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Zac downed the last of his whiskey and thumped the empty glass down on the table. He fixed his eyes on Cassie standing at the bar.
From the second he saw what she was wearing tonight, heknewit was going to make his night hell.
The long-sleeved shimmery black dress covered her from the base of her throat to mid-thigh, clinging to every curve along the way. That wasn’t the issue. Not the main one, anyway. It was the back of the dress that was the problem—it plunged low, to just above her ass.
If he thought she looked like a fallen angel before, tonight she was his very own version of heaven and hell: innocently sexy from the front, fucking sin personified from the back.
All he wanted to do was bend her over the table and run his tongue from the base of her spine to the nape of her neck. Then smack her on the ass for making him lose control.
He had cracked open a beer right there on the bus and downed half of it in one go.
At least she’d finally taken that damn engagement ring off. It had started to bug him that she was still wearing it. Her naked ring finger had been the second thing he’d noticed when she’d walked out that evening. He hoped it meant she wasn’t considering taking Bryan back anymore. Not that it was any of his business what she did or who she was with, but she deserved better than her ex. Then it had occurred to him that there might be a reason she’d taken it off just before heading out to a club. Was she planning on proving something? That thought had him draining his first beer and immediately opening a second.
Once they were at the club, Zac relaxed. At least there were plenty of other things to look at that weren’t Cassie. He didn’t let his gaze rest on her for more than a few seconds. But when he’d spotted Bryan and Stella making their way through the club with the rest of Blacklite in tow, his eyes went straight to Cassie. She obviously hadn’t noticed them. She was deep in conversation with Lexie, pretty lips curved in a smile and looking happier than she’d been since that night in the hallway.
Bryan had seen Cassie, though, his head turning in her direction as they passed by. His mouth had set in a hard line, even as Stella tugged his arm to lead him to a set of empty couches.
Zac had looked back at Cassie, wondering if there was anything he could do to keep her from realizing Bryan and Stella were there. As if she’d sensed his attention on her, their gazes had met. Her smile lingered on her face as those blue, blue eyes burned into his.
Zac’s heart had lurched uncomfortably in his chest.
She’d blinked, licked her lips, then looked away, breaking the connection.
Not wanting to draw attention to Bryan’s and Stella’s presence, Zac turned his attention to Noah and Summer sitting next to him. He couldn’t stop a slight smile crossing his face at seeing them laughing together. It was good to see Noah so happy after the hell he’d gone through to get Summer back.
The visible stiffening of Cassie’s body in his peripheral vision distracted him from his thoughts him. She’d noticed Bryan. A wave of protectiveness surged through Zac and he pinned Cassie’s ex-fiancé with his eyes, fucking daring him to try anything with her. Bryan had screwed her over once. Zac wasn’t going to let him do it again.
And then when Cassie had headed out to the dance floor, he’d watched her. The sway of her hips was almost hypnotic. With her head tipped back, her hair rippled like a dark river down her spine, the ends almost brushing the top of her ass. When a man moved up behind her, Zac’s jaw clenched, but after only a few seconds, Cassie stepped away from him. He only realized how tense he’d been when his shoulders noticeably relaxed.
Zac scrubbed a hand over his face. Cassie was fine. She had Lexie, Eden, and Summer to keep her company and look out for her. He didn’t need to take personal responsibility for her emotional well-being. He glanced at the glass in his hand and swirled the small amount of whiskey left at the bottom. Maybe he’d had too much to drink. He was nowhere near a lightweight, but all those late nights were kicking his ass. He wasn’t a fucking teenager anymore who could stay up all night, every night, for weeks at a time and not suffer the consequences.
He was just tired and pushing himself hard to get this damn album done. That was why he was overreacting to this whole Cassie situation.
He looked for her again and saw her at the bar, talking to the three other women. She threw back her head and laughed, revealing the smooth column of her throat. Something warm uncurled in his chest.
Spending every night of the last week together, him working with Crossfire, and her quietly writing nearby, was messing with his head. He didn’t want to admit that those hours—when it was just the two of them alone—had become something he looked forward to a little too much.
He would watch her while she wrote, only half-listening to the other Crossfire members as they talked intros and verses. Instead of focusing on what he should be, he would wonder what words she was filling that notebook with. Was she writing diary entries? A book? Was she a songwriter? He wondered if she used to sit like that with Bryan while he composed songs for Blacklite.
The thought sent a flare of something a little too close to jealousy through him. For some reason, the time he and Cassie spent together in their little bubble every night had taken on a significance that was raising red flags in his mind. Maybe that was why he couldn’t bring himself to ask her about her writing. He couldn’t afford for there to be that kind of connection between them.
Zac closed his eyes and took another sip of his whiskey, concentrating on the burn of the liquid trickling down his throat to distract himself from thoughts he didn’t want to be having.
But a minute later, his gaze was drawn straight back to Cassie. Tension gripped his back and shoulders when Bryan materialized at her side. Damn. He hadn’t even noticed the man leave his seat next to Stella.
Noah leaned toward him. “Cassie can handle herself. You can stop worrying about her.”
“I’m not worried.” His focus remained on Cassie and Bryan.
“Bullshit. Your problem is you spend far too much time worrying about what you think everyone else needs and not enough worrying about what you need.”
Zac cut his eyes toward the drummer, who for once didn’t have a smile on his face.
He didn’t offer a response, just turned back to the bar.
Bryan leaned closer to Cassie and said something. She recoiled, shook her head, downed the rest of her champagne, and headed for the dance floor. Lexie, Summer, and Eden looked at each other, then at Bryan, and followed her into the mass of dancing bodies. Bryan stood stiffly, watching Cassie go, then stalked back to where the rest of his band was sitting, a frustrated scowl twisting his face. He leaned down, planted his hand on the back of the couch next to Stella’s head, and whispered something in her ear. A second later, she was up on her feet and following him out on the dance floor. They disappeared into the crowd surrounding Cassie.
“On what grounds can we fire an opening act?” Tex was only half-joking.
