Only for You (22 page)

But, honestly, I don’t give
a shit.

“
That was cruel, bro,”
Wyatt says, reading the last text I sent to Rae over my arm. The
one that wanted to know who she was.

God, I’m an
asshole.

“
It had to be
done.”

Beau shoots me a look, his
grey eyes mocking. “It’s hard to be a man when a woman leaves with
your balls in her pocket.”

I grunt in response.
Usually I would give him hell over comments like that, but I don’t
have it in me. Rae didn’t take my balls… she took my heart, though
I was the one to send her away in the first place.

But the past is the past.
Only right now, my future doesn’t look so bright.

Not without Rae in
it.

Parker smacks Beau in the
shoulder. “Leave him alone. Can’t you see he’s—”

“
Don’t even think of
finishing that sentence.”

Parker makes a noise.
“Dude, it’s already in my head, so kind of hard to do.”

“
Smartass,” I
mutter.

“
Must get it from my real
dad.”

Jaw clenching, I stand up,
shoving my chair back. It hits the floor with a dull thud. “Damn
it, Park. You’re my brother. I don’t give a good fuck what Crystal
or Everett… or anyone else for that matter, has to say.”

The teasing light in
Parker’s green eyes dulls. “I’m not going to pretend that I’m happy
with how things turned out, but I’m sure as hell going to keep
living my life and being the same person as I was before. Which
means, I joke a lot. Got it?” He stands, coming round the table to
face me.

We stand toe to toe and eye
to eye. “I got it, but… Park?”

He swallows.
“Yeah?”

“
You’re my brother.” I
clamp my hand down on his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter to me about
the details. What matters is that is always been you, Kelly, and
me.”

“
I know that,” he says
softly.

“
Would someone please turn
this very special Lifetime movie? I’m starting to get menstrual
cramps.”

Parker and I grin at the
same time, then say, “Shut up, Beau.”

“
Beau’s taking all the
Junior Mints,” Wyatt complains

“
Can’t have that, can we?”
I ask Parker.

“
What’s the rule for
getting caught cheating, Beau?” Parker asks.

“
Apparently, it’s watching
the two of you cry,” he mocks.

“
On three?” I raise my
brows at Parker and he nods once. “Three,” I yell, turning around.
Beau scrambles out of his chair, panic registering on his face as
Wyatt backs up and away, careful to take his beer with
him.

“
Oh shit.” Beau hits the
center post in the bar and winces, before holding up his hands,
palms facing us. “C’mon, you guys. I was joking. You do know what
that is, or did y’all’s periods start, too?”

Feeling lighter than I have
in months, Parker and I launch ourselves at Beau.

***

Later that night, while I
cash out the waitresses, Madison comes up the bar.

“
Hi Cole,” she says. Ever
since Rae left me, she’s been coming around more often, asking how
I’m doing and if Kelly needs looking after. I don’t’ mind it,
because I know Madison and she has a good heart.

She leans over the top,
flashing a good portion of boobs.

A good, horny
heart.

“
Are you busy
later?”

I know what I should say,
and I know what I want to say, but I have no idea how to say any of
it, so I do the man thing and grunt.

“
I’ll take that as a
yes.”

I fiddle with the leather
wraps on each wrist before finally answering her. “I have to
relieve Kelly’s babysitter.”

Madison grins. “Parker
thought you’d say that. So, he’s volunteered for the
job.”

My gaze flies to my
brother. He stands near the end of the bar, a satisfied grin on his
face. This was his idea?

“
I’m flattered. I really
am but I’m not ready—”

“
Oh gosh, Cole. All I
planned on doing tonight is blowing you.” She wraps a red curl
around her finger. “You always liked it when I did that. Plus, you
always returned the favor.”

My mouth drops open. I’d
forgotten how plain-speaking Madison was. “That’s nice of
you—”

“
It’s more than nice,” she
says, outrage all in her tone and making her voice rise. “You once
said I could suck a watermelon through a straw.”

A drink hits the floor,
glass shattering.

Parker’s mouth drops open.
So do several of our lingering customers. My cheeks heat. Yeah, I
had said it, had meant it too, but even with the promise of what
she could do to me… I… can’t.

Maybe if Rae hadn’t texted
me today. Maybe if she’d been a bitch when we broke up. Maybe if
I’d just stayed with her, like a man should have, I wouldn’t be
having this conversation at all.

Maybe I should go to the
concert. Maybe I should get back my girl.

Fuck maybe. Maybes are for
songs and movies.

I’m definitely getting my
girl back. I miss her. I love her.

Then reality hits
me.

I can’t get my girl back.
Everett didn’t make his threat lightly, and I have nothing on
him.

Rounding the bar, I stride
up to Madison and press a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you, but no.
You need to find a man who’d appreciate everything about you, not
just your bedroom skills.”

Her brown eyes cloud with
tears. “What if that’s the only skills I got?”

“
It’s not. I know it.” I
pat her on the shoulder. “You just need to search deep
inside.”

“
Like that time we looked
for my g-spot?”

It’s all I can do to keep
my face straight. “Not literally.” I tap on her head. “In
here.”

She nods, teary eyes now
dry. “Taylor said he had this book for me to read, that I could
learn lots of new things in it. The Karma Sumatra or something.
I’ll give that a try!”

“
You do that.” And I hope
she does. Taylor is a nice guy, a good guy that’s always been sweet
on Madison. He’s been waiting on her for a long time.

“
Bye Cole!” Blowing a
kiss, she sashays away.

