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He held her there, his mouth hovering just above hers as he pushed against the familiar bonds of his control. Her eyes were wide and imploring, tempting him with everything he shouldn’t want. Need shone brightly in them. Not just need for his touch or for his mouth on hers—though that was definitely there. It wasn’t the need for a quick fuck. It was a deep-seated desire for connection, and it was fucking terrifying how much he wanted to throw caution to the wind and give in to it.
Zac’s heart crashed against his rib cage at the soft vulnerability in Cassie’s expression. This was wrong. He knew that. But he’d already made the mistake of kissing her once. Just one more taste couldn’t hurt, could it?
He never got the chance to find out. Before he could either close the distance between them or come to his senses and let her go, his phone vibrated on the table behind him. Cassie startled, her blown pupils urging him to ignore it and just fucking kiss her.
But the disturbance cleared his mind—the fog of desire he’d been stumbling around in lifting. He swore under his breath at what he’d been so close to doing.
Furious with himself, he jolted to his feet and stalked over to his phone, wondering who the hell was calling him at this time of night. Or rather, morning.
Concern hollowed his gut when he saw his sister’s name on the screen.
He turned his back to Cassie. “Is everything okay, Tori?”
“Dad’s in the hospital, Z. He’s had a stroke.” Her voice vibrated with tension.
Nausea swirled in his stomach, followed by an icy numbness. He stayed silent, not sure how she expected him to respond.
“Zac, did you hear me?”
“Yes.”
Tori sighed. “I know things aren’t great between you and Dad, but I’d really appreciate it if you could come.”
Zac rubbed his hand over his eyes, knowing he wouldn’t say no to Tori. Even if going to see his dad in the hospital was the last thing he wanted to do.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said. “Which hospital is it? I’ll get Maggie to divert the bus to the nearest airport and organize a charter.” It would take too long to get one of the label jets to pick him up.
He let out a heavy breath. He’d have to talk to Drew and the tour manager about arranging a substitute bass player too. In case he couldn’t get back in time for the concert that night.
“I’m sorry. I know it’s difficult for you to get away,” Tori said. “It’s just, Mom’s not coping well, and I’m…” Her voice wavered, and he felt like shit for making her feel guilty.
“It’s not a problem, T. I’m just figuring out what I need to do.”
“Okay.” She took a breath. “So, you’ll let me know when you’ll get here?”
“Yeah, as soon as I get the charter flight booked, I’ll let you know my ETA.”
He said goodbye, hung up, and stared down at his phone. He only remembered Cassie was there when her small hand smoothed tentatively down his back.
“Are you okay?”
A line of concern drew her brows together.
He relaxed his jaw enough to tell her. “My dad’s had a stroke. He’s in the hospital.”
Her eyes filled with sympathy. “I’m so sorry.” She wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his chest.
Zac stilled, not reacting as his pulse drummed loudly in his ears. Just as her arms loosened at his lack of response, he folded his own around her slender form and pulled her tighter against him. They stood there for a minute, the only sound coming from the engine of the bus and the rumble of the road passing underneath its wheels.
He didn’t even know why he was holding on to her so tightly. He didn’t need comfort. His care factor when it came to his dad was minimal. But holding her—having her hold him—felt good. It wasn’t until his heart rate began to slow that he even realized how fast it had been racing.
He allowed himself a minute of having her against him, then forced himself to step away.
“What can I do to help?” she asked, looking up at him.
He checked the time on his phone. It was almost 2:00 a.m. He needed to find the nearest airport with charter options and book one. After that, he’d call Drew and let him know so he could line up a substitute. The last thing he wanted was for one of their shows to be canceled because of his dad.
Cassie was still waiting for him to answer her.
