Redeeming You (Before You #2)(43)
He grabbed her hand before she reached the closed curtain. “You believe me though, right?”
“I don’t know, but I want to,” she whispered clutching her hand over her heart. “I really do.”
Without saying another word, she pushed the curtain to the side and retreated to the back of the bus.
Cam sat back down on the sofa, rubbing his hands up and down his face repeatedly out of sheer frustration. He’d give her a few hours to herself, but he refused to allow Taylor to push him away for an extended period of time. She had a hard time trusting him and the longer he let this go, the more she’d talk herself into pushing him out of her life for good. He didn’t want that. He wouldn’t accept it. She meant too much to him.
***
As she closed the curtain behind her, Taylor covered her face with her hands. She didn’t know what to believe. Maybe she walked into the green room at the worst possible time and if she’d stayed for one more moment, she would’ve seen the truth. He used the relationship word before the performance. He didn’t have to do that to keep her around, but maybe he meant it.
“Taylor.” Marcus opened the curtain shielding his bunk about six inches.
She took in his messy blonde hair and the dark circles under his eyes so uncharacteristic of the Marcus she remembered. What was going on with him lately? He seemed so disconnected from everything. “Did I wake you?”
“Not really. I haven’t been sleeping well these days.”
Taylor switched Alec’s beer to her other hand. “Do you need something?”
He chuckled, but it didn’t sound light or carefree. It was bitter and hollow. “That’s an interesting question, but no. I’m good.” He propped himself up on his elbow.
“All right,” she said. Something wasn’t right with Marcus. She made a note to talk to Alec about it. Maybe he knew something.
Marcus cleared his throat. “Nothing happened between Cam and Anna. He can’t stand her.”
“Oh…okay.”
Marcus didn’t shut his curtain or say another word.
“Why are you telling me that?” she asked, not sure she wanted to discuss her relationship with Cam with him. She liked Marcus from the moment she met him two or so years ago. He was funny, charming and not judgmental.
“Hypothetically, if something happened between you and Cam, I’d think that you’d like that information, but since nothing happened, I guess it doesn’t matter. Right?”
She worried her bottom lip. Marcus blindsided her. She realized there was a real possibility that Marcus would put the pieces of the puzzle together, but she didn’t think he’d say anything to her. Marcus and Alec had known each other for a long time. In fact, they were in two bands together before they found Jax and formed Chasing Ruin, but that didn’t mean she thought that Marcus was her friend. He always seemed somewhat shallow, but not in a bad way. Maybe shallow wasn’t the right word. She never considered him a deep thinker, but maybe she misread him. “I don’t know what to say,” she said after a few prolonged seconds.
“You don’t need to say anything.” Marcus closed his curtain again. “Just passing along some information that may or may not be of interest to you. Nothing special.”
“Thanks,” she said, smiling softly as she continued to the back of the bus to join Alec. She wanted to run back to Cam, kiss him, and apologize for not trusting him, but she needed to keep everything in perspective. Cam rejected that woman tonight, but there’d be hundreds of women standing in line after every show, at every club and at every party wanting a piece of him, if only for a night. She wanted a lot more and maybe he’d decide she was too much work. For that reason alone, she kept on walking. Forgetting the long list of reasons why she and Cam wouldn’t work long term wasn’t in her best interest. Tonight was a reality check, one that was a few weeks overdue. Cam stayed true to her, but with his lifestyle, that might not always be the case. If she were smart, she’d remember that and keep their relationship in perspective.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Taylor didn’t mind the motion of the bus at night. Alec complained that the movement made him sick, but she liked the subtle rocking motion and the steady hum of the engine. The size and comfort of her bunk, however, left a lot to be desired. She wasn’t very tall, unlike the guys, but she still felt cramped and claustrophobic.
When she tried to roll onto her back, she couldn’t move and that’s when she felt it—an arm draped over her waist. With her heart beating out of her chest, she twisted slowly to face the owner of the arm.
Cam.
Holding her breath so she wouldn’t wake him, she lifted her head so she could see his face. He looked beautiful when he slept with his dark eyelashes resting on his high, defined cheekbones. And his lips—the way they curled up at the corners was sinful. They should have a warning stamped across them. Smiling faintly, her fingers drifted over the swirling design of his tattoo, starting at his forearm and ending several twists and turns later where his collarbone met his shoulder. As much as she liked that tattoo, she loved the guitar nestled between his hipbone and the deep groove of his lower abdominals even more.
Leaning closer, she pressed her mouth against his chest, kissing him and slowly drifting lower with each press of her lips—once, twice, three times.