The Spiral Down (The Fall Up #2)(68)

But leaving had never been about how I felt about Evan.

I threw my hands out to my sides and then slapped them against my thighs when they fell. “Jesus Christ, Levee. Please just drop it.”

“Not until you deny it.” She poked my chest again. “Say you aren’t in love with Evan and I’ll never mention his name again.”

“What is up with you poking me?” I rubbed my pec.

“Don’t change the subject.”

I shit you not, the crazy woman poked me again. I was probably going to have a bruise from her knobby little fingers.

“Stop.” I swatted her hand away.

“Deny it!”

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t force the blatant lie from my tongue, no matter how much I wanted her to drop it. “I can’t,” I breathed on a resigned sigh.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

I lifted my eyes and glowered at her. “Can you just stop? You of all people know I can’t deny any of it. But hey, thanks for gutting me ten minutes before I have to go on stage.”

Levee hated feeling guilty, and I fully expected an apology when she realized the salt she’d just poured in my wound.

I didn’t get it though.

Her smile grew impossibly wide as she cupped my jaw. “I love you, so get your shit together. The last thing I need is to be forced to issue refunds because Henry Alexander sounded like a dying cat.”

She sauntered into the hall and then walked away, Linc hot on her Jimmy Choos.




My four-song set went off without a hitch. On stage might have been the only place I was able to forget about the ache in my chest. But, the minute the last note played, my regrets collapsed down on my shoulders again.

I showered and changed while Levee did her set. Then the two of us smiled for the press as we made our way arm in arm to our seats. A fresh gin and tonic and what I assumed was sparkling cider waited for us at our table. I was tired and really just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a week. Instead, I plastered a smile on and chatted with the strangers who stopped by our table between sets.

The latest up-and-comer in country music was busy marching around the stage when Levee turned sideways in her chair and leaned back against my side.

“What do you make of that?” she asked, pointing to where Carter was standing in a cove just on the other side of the backstage door.

He was mostly hidden, but Levee, Sam, and I had the only seats in the house with the exact right vantage point to see him. His back faced us, but his shoulders were hunched over and his head bent low.

I shrugged and began clapping with the rest of the crowd as Bubba Somebody took his final bow.

Fisting the front of my shirt, she dragged me down to her line of sight and pointed at the floor. “No. Look.”

I humored her and focused my gaze at his feet, where a pair of black heels came into view. “Oh,” I breathed.

“Yeah. Oh,” she giggled.

Suddenly, a woman’s hand snaked out from in front of him and traveled down to his ass. Levee and I gasped in unison, our hands dramatically flying out to the sides to clutch each other.

“Oh my God, please tell me you saw that?” she exclaimed, tugging on my arm and pointing to where I was already looking.

Lifting a hand to my mouth, I attempted to stifle a laugh. “Holy virgin robot. Carter found another droid.”

Levee and I sank low in our chairs and commenced rolling in laughter. We couldn’t tear our eyes away as we watched Carter and his mystery woman going at it against the wall.

We gave each other the play-by-play as though we hadn’t been watching the same couple.

“I think he just kissed her!”

“Oh, he definitely just kissed her,” I confirmed.

“I wonder if he’s going to f*ck her. I’m oddly aroused. I’ve never wanted to see Carter’s ass before.”

“His ass is fantastic. But what he needs to do is pull one of my equilibrium episodes and drag her to the ground. Much better leverage there.”

“This is Carter we’re talking about. I don’t imagine him being a dry-humper.”

I took my eyes off his back long enough to give her a teasing side-eye. “Why do you imagine him humping at all?”

She smirked. “Oh, I don’t know. How do you know his ass is fantastic?”

“Touché!”

We smiled at each other and went back to watching the best performance of the evening.

I was so enthralled by Carter’s make-out session that I was oblivious to the seat on the other side of me being filled.

A hand landed on my thigh, and a set of lips brushed against my cheek. “Hey, babe. Sorry I’m late. Traffic was a bitch,” his baritone rumbled in my ear.

“No biggie,” I replied absently. “Look.” I pointed to Carter.

The scruff on his jaw nuzzled against mine, and my lids fell to half-mast as the addictive high surged through my veins. Instantly relaxing, I sucked in a content breath as the world slowed.

“I’ve missed you so f*cking much,” he whispered, grazing his teeth over the soft flesh below my ear.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and chills traveled up my spine—unfortunately awakening me from my fog.

“What the f*ck?” I jumped, knocking the table with my knees and sloshing drinks everywhere.