Tamed Read online

  After almost twenty minutes, Logan glanced at his phone. “Chloe, it’s eight now. The band goes on at nine. Call him, and see where he is.”

  She pulled out her phone and dialed Drake’s number. After a few seconds of conversation, she hung up.

  “We have to pick him up at the library,” she said, clearly annoyed over him not showing up.

  We walked downstairs and out of the building to where Chloe’s car was parked. Logan climbed into the passenger seat before I had a chance. I hid my smile as I slid into the backseat with Rachel. Before Chloe even pulled out of the lot, Logan had her hand tightly grasped in his. Yeah, the boy had it bad.

  When we reached the library, Chloe popped the trunk, so Drake could toss his guitar in the back. Rachel scooted over closer to me to make room for Drake in the backseat. He climbed in and gave us a quick smile before glancing up at Chloe. His gaze hardened when he saw Chloe’s hand in Logan’s.

  He shook his head before turning his attention back to Rachel and me. I had to admit, the boy was sex on a stick. His hair was black and hung in his eyes. His eyes were just as dark. He had a piercing in his eyebrow and another in his lip. Tattoos poked out from underneath the sleeves of his tight T-shirt. If he weren’t Chloe’s friend, I would’ve totally made a pass at him.

  I felt Rachel tense beside me as he looked at her.

  “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Drake,” he said, giving her the flirtiest look I’d ever seen.

  Player.

  “I know who you are. I’m Chloe’s roommate, Rachel.”

  Rachel seemed to eat up the attention Drake was giving her as he continued to flirt with her. She was so caught up in it that she didn’t notice Drake’s gaze constantly moving to Chloe. My stomach dropped. He was using Rachel to make Chloe jealous.

  I leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes. With a guy like Drake, Chloe would have to be made of steel to ignore his advances. I needed to talk to her since it was obvious that Drake had a thing for her. Stupid, stupid men. They always have to complicate things.

  When we pulled into the parking lot of the bar, Drake climbed out and grabbed his guitar from the trunk. The rest of us climbed out and headed for the bar. I looped my arm through Logan’s. I felt the need to hug him and tell him everything would be okay, but I couldn’t, so this would have to do.

  Once we were inside the bar, we stopped by the door to wait for Drake. This was his place, not ours, and he would tell us where to sit. I looked around as we waited for him and Chloe to appear. She had apparently hung back to walk with him.

  The bar was older but clean. A while back, Morgantown had banned smoking in bars, but I could still detect the subtle scent of cigarette smoke in the air. Where we stood in the back of the bar were several tables, all of them full. At the front was a stage. A large space had been cleared out in front of it so that the patrons could stand in front of the stage.

  Drake appeared and motioned for us to follow him. Chloe wasn’t with him, but she came through the door a few seconds later. Once she joined our group, we followed him to the front of the bar where an empty table sat.

  “I had them save this one for you guys. I’ve got to go to the back and meet up with the guys and Jade.”

  We all sat down at the table as Drake walked away. I noticed Rachel staring at him with a look of longing on her face.

  “Earth to Rachel. Come in, Rachel,” Chloe said as she snapped her fingers in front of Rachel’s face.

  “What? Oh, sorry,” Rachel said as her cheeks flushed bright red.

  I shook my head as Logan chuckled. This wasn’t going to end well.

  “Don’t go there, Rachel. If you have sex with him, you’ll make it awkward for me when he kicks you to the curb,” Chloe bit out.

  My eyes widened in surprise. Chloe was pissed. She never got pissed, especially over a guy.

  Rachel frowned. “I wasn’t planning on having sex with him.”

  Chloe gave her an incredulous look. “Could’ve fooled me.”

  I jumped up before Rachel could reply. “Chloe, why don’t you come to the bar with me and help me get us drinks?”

  She stood and followed me to the bar.

  I spun around to face her as soon as we were out of earshot. “What the hell was that?”

  She looked at me, confusion written clearly over her face. “What are you talking about?”

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You blew up at Rachel for no reason.”

  She shrugged as she ordered our beers. “No, I didn’t. I just saw the way she was looking at Drake. If they hook up, it’ll be awkward every time we’re all together.”

  “Are you sure that’s all it is? I saw the way you were looking at him. For God’s sake, Chloe, get your act together. You were just holding hands with Logan earlier.”

  “You’re imagining things. I’m over Drake, and I haven’t given Logan an answer. We’re taking things slow.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not blind, Chloe. You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me. You still care about Drake, and you’re stringing Logan along. Do you even have feelings for Logan? Or are you just trying to get over Drake?”

  She grabbed the beers and turned to glare at me. “Yes, I do fucking care about Logan. I’m trying to get my shit together. I want to give Logan a chance, but I’m afraid, okay? I don’t want to lose him.”

  “Do you really think Logan would abandon you if things went south with him? He cares too much about you to let that happen. You need to get your head out of Drake’s ass and see what’s standing right in front of you.”

  “You think I don’t know how amazing Logan is? Because I do, so stop trying to push me to him, and let things happen!” she practically shouted as we walked back to the table. She set Logan’s beer in front of him and forced a smile onto her face.

