”
Emerson’s eyebrows raise but she sits up on my bed. “Okay, ground rules.”
I smile. “Okay, so first rule is there needs to be some kind of balance here. I’m a sex god, I won’t deny that, but even gods need attention and affection aside from sex.”
She giggles, her eyes sparkling as she does. “Okay, fair enough. So we are going to what, get to know each other then?”
I nod. “That sounds like an appropriate use of our time together.”
She rolls her eyes but continues smiling. “Okay, what else?”
“Rule two, we don’t talk about what or who we do outside of here. I don’t want to know who else you are seeing and vice versa.”
Her face falls. “Well, it’s not like we are dating or anything so I can accept that.”
Some part of me was hoping she would say that she didn’t want to see other people, but I guess this will do. “Rule three, no labels. Think you can handle that?”
She smirks. “Well, seeing as we are only a secret right now, I think so.”
“Okay, then,” I say pulling her into me.
“Is that it?”
“Yeah, I think I’m good for now.” I laugh.
“Can I ask you a question?” She runs her finger gently over my eyebrows.
“What?”
“Are you ever going to take my virginity?” she practically whines.
I laugh. “You seriously have a one-track mind.” I tuck some of her flyaway hairs behind her ear. “It’s kind of sexy,” I whisper.
She blushes, tucking in her chin. “Say it again.”
“What? That you’re sexy? Well, you are. Cade would have a conniption fit if he heard me saying so.”
She giggles. “I have to finish packing.”
“Then what are you doing over here?” I ask.
“I wanted to see you. It’s not going to be so convenient when I move…” she trails off, looking away.
“Obviously, but who’s choice was it to jump ship? Yours.”
Emerson’s phone chimes and she grabs it, swiping across the screen to unlock it.
“Who is it?” I ask lazily, not even trying to see.
Her face scrunches up with concern.
“What is it?” I’m all ears and attention now.
“Breigh, she can’t get a hold of Cade. She’s been calling and texting, but he isn’t answering. Do you know where he is?”
I want nothing more than to lie to her, but I can’t. It’s a lose-lose situation for me. If I tell the truth, someone may get hurt. If I lie, someone may get hurt. I shrug. “He said he was going to get something to eat after we left the studio; he invited me but I wanted to see you.” I always find that a version of the truth is better than nothing.
She nods, the worry never leaving her face. “I have to go.” She stands up from my bed, an apologetic look on her face.
“Okay,” I reply before standing up as well and giving her a quick peck on the lips. “Call me later.”
I know her well enough by now to know that she is headed straight for Breigh. She can’t stand to see her friend hurting. I wish Cade would get his act together.
Chapter Thirty-One:
Emerson
After I ran out on Braxton, I headed straight to Breigh’s. I haven’t seen her this distraught since we were back on tour and found Cade with a groupie.
“I came as fast as I could,” I say as she allows me into her apartment and I embrace her. “Tell me everything.” It’s obvious she has been crying because her face is tinged pink and her eyes are glassy.
She leads me to the living room and then plops down on the couch. “Well, Cade and I haven’t gone more than a couple of hours without speaking to one another since he got back from tour. Yesterday, I realized he was acting different when I sent him a text and he didn’t reply for almost five hours.”
I stifle a laugh realizing that all of this is more than likely just a false alarm. “Breigh,” I say softly.
“I know what you’re going to say,” she says fighting back tears. “But I promise you I’m not overreacting or imagining this. Something is wrong.”
I sigh and then pull out my phone. I haven’t spoken to Cade since yesterday morning, but he’s never been known to avoid me. Quickly, I dial his number and wait for the line to connect.
“What are you doing!” Breigh exclaims, throwing herself at my phone. I dodge her by standing and then begin pacing across the room.
Like I assumed, Cade picks up on the third ring. “Hey, Em,” he says.
“Hey,” I reply.
“What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing. Just trying to see what you are up to. I was craving some barbecue.” I know Cade won’t be able to turn down his favorite restaurant, Roadhouse Grill.
There is some commotion in the background of our phone call, and I hear a female’s voice.
“Em, are you trying to kill me?” Cade whines and I hear faint giggling. My stomach churns.
I laugh for good measure and then put my big girl panties on. “No, I’m just being
a good sister. If you don’t want to go, I can happily ask someone else.”
“No, no, no!” he exclaims loudly. More female voices and giggling become apparent.
“Where are you?” I ask, unable to stop myself.
“I’m at the studio.” I’m taken aback. I don’t know what it is, but something in my gut tells me he isn’t telling the truth.
“Uh huh,” I reply shortly.
“Look,” he says, “I gotta go. Thanks for the invitation, sis, you know that’s my jam… but I’m kinda busy here.”
I allow him to get off the phone, but I don’t know how to look my best friend in the face. Not when I know what I do.
“What did he say?” she asks eagerly, her eyes glued to my lips.
“He, um…” I don’t even know where to start. I don’t want to say ‘I told you so.’ I never wanted my friend to get hurt, and now I’m terrified my brother is going to break her heart. “He said he was at the studio.”
Breigh jumps to her feet quickly. “Well, great. If he won’t answer my calls or texts, I’ll confront him in person.”
My mind instantly goes to the female voices I heard in the background of our call. If he is at the studio, he’s in the midst of some groupies, and I don’t want Breigh to walk in on something potentially harmful. “Breigh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Oh my God…” she says exasperatedly. “He said something to you, didn’t he?” Her eyes are manic, and tears are now spilling down her cheeks. “What did he say?”