I salute her as she
goes.

“
Taylor’s one lucky man,”
I call out.

Parker joins me. “And
you’re a dumbass.”

“
Thanks, Big
Pimpin’.”

“
Dude, I was trying to
help you out,” he says.

The door opens, and Madison
disappears through it, but it re-opens and who should walk in but
my brother.

Jackson Cash
Morgan.

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

Cole

Jaxon stands there. He
looks like shit and I take great pleasure in telling him
so.

“
This is what real work
looks like,” he says, ignoring Parker and focusing on
me.

“
Yeah,” Parker agrees.
“Must be real hard counting all that money.”

He opens his mouth to
reply, and then shuts it. Taking a deep breath, he turns his
attention back to me and says, “You need to come to the concert on
Sunday.”

“
Why?”

“
Violet needs you,” he
says, not happy about admitting that to me at all.

And I need her.
“So.”

“
What the hell’s your the
problem? I’m here, offering Violet to you on a silver platter, and
all you can say is so.” He runs a hand through his hair.

“
Rae isn’t a thing. She’s
a person, with feelings and—”

Jaxon groans, letting his
head fall back. “Jesus Christ, not you, too.”

“
Get out.” I don’t need
his help anyway. I can buy my own damn tickets and I’m sure Miss
Violet wouldn’t mind watching Kelly for me.

“
If I leave, there’s no
way you can go. The concert’s been sold out for months. All the
last minute tickets are gone,” he says, finding the hole in my
plan.

“
So you say.”

“
It’s the damn
truth.”

“
Fine. But I want to know
why you’re here.”

“
I’m bored and want to see
her go ape-shit on your ass.”

He doesn’t know about the
texts, but if they had grown close again, wouldn’t she be sharing
everything with him? Then again, would Rae have texted me in the
first place?

I already know the answer.
She wouldn’t have. This thing with Jackson, her, and me—whatever it
is, it’s not a love triangle. I know that now.

Rae and I, we’re a line—one
end connected to the other, straight and right through the
heart.

“
She doesn’t want you,
does she?”

“
What do you
think?”

I grin, the
ask-a-question-to-answer-a-question routine reminding me of Rae and
Lacey. One time the two of them went on for thirty minutes,
thinking of different ways to answer a question with a question.
Wyatt and I proceeded to ignore them and concentrated on HALO
instead.

But the sound of their
giggles, coupled with Kelly’s… (who didn’t have a clue what was
going on, but loved being included anyway) …damn, it had done good
things for me. It made me feel all fuzzy and warm.

Rae had made my house a
home.

“
I think you’re here
because you want to do the right thing and leave the tour, and Rae,
alone.”

Jaxon gives me a long, hard
stare, then reaches into his pocket and holds up a single ticket,
with a backstage pass. “Here.”

It’s like I’m Charlie and
he’s offering me the Golden Ticket, but I can’t take it.

“
Thanks, but no thanks.”
My hands shake—literally shake. All I have to do is take it and—
“Rae and I are better apart.”

“
Did Everett threaten
you?

Glancing around, I
nod.

“
He does that a
lot.”

For the first time, I
wonder if Jaxon had it as good as I thought he did. “Would you be
able to stop him from making good on his threat?”

He pulls another object out
of pocket and shows it to me. “Maybe.”

“
A flash drive?”
Seriously, I’m going to make Everett cower in fear over 3GB of
memory?

“
Not just any flash drive,
but
the
flash
drive. Click on the folder labeled poetry.”

“
He secretly writes
poems?”

“
No, dude, there’s stuff
on there that Everett doesn’t want to get out,” Parker says,
crowding us to get a look.

Jaxon smirks. “You always
were the smartest of the three of us,” he jokes, like brothers
would, but he’s not my brother and I’m not in a joking
mood.

“
Better gene pool,” Parker
says, taking the flash drive from Jaxon. “Let’s see what’s on
this.” Then he tells Jane to close for us, and heads to my
office.

“
HOLY SHIT.”

“
Looks like he’s found
something,” I say

“
Use it wisely, bro. But
make a copy. Having a backup is always good in life.” Tossing the
ticket and backstage pass to me, Jaxon turns around and starts for
the door. He pauses. “If Everett tries to pull something, just say
the magic phrase: Tara Flowers, Atlanta, Georgia.”

“
I don’t know what that
means.”

Jaxon flashes me a smile as
he opens the door. “But he will.”

*** *** ***

Violet

It’s dark on stage. The
curtains are closed and the band is ready. Purple earpieces with
crystals embedded are secure, but I can hear hands clapping and
feet stomping in anticipation.

Everyone is waiting on
me.

I take a deep breath. This
is the moment before the plunge.

Only this time it’s
different.

This is the final plunge,
and there’s no one to catch me at the bottom. I want Cole, and he’s
not here. I don’t want Jaxon and he’s disappeared.

A single spotlight, because
I’ve decided to change this up tonight, shines down on me. It
hasn’t been approved by Everett, but I don’t care. He can take me
off the tour if he doesn’t like it.

The crowd grows quiet as I
stand there, not saying a word.

“
Hope y’all don’t mind if
I change things up tonight, but I have a song that I want to sing
for a very special guy,” I say, my voice wavering.

A cheer rises from the
back. “Marry me, Violet!”

My hearts already
taken
, I want to shout back, but I don’t.
Instead, I bow my head and pray.

Please God, let him show
up tonight.

Softly, I begin to strum my
guitar, picking out the simple melody.