  I watched them as I sat down. Logan pulled Chloe’s chair closer to him and rested his hand on her thigh. I swore that I could see panic in Chloe’s eyes.

  “What took you guys so long?” Logan asked.

  She glanced at me, but I looked away. There was no way I was going to help her out.

  “We had to wait forever. Sorry,” she said.

  We sat and talked as we waited for Drake and the other members of his band to take the stage. My eyes kept landing on Chloe and Logan. Chloe tried to keep her attention on Logan, but her eyes kept darting to the stage. This whole thing was a bigger problem than I’d realized.

  When the lights dimmed and the band climbed onto the stage, people started shouting. A large group of people were already standing in front of the stage, but more shoved in, hoping to get closer to the front. I raised an eyebrow. I’d barely paid attention to Drake’s band play at the fraternity party. If their groupies were any indication, I obviously needed to pay closer attention this time.

  “Are you guys ready to fuckin’ rock?” Drake roared into the mic when the lights came up.

  The crowd roared their approval.

  “We’re Breaking the Hunger, and we’re about to tear this place down!” he shouted into the mic.

  I watched as he turned and nodded to the girl behind the drums. She was so small that I could barely see her.

  She started a steady beat. A few seconds later, the other two guys in the band came into the song. I glanced at the one on the opposite side of the stage from me as he played his bass. He reminded me of Drake from this distance—same haircut, same build. He didn’t carry himself the way Drake did though. There was less…arrogance and cockiness. He never once glanced up from his instrument. It was as if he was trying to avoid the crowd altogether.

  My eyes flashed to the guy closest to me, and I froze. Holy shit.

  He was the most attractive man I’d ever seen. He was also the wildest. His hair was dyed an electric blue, and it was styled into a Mohawk that stood several inches high. His eyebrows were both pierced twice, and he had a set of snakebites. He was shirtless, revealing full sleeve tattoos on both of his arms. His
chest was covered in tattoos as well. My eyes dropped to the tight six-pack abs. What I wouldn’t give to run my hands over them.

  I stared at him, unable to pay attention to anything happening around me. I didn’t even hear the music playing. One glance at this man, and I was completely captivated. He kept shooting flirty looks at the women in the crowd, obviously enjoying the attention of being on stage. My mouth dropped open in awe when he played a solo. The man knew his way around a guitar. He played the solo flawlessly, his forehead crinkling in concentration.

  I was pulled back to earth when I noticed Chloe and Logan stand. I gave him a questioning look, but he just shook his head as he led Chloe onto the dance floor. He pulled her against him, and they began dancing to the slow melody of the song. I looked around to realize that several other couples were dancing together as well.

  I turned my attention back to the band. My eyes fell on Drake first. He had a look of pure rage on his face as he watched something out on the dance floor. I had a good idea what, or rather whom, he was staring at. Sure enough, when I turned back to look, Chloe and Logan had stopped dancing, and they were now kissing.

  I sighed. Those three were going to be the death of me. I could feel it.

  “I want to thank all of you for coming out tonight. We hope you enjoyed the show,” Drake said once the song had ended. He looked anywhere but at Chloe and Logan.

  Wait, what? They just started, I thought to myself before glancing down at my phone. Holy shit, it’s already ten. Had I really been staring at that guy for over an hour? There was no way.

  My eyes snapped up when Chloe and Logan sat back down at our table. A few seconds later, the tiny drummer chick dropped down into the seat next to Chloe. I looked up to see the other three members of the band grabbing chairs from a neighboring table. We all scooted closer together to give them room to sit down. My breath caught when the guitarist with the Mohawk ended up in the chair next to me.

  He was even more gorgeous up close. His eyes were the richest brown I’d ever seen. He had a strong jaw covered in dark stubble. He’d grabbed a shirt somewhere between the stage and our table. Despite that, I wanted to reach out and touch him more than I’d ever wanted anything else in my life.

  “Guys, this is Chloe, Logan, Rachel, and Amber. These two idiots are Eric and Adam. Jade is the tiny chick,” Drake said, motioning to each of us as he called out our names.

  Adam. I even loved his name.

  I glanced over at him again, but he was looking away from me. He was in a deep conversation with Eric. I frowned. I wasn’t used to men ignoring me, especially when I was sitting right next to them.

  I felt someone give me a hard kick under the table. I looked away from Adam to see Chloe watching me closely. Her eyes darted to Adam before returning to me. I shrugged my shoulders, and she rolled her eyes.

  The table fell into easy conversations. Adam continued to ignore me as he talked to Drake and Eric. Chloe was focused on Jade. Logan didn’t talk to anyone. Instead, he kept his focus on Chloe. Rachel tried to keep my attention, but my eyes kept drifting back to Adam.

  A few minutes later, three scantily dressed chicks surrounded the guys. Without breaking eye contact with Eric, Adam grabbed one of them and pulled her onto his lap. His hand cupped her ass and squeezed. My eyes widened.

  Seriously? He had a girlfriend. I almost groaned out loud. No wonder he’d ignored me completely.