“He didn’t say anything,” I answer truthfully, feeling her pain with each teardrop. I stand up and reach for her, but she pulls away.
“Stop lying to me.”
My heart aches for my friend. “This is typical Cade. When things are going good in his life, he has to sabotage everything and run away from it.”
Breigh’s eyes widen as she digests my words. “I should have known it was too good to be true. I should have known I wouldn’t be enough for him.”
I race to her and pull her to me against her wishes. “Shhh, don’t you say that. You know that’s not true.”
“Really?” She pushes me away and crosses her arms. “I think he’s seeing other people.”
“You don’t know that.”
She shakes her head. “No, I don’t, but I have intuition and I feel it in my gut.”
“Breigh…” I don’t know what to say. From the voices in the background, I know he was up to no good, but I don’t want to hurt my friend any further.
“Just give him some time,” I say finally. “He’ll come around. At the very least, you can ask him why he’s been such a dick to you.”
Breigh stifles a laugh, and I feel a tad better making her smile. “I love you, and you deserve someone who thinks you’re the bee’s knees, just like I do.”
Breigh wipes her tears away. “Speaking of, what’s going on with you and Evan? Have you guys rounded third base yet?”
My stomach sinks. I’ve been keeping my relationship with Braxton a secret because I was too worried Breigh might slip up and tell Cade. I’ve never kept anything from her for long. I feel guilty. I feel like a terrible friend.
“I’m not hanging out with Evan anymore,” I say simply.
Breigh’s tears subside, and she stares at me wide-eyed. “Why not?”
“Cade didn’t tell you?”
She shakes her head and then takes a step toward me. “No, he hasn’t told me anything. Are you okay?”
I feel bad that the focus has shifted to me, but I’m ready to be honest with her once and for all. “Yeah, I’m okay. Cade just told me some interesting things about Evan that made me see him in a whole new light. I don’t really want to talk about him though, because I’ve been dying to tell you something.”
Breigh’s eyebrows raise and I can tell the change in conversation is helping lighten her mood.
“I’ve kinda been seeing Braxton…” I’m scared to look her in the eyes. I’m scared to see her reaction.
“Are you serious?” she exclaims, rushing toward me.
I let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I shrug. “It’s new. Really new, and I didn’t want you to turn around and tell Cade. I need to deal with him on my own time.”
“But I’m your best friend,” she says in a hurt tone.
“You are, and it’s not like I was planning on keeping it from you forever; I just needed to know that it was the right time.”
Breigh hugs me then, surprising me. “It’s about time.”
“You think this is a good thing?” I ask, dumbfounded.
She releases me, nodding. “Of course I do. I see the way you guys look at each other, all googly-eyed. It’s about time you act on that… by the way, how far have you gone?”
I giggle, blushing. “Things got really carried away the other night, and he tied me up.”
“Oh. My. God.” She accentuates each word, her hand covering her mouth. “My little girl is growing up.”
“Oh, shut up!” I smack her across the shoulder.
“So… first base? Second base?” She is basically salivating for more details.
“I’d say he slid right through third base last night.”
Breigh’s mouth drops open again, her eyes wide. “Did you…?”
She doesn’t even have to finish her sentence for me to know what she is implying. “No, but he did…”
“Holy shit. You’ve never done that before…” Breigh knows me so well. She could tell you which milestones I hit with which person.
I shake my head.
She studies my face. “How was it?”
Just talking about it is making me hot. I begin fanning myself. “I can’t stop thinking about it. Is that normal?”
She begins cracking up. “It is totally normal. So, do you think he’s going to be the one?”
“The one?” I ask.
“To pop your cherry. To clean out those pipes…” Her analogies make me laugh.
“Girl, if he isn’t, I’m going to die a virgin. Mark my words,” I joke.
She is chuckling now. It’s good to see her laughing. I hate seeing her upset. I want nothing more than my brother to give her the world, but if he doesn’t want that, no one can force him. At the end of the day, I’m more worried about her happiness. Maybe Cade isn’t the one meant to give her that.
Chapter Thirty-Two:
Braxton
It’s been a few weeks since Emerson moved into her own place and began working at Greystreet. It’s a fairly busy restaurant that you can find a variety of music on most days, but the tips are what make it worth it. She’s only had a couple of jobs in her life, and honestly, she probably doesn’t need to have one, but I think she goes stir crazy in her apartment by herself.
We’ve been spending more time together now that we don’t have to worry as much about sneaking around Cade. The band finished recording a week ago, and we’ve been on a mini-hiatus. I haven’t seen him since the last day in the studio.
I know I can’t stall anymore when it comes to sex with Emerson. She’s been getting antsier and antsier the more we hang out. We’ve done just about everything except for intercourse. Not that I haven’t been dying for it myself; I just know it’s her first time and it’s putting a lot of pressure on me. I want it to be perfect for her, and I think I’m overthinking it too much.
I promised her tonight would be the night, and I’ve been anxious all day. As the hours’ tick by, my anxiety grows. She isn’t going to be able to get a redo of tonight, and although I can’t control everything, I sure like to try.
When I knock on her door, my stomach is in my throat. I wonder what she will be wearing, if she’s putting as much thought into this as I am.
“Hey,” she says when she opens the door, but I can feel the nerves spilling off her. She is wearing a simple white t-shirt and jeans. I hug her and then close the door behind me.
“Hey you,” I reply,
kissing her on the lips swiftly.
Her eyes are fixated on me, waiting for me to take the lead. Grabbing her by the hand, I lead her to the couch.
“How was your day?” I ask.