Before You (Before You #1)(3)
“We’re Chasing Ruin. Thanks for coming to see us tonight.” His eyes were glued to hers as if they were the only two people in the bar and she had the unnerving desire to get closer to him, to trace the lines of his face. She hadn’t seen Cam since Christmas, and he was all but forgotten.
Jax raised his hand, signaling the band to begin the first set, and words flowed out of his mouth. Even with the fast pace of the song, his voice flooded her senses. It was smooth like honey caressing her skin, bewitching her and everyone in the crowd. Wow. Words escaped her. He was the whole package. Cam was right. This band had potential to go all the way.
Then he redirected his attention to the group of girls screaming for him just below the stage. Bending down, he reached his hand toward the devoted fans, making the girls beam in delight. And just like that Jax, the lead singer of Chasing Ruin, had already forgotten her, which was fine. She didn’t need or want his attention. She had Camden, her best friend since childhood and her boyfriend for the last six years.
Chapter Two
Jax Carmichael watched as the beautifully fake Katie ran her hands all over his body, bored beyond belief even as he managed to mumble encouraging words in her direction. Usually sharing a meaningless moment with an equally meaningless woman was a perfect way to end the night after a performance. He could drag Katie back to the storage closet and let her make good on all the ridiculous things she was murmuring in his ear with annoying frequency. It might even be momentarily entertaining to see what exactly they could do in that closet.
The sad fact of the matter was that he’d rather be talking with Aubrey, though he wasn’t exactly sure why. Her hair was a disheveled mess, her clothes were boring and rumpled, and she wasn’t wearing any makeup, but that wasn’t what caught his attention. From the moment he saw Aubrey walk into the bar, he knew he had talk to her. She was the first real person he’d set his eyes on in weeks, perhaps his entire life. Growing up on the fringes of Hollywood with a dad in the industry meant that real people were hard to find, but he knew she was different when he spotted her looking lost near the entrance to the bar, and before he could second guess his actions, he slid into the barstool next to her.
Up close, she was undeniably beautiful and not in the obnoxious, overly surgically enhanced way. Her skin glowed, her almond shaped amber eyes tilted upwards with an impish glint, and her smile fascinated him. He had never seen anyone whose entire face lit up like that. From the minute he first glimpsed that smile all he could think was that he wanted to be the person who put that smile there every day.
When she claimed to be meeting her boyfriend at the bar, he wasn’t deterred. He saw the way she looked at him. He was very familiar with that look. Many women offered him that look, but with her the look wasn’t calculated. He had piqued her interest. She denied it, but he knew it was true. He was happy to play the game until she admitted her interest. After all, watching her and talking to her was undeniably intriguing.
Then, she mentioned that her boyfriend played in the band and just like that, his plans to seduce her crashed and burned. She was Cam’s Aubrey and the pieces of the puzzle came together, the way Cam sang her praises and talked about marrying her. Not that any of that nonsense stopped him from taking advantage of his new status as a member of an up and coming local band. Despite all Cam’s shortsightedness and glossy eyes when it came to fame and the music industry, Cam never once insinuated that anyone could take Aubrey’s place in his life.
Women walked in and out of Cam’s life these last two months as though he had some sort of revolving door in his bedroom. Jax laughed with the other guys in the band and told Cam not to get hung up on anyone, but now he understood why Cam had no intention of letting her go. If he had her, he wouldn’t let go, either. He just hoped if he found someone like Aubrey he would have enough sense to treat her better than Cam did.
“Jax, come meet Bre,” Cam called out as he walked toward Jax’s booth in the corner of the bar.
Jax glanced at Cam, his arm wrapped around Aubrey’s—no, Bre’s—waist. Standing abruptly, Katie tumbled off his lap. As he reached his hand out to greet Bre, a light pink blush stained her cheeks.
“You’re Jax. The singer for Chasing Ruin,” she commented, her voice just barely above a whisper.
“Yep… the one and only. Nice to formally meet you, Bre.” Jax held her hand, studying her in silence, his thumb caressing the inside of her wrist. He could tell he made her uncomfortable, but he couldn’t resist the intimate touch.
Cam looked between the Jax and Bre. “You’ve already met?”
“Yes. We talked a little at the bar before your performance,” Bre replied, defiantly pulling her hand away from Jax, her composure clearly shaken.
Cam laughed, pulling Bre tightly to his side. “I hope you weren’t hitting on my girl. I know she’s hard to resist. She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?”
Bre looked at Cam, her eyes glowing with love and shared history and something akin to adoration. His gut twisted. Jealousy? He hoped not. He didn’t want to go down that road now or anytime in his life.
He had watched his parents’ relationship morph from love and devotion into indifference and eventually to downright aversion and consequently, he wasn’t interested in finding love even if it looked appealing in its infancy. He knew from having a front row seat in his parents’ marriage that the transition from love to reality was as ugly as it was inevitable. In his jaded mind, he envisioned the road of love a little like peeling away a person’s masks until you’re left with rotting worms and lies. A tiny part of his mind wondered if it could be different with someone who glowed with life and authenticity like Bre, but he quickly suppressed the thought before it could grow into curiosity.