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Zac had been gone for almost seven hours now. He hadn’t called or messaged her. She’d composed half a dozen texts to him, then deleted them. She had no idea what to say. Or whether she should say anything at all.
Maybe she just needed to accept the inevitable.
The thought sent a lance of pain into her chest, and a breath shuddered out of her. Reluctantly, she pulled up some rental listings for Las Vegas and scrolled through them half-heartedly. It was hard to get excited by any of them because none of them were near Zac.
A tear slipped slowly down her cheek, and she absently brushed it away.
The beeping of the keypad startled her. She put her phone down on the coffee table and stood, smoothing her suddenly damp hands against her thighs.
Zac walked in, and her pulse sped up the way it always did when she saw him. She took a step forward before stopping as Beau, Devon, and Caleb strolled in behind him.
“Hey, Cassie. How’s it going, beautiful?” Beau swooped down on her and gave her a hug. She smiled, but her heart had fallen. Her eyes met Zac’s over his bandmate’s shoulder, questioning. He looked away from her, his gaze dropping to the coffee table. His brows lowered, and his lips thinned. As soon as Beau let her go, Cassie followed his gaze.
Her phone screen was still on, Las Vegas rental listings showing on the screen.
When she looked back up, Zac’s expression had smoothed away, and he was saying something to Caleb.
Cassie took a breath and tried to smile. “Can I get you guys a drink?”
“I’ve got this, Cassie,” Zac said, looking in her direction, but not really looking at her. “You can go back to what you were doing.” His eyes dropped to her phone for a second.
Well, she guessed she was dismissed then.
Beau’s gaze darted between the two of them, and he frowned. “You’re going to join us, aren’t you, Cassie?” His tone told her he was less than impressed with Zac’s comment.
That made two of them.
She gave Beau a grateful smile. “Thanks, but I’ve got some stuff I need to do. And I…” Her breath hitched, the reality of what was happening making the backs of her eyes sting. “I think I have less time to get it sorted than I expected.”
She picked up her phone, avoiding everyone’s gaze. “I’ll leave you all to it.” Throwing a smile around the room, she headed for Zac’s bedroom.
She was still awake when the guys left a couple of hours later and Zac finally came to bed. She watched him as he undressed, and when he climbed in next to her, she rolled toward him, wanting to address the situation. But he surprised her by immediately wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tight against his chest.
“Zac, I—” she started.
He buried his face in her neck and released a ragged breath. Cassie froze in surprise, then slid her hands up his back. He was hurting. Whatever it was that was making him act this way, it was causing him pain.
Zac’s lips found hers, and he kissed her, softly and tenderly. It was so at odds with how he’d acted toward her that she let herself luxuriate in the feel of him against her. His taste, his scent, he filled her senses completely.
He pulled back, but before she could say more, he slid the strap of her cami top off her shoulder, tugging it down, then skimming his knuckles along the sensitive skin on the side of her breast. She shivered.
The low light glimmered in his eyes as he looked at her. “I don’t want to talk right now, Cassie. We can talk later, but right now, I just need your body against mine.”
Her heart stalled, fell, then managed to pick itself up again. But its beat was uneven. She recognized the words, even if he didn’t. It was almost the same thing he’d said to her on the plane, the first time they’d slept together.
He was deflecting. Exactly the way he had back then.
Zac brushed his lips over her neck, and she let her eyes slide shut. She tipped her head back and breathed out a sigh of pleasure. They had to talk. She knew that. But the uncertainty of how that conversation would end clawed at her. She had a good idea it wouldn’t end the way she wanted.
He was right. Later was better.
She sat up and drew her top over her head.
* * *
Zac was gone when she woke the next morning. He’d left her a note on his pillow letting her know they were getting in an early practice session at the studio, and he didn’t know how long he’d be.
Cassie flopped back down on the bed and stared sightlessly at the ceiling. Was this how it was going to be? Him avoiding the situation until he could escape overseas and be done with the inconvenience of her?
