Zane (Inked Brotherhood 3)

“What happened?” His shrewd gaze nails me, and I squirm like a moth on a pin. Fucker knows me too well.

“Nothing happened.”

“Did you sleep with her?”

“Fuck. You.” Because he knows me well, but not that well, and I wonder what he’s heard about me. Not sure I wanna know.

“Whatever.” He tugs on his shaggy hair and turns to go. “I’ll tell her you’re not coming.”

“Tell her?” My brows draw together as I try to figure this out. “She told you to invite me?” Hope is like a burning cinder inside me. Hurts like motherfucking hell.

“Nah.”

Shit. That one word is a punch to my gut. “Then fuck off.”

Rafe looks at me over his shoulder and winks. “She asked if I heard from you, if you’re okay, and if I know where you are.”

“Why didn’t you say so from the start? Motherfucker.” I shake my head and hide a grin as I bend to gather my tools. “What time is the damn rehearsal?”

Chapter Eight

Dakota

My mind isn’t on the rehearsal. That’s annoying and embarrassing, because I’m the one who begged everyone to rehearse today. I thought it might get my thoughts off Zane and what happened three nights ago. The way he pleasured me, the way he took control, and then the way he gave in to me… The pleasure was incredible and seeing him, feeling him, was breathtaking.

And then I broke his rule and broke him.

Oh God. I bite my lip, my eyes burning. That look on his face made me want to cry. It was as if he didn’t recognize me, as if he didn’t know where he was anymore. He stumbled into the furniture as if he couldn’t see it. Like a wild animal trying to escape. What the hell was that about?

After he left, I sat and thought. I decided to talk to Erin, but she and Tyler were with her parents and their son for the weekend and not in town. Tessa was away with her parents, too. I tried to get ahold of Asher but couldn’t find his number, or Rafe’s, and I couldn’t find Audrey, either. In the end, even though I didn’t know if Zane wanted to ever see me again, I passed by his apartment, but either he wasn’t in, or he didn’t want to let me in.

I wanted to hit my head against the wall.

I bow said head, waiting for Luke and Quinn to tune their guitars, and close my eyes. What are those small scars on his back? Why does touching them freak him out?

What happened to you, Zane?

“Ready when you are,” Rafe says and gives me a drumroll and a wink.

Shooting him a weak smile, I grab my mike. The bass begins its deep, powerful beat, and I close my eyes as I feel the music and recall the words. I open my mouth and let all my frustration and worry, all my sadness and fear, all my need for Zane pour out of me. I scream, and I yell, and I soar, my body weightless, but I don’t fall. I keep rising, flying above it all like a bird.

I see me, and I see Zane. I see the way he looks at me, I see his grin, his cocky attitude and the pain in his eyes, and I know I have to find him and talk to him. I have to hold him, because he’s falling. Why doesn’t anyone else notice?

I break mid-song and open my eyes, staring at nothing. Christ. He’s falling. I have to find him.

Am I going crazy? Is it all in my mind?

This is how he’s always been, Asher said. He has his ups and downs. He has his triggers. What makes you think he’s about to go to pieces because you touched him where he didn’t want to be touched?

But that’s not it, is it? No, there’s something more, and I can’t put my finger on it.

“You okay?” Rafe asks, and I nod, my mind going in circles.

I replay in my mind Zane’s behavior, his expression. The rules he’s been breaking. He never takes a girl home, Tessa had said. Never draws on girls. Never lets them touch him.

‘This isn’t like him. He’s letting you in.’

What does it all mean?