One step at a time, he reminded himself. He just needed to get through the show and then he could see her and get the awkward reunion over with. For all he knew, she wouldn’t even look at him, and he was worried for nothing.
But he wasn’t worried. He was eager. His heart beating rapidly had nothing to do with the 50,000 people in the stadium. It only had to do with one, and he was about to see her for the first time in four years.
They made their way down the hallway, back toward their dressing room. Ben was practically skipping down the hallway, knowing his sister was close by, and his excitement radiated off him during the show. Ben was their lead vocalist and played lead guitar, and he put extra emphasis on the notes as he sang their songs. The crowd had gone wild and ate it up. Jake would daresay it was Ben’s best performance to date.
Ben was the first in the dressing room, and Jake brought up the rear. Before Jake even got into the room, Ben’s voice met him.
“What. The. Fuck.”
“It’s not that bad,” Claire’s voice came back softly.
When Jake got into the room, his stomach plummeted because the beautiful little sister of his best friend didn’t look the same. Not at all. Instead of being met with a glowing smile and dimples, they were met with a face of worry.
Because Claire’s face was black and blue.
Jake saw red.
3
Claire stood before Ben and the rest of the members of his band, wringing her fingers. Perhaps coming to him wasn’t the best idea, but she didn’t have anywhere else to go. She couldn’t go to her parents because they would have freaked out. Not that Ben wasn’t, but it would have been worse with them. And she didn’t have any friends to turn to. Charles had alienated her from everyone. It took a few years before she realized how he slowly stopped her from seeing her friends, poisoning her mind with ideas of them using her for her brother’s fame.
Now she could see that it was all a plot to get her alone. Charles did it with her family, too. And she had missed out on far too much time with them, and she wasn’t about to let it happen anymore.
Only, she had forgotten that seeing her brother also meant she would have to face Jake.
Jake. Her brother’s best friend, and a guy she had been in love with for most of her childhood. One night, they had gotten a little too drunk and slept together. After that, the band seemed to blow up with their fame, and he hardly had time forher anymore. She hadn’t been sure if it was situational or on purpose, but they saw each other less and less, and eventually, she left the tour. That was when she met Charles.
But now she stood before the band and their manager, her brother’s best friends. Boys she had grown up with. Men who were now so famous they couldn’t go to a fast-food joint without being recognized. Rockstars whose photos graced the walls of many teenage girls.
“Did he do this to you?” Ben asked through clenched teeth.
Claire’s eyes flitted between each of the guys, who all wore similar murderous looks, but they lingered a little longer on Jake’s green eyes. His dark hair was pushed back, sweat glistening on his forehead. His fitted shirt hugged every inch of flesh on his chest, all rock hard and making him look sexier than she remembered. A flash of pain came across his face before the anger took over once again.
“Claire,” Ben bit out. “Where is he?”
Claire looked back at Ben and pulled a lock of hair in front of her face, raking her fingers through it to cover a little, hoping to dampen his anger. She had tried to cover the bruises up with her makeup and thought she had done a good job. But with the lighted mirrors in the room that showed off any imperfection that a makeup artist might need to cover up, her makeup clearly wasn’t making the cut.
Stupid cheap shit.
“He’s not here.”
Ben took a step closer to her, and she instinctively flinched, immediately regretting it. Ben’s face crumpled as he gently pulled her into his arms.
“Claire,” he whispered.
She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. “I’m okay.”
“I suspected it. Iknewit. Why didn’t you call me? I could have gotten you out.”
“He told me he loved me. He promised to change.” Her words sounded incredibly lame now that she heard it out loud, but it was the truth. And she believed him every time, only for it to start all over again.
After a moment, they pulled apart and Claire found the room empty except for her and Ben.
“You’re staying with me. I’m going to keep you safe,” he said.
“Thank you,” she breathed. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she gently wiped them away. “My car is here.”
“We’ll sell it.”
