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I paused, looking back at the stage one more time. My breath caught in my throat when I saw Brock up there, eyes closed and fingers moving rapidly along the guitar as he played, and I watched him a few more minutes before nodding to my sister and rushing out to my car.
When I was safely tucked away inside, I let out the breath that I’d been holding. So much had happened in a short amount of time and I needed a moment to wrap my head around everything before going home.
Brock coming on to me had been surprising, although unwanted, and seeing Gaby and her friends there had added to my discomfort. But seeing Scott and Gaby together, without them knowing that I was there, was the deciding factor in my quick exit. They were obviously in love with each other, and it was just as obvious that he’d never felt for me, the way he did for Gaby.
Did I still love Scott? No. Did I want to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him? No.
But it still hurt to know, that even when things between us were good, they weren’t that good.
The drive home was quick and uneventful, and once I arrived, I found comfort in being in my sanctuary. After I put on my pajamas I grabbed the book I’d left on the nightstand and went out to settle into my chaise.
I opened the book, eager to escape into someone else’s love story, but paused with the book on my stomach as a vision of Brock on stage stole its way into my mind. My body shivered as I remembered the feel of his lips on my ear. The brush of his whiskers against my cheek. No one had ever been so brazen with me before, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but one thing was for certain. He’d made me feel something that no one ever had before. Pure lust.
I shook my head to clear it, eager to forget the episode and move on. I settled lower onto the chaise and opened it up to the page I’d bookmarked, willing myself to forget about the handsome man with light-green eyes that had seemed to look though my hardened exterior and directly into my soul.
Chapter 3 – Brock
Once our set was done, I grabbed a towel off the table in the bar’s back room, wiping the sweat off of my face and neck. It got hot under those lights, but man … was it worth it. The crowd had been exceptionally receptive tonight, and the session had been fucking fantastic. This was why I kept going, even though my body wanted to drop. The feeling I got when feeding off the fans while playing was the greatest high I’d ever felt. Second only to sex … Because, let’s face it, nothing felt better than sex.
“I’m gonna head out there,” Brendan said after taking a deep swallow of ice-cold water. “I’ve got a couple ladies lined up.”
“A couple?” Brady asked with a shake of his head.
Brendan just grinned and winked at him, then disappeared out the door, eager to get to his adoring fans.
I tolerated the groupies. Though it was flattering, the way they threw themselves at us just because we got on stage and played, but Brady hated it. He loved the music, and us, but he hated being in the spotlight.
Brendan thrived on it. If there was ever a man born to front a band, it was my youngest brother. He had the pipes, the charisma, and the look, and lord, did the ladies love him. At twenty-four, he was still trying to find his place in the world, so I wasn’t worried about him. Brendan was nothing if not honest, and he always made sure the groupies knew he was in it to have fun for as long as it lasted. As long as he was upfront with them, I let him live his life without giving him a hard time.
Brendan still lived with me in our parents’ home. When they’d died in an accident, I was seventeen. A senior in high school and nowhere near ready to be a parent, but there was no way I was going to be separated from my brothers, or have them moved from the only home they’d ever known. I’d petitioned the court for custody and won. I was almost done with school and a few weeks away from eighteen, so I took early exams and graduated without walking. Instead I started fixing cars at a garage during the day, and painting houses at night.
I became not only an older brother, but a mother and father to Brady and Brendan, and I’d learned responsibility the hard way. Now I owned my own business, and gave Brendan a place to lay his head while he went to culinary school. Brady had moved out a few years ago, but not far. He’d bought a house just down the street, so he often stopped by for meals, or just to grab a beer. Brady’d always needed his space, unlike Brendan and me, who were always happier with people around us.
My brothers were the most important things in the world to me. Everything thing I did was with their future in mind. When my parents had passed, the only thing they’d owned was our house, so I wanted to preserve that part of them and ensure that they were never forgotten.
“I’m gonna head home,” Brady said, pulling me from my thoughts. “You stayin’?”
“Yeah.” I gave him a nod as I threw the dirty towel in a bin. “I’m going to go out and see what TJ and Cal are up to.”
“Later,” Brady responded with a lift of his chin.
I followed him out, veering right toward the bar as he turned to the exit.
“Excuse me,” I said with a chuckle to the gaggle of girls that were surrounding Brendan, my eyes lifting to search the room as I broke the threshold.
My gaze flitted through the bar, but there was no tall brunette with a tight little ass in a pencil skirt. I hadn’t really believed that Victoria would hang around for the show. She didn’t strike me as the rock and roll type. But, damn, I couldn’t deny that I was disappointed. The little taste I’d gotten, and her reaction to it, promised that underneath that uptight exterior was a woman who had yet to tap into her brazen sexuality. And, God help me, I wanted to be the man to help her do it.
I lifted a chin in acknowledgement when TJ’s hand lifted to wave me over to their group.
When I neared my friends’ table, I saw that the top was littered with empty pitchers, martini glasses, and steins. I looked at my friends, who were all happily watching me approach, and asked, “Did you save any for me?”
Sasha sauntered over to give me a hug, and smacked my cheek with a juicy kiss. “You guys rocked as usual!”
“Calm down, Red,” TJ said with a chuckle for his fiancé, as his arm snaked around her waist. “You don’t want to give Brock the wrong idea.” This he said with a wink.
“Oh … Phst,” Sasha said, her words slurring before she broke out in giggles.
I grinned at my friend and asked, “You guys have a ride home?”
