Faking It (Losing It, #2)(38)

A drop of unease rippled through my chest. He was lying about something.

“Want to tell me what that something was?”

He punched a fist forward in his pocket and clenched his jaw. He shook his head and shrugged. “You have your secrets, and I’ll have mine.”

“The difference, Mace, is that my secrets don’t affect the band.”

“Jesus, I’ve got zero f*cks to give about this band, Max. You know I’m only here for you.”

Unbelievable. In some demented part of his brain, he must have thought that sounded romantic because he stepped toward me and slipped his hands over my hips. I shoved him back hard.

“If you knew anything about me, you would know that this band is my life.”

“Oh, it’s clear you care about this band more than you care about me, about anybody.”

“Damn right, I do.”

He tugged on one of his gauges and ran his thumb under his nose. He got up in my face and said, “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

I’d known that for a long time.

“Says the guy with pinpoint pupils. What are you on? Couldn’t wait until after the set?”

He closed his eyes and groaned. “I get it. You’re mad about this morning. I’m sorry.” His hands came up to my jaw, and he continued, “Can’t we just—”

I shoved him back again and felt his fingernails scrape my jaw.

“No, Mace!” My voice was explosive, and I made myself calm down and lower the volume. The last thing we needed was for someone to hear us arguing back here. “Just . . . I can’t do this right now, Mace. Let’s take the night off, and we’ll address this all later.”

“Later, yeah, I’ve been hearing a lot of that recently. I’m sick of waiting for later.”

Damn it. I didn’t fingernails scrapeazowlmy have the energy to deal with this right now. I tried to reach for him, to appease him, but he backpedaled away from me. “I don’t know what the hell you want from me, Mace.”

His face screwed up in anger and he said, “I’m not sure I want anything from you anymore.”

He blew out the back exit into the alley, and it didn’t bode well for our relationship that the thing that irked me the most was that he left Spence and I alone to pack up once again.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

“Does that really work for you?” I turned to find Cade leaning against the door. He was wearing a black button-down shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. You knew you were in bad shape when just the sight of a guy’s forearms distracted you. The week of not seeing him had done nothing to quell my attraction to him.

Bad news.

“Sometimes,” I said. “At the moment, it’s doing a fat lot of nothing.”

One side of his mouth lifted up in a half-smile, and he asked, “Do you want me to leave?”

I wasn’t sure whether he had heaherd enough of t





23

Cade

Bliss.

I swear, every time things get remotely good, the universe puts me back in my place.

“Hey, Bliss. Garrick.”

The two of them crossed the room toward us, and Max whispered, “Who is that?”

“Remember the alternative Thanksgiving plans I mentioned?”

“The ones better left in the past?”

I nodded and stood to greet my friends. I shook Garrick’s hand, and gave Bliss an awkward one-armed hug.

“I didn’t end up going back to Texas. Sorry I didn’t tell you. Things changed at the last minute, and I decided to stay.”

Bliss asked, “Your grandmother got better?”

I cringed. “Yeah, she’s good.”

“Why didn’t you come over for Thanksgiving, then?” She gripped my arm, and I took a step back out of her grasp. I watched her face fall and could see the pity that she was so bad at hiding. I could just imagine the scenario going through her head—me, home alone and miserable for the holiday. Of course, that had been my plan until Max blew into my life. I opened my mouth, unsure of what excuse I was going to use. Was I sick? I could have been sick.

Then Max said, “He was with me.”

She slipped an arm around my waist, and on instinct, I put my arm over her shoulder. She pressed close to me and held out a hand toward Bliss. “My name is Max.”

Bliss’s eyebrows disappeared underneath her side-swept bangs, and I saw her eyes scan Max’s tattoos and outfit. I tried to see what she was seeing, imagine what Max must look like to someone who didn’t know her. When I looked at her, all I saw was the black bra that showed through her ripped white shirt, and I decided it was better if I kept my eyes off her for the moment.

Bliss shook Max’s hand, a little in shock.

Garrick recovered faster. He greeted her, “Lovely to meet you, Max.”

When she heard Garrick’s accent, her eyes met mine, and I knew she had put the pieces together. She smiled up at me, and I tried to express my gratitude in a look. Her smile widened, so I thought she understood. “Max, this is Bliss. We went to college together. And this is her boyfriend, Garrick.” I left out the part where he’d been our professor. Things were weird enough already.

“It’s so nice to meet friends of Cade.” She nudged me playfully. “I was beginning to think he’d never introduce me. Did he invite you guys to see the show tonight?”