  “I’m Stacey,” the girl said as her other two friends made themselves comfortable in Drake’s and Eric’s laps.

  Eric looked uncomfortable, but Drake seemed at ease.

  “I don’t need to know your name,” Adam said as he finally looked at her.

  Hold the fucking train. He doesn’t even know her?

  I was so confused. What kind of asshole gropes a chick he doesn’t even know? Oh yeah, Alex had done that to me.

  My eyes flashed back to the girl. She had a hungry look in her eyes. She was a fucking groupie. That was all. She just wanted Adam to fuck her.

  Why the hell did that make me clench my hands into fists under the table? I was losing my damn mind.

  I looked over at Chloe. She was staring at Drake’s hand, which was currently slipping up the skirt of the girl on his lap. Pain flashed across her face before she looked away. I glanced back at Drake and saw him watching Chloe’s every move. What was up with those two?

  As the night wore on, Adam and the girl on his lap became even more annoying. I hated myself every time I glanced in their direction. I didn’t want anything more than this girl did. I had no right to feel jealous over the fact that she had decided to take a chance and came out the winner.

  Jade, the drummer chick, started talking to Rachel. I joined in, desperate to distract myself from what was happening six inches away from me. It turned out that Jade was actually pretty nice. She asked about our classes and stupid things like that to keep the conversation flowing. She had the cutest Southern accent I’d ever heard.

  When she asked about our favorite bands, we got into a huge debate. I declared Avenged Sevenfold as my favorite, and Jade said that Korn was way better. Rachel didn’t have a clue who we were even talking about.

  I looked up when Chloe abruptly stood.

  Logan quickly did the same and glanced over at Rachel and me. “You guys ready?”

  I told Jade, “Good night,” before standing and following them to the exit. Unable to stop myself, I glanced back at Adam one more time, still struck by how drawn I was to him.

  It was too bad he was a bigger asshole than even I could handle. I might be a little more open-minded than most women, but I sure as hell wasn’t a fucking groupie.

  Three Months Later—January

  From Charleston to Morgantown, West Virginia

  “I love you, too,” I said as I hugged my mom.

  I waved once more before climbing in my car. I smiled as I watched my mom pull Chloe into a tight embrace. Chloe had spent most of our teenage years practically living with me. My parents considered her their second daughter.

  “You need anything—anything at all—you call me, okay?” my mom said to Chloe.

  I couldn’t help but wonder what she meant by that. It wasn’t the words but the tone she’d used that concerned me.

  “You ready?” I asked as Chloe climbed into my car.

  “Yeah,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

  I pulled away from my childhood home, my thoughts still on Chloe. We’d spent winter break with my parents. It had been nice to come back and visit, but I was excited to get back to Morgantown. I told myself it was simply because I missed college, but even I knew that was a lie. I wanted to get back because I planned on watching Drake’s band perform again tonight.

  Over the past three months, I’d spent every Friday night at Gold’s, desperate to get a glimpse of Adam. Even after Chloe had been forced to work Friday nights at her job at Starbucks, I would still go with Rachel or by myself. It was getting ridiculous. I’d obsessed over him since that first night, and he had yet to even say hello to me. He was always too busy with groupies to pay attention to anyone else.

  I knew my infatuation with him was unhealthy. While I wasn’t looking for a relationship, even I knew getting involved with Adam for sex would be a bad idea. I’d paid too much attention to him already. If he threw me a bone, there would be no going back for me. Obsession could be managed much easier than addiction. I knew Adam could easily become an addiction, one that I wouldn’t be able to handle.

  I’d watched him leave the bar with over a dozen different women, but none of them were ever repeats. A few had approached our table, hoping for seconds, but he’d completely ignored them. To sum it up, Adam would use me once and toss me aside with no chance for seconds. He wasn’t exactly the best guy to form an addiction for.

  I forced my thoughts away from Adam and back to Chloe. During our time in Charleston, she had seemed withdrawn and sad. I’d even heard her crying in her room the first night we stayed with m
y parents. My mom had been in there with her, but neither of them wouldn’t tell me what was going on. Logan had stayed back in Morgantown to work over break, so I wondered if maybe that was the reason for her sudden depression.

  “Want to tell me what that was about?”

  “What was what about?” Chloe asked.

  I rolled my eyes as I turned my attention back to the road. “Don’t play me, Chloe. I heard what Mom said, and I know you were crying that first night, and she was in your room with you, so spill.”

  She bit her lip, an obvious sign that something was bothering her. It hurt that she hadn’t come to me first with whatever it was.

  “My mom is trying to find me. She came to your house a while back, searching for me. It wasn’t exactly a happy occasion from what your mom told me.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? What did she want?” I asked as I tightly gripped the steering wheel.

  Anytime Chloe’s mom came around, things would end badly. She’d mentally and physically abused Chloe for years before finally disappearing from her life. That was when Chloe had moved in with me. I hated her mom more than anyone else in this world. The things she’d said and done to Chloe were inexcusable, especially coming from a parent.

  “I have no idea. She wouldn’t tell your parents. She just wanted to know where I was. We didn’t tell you because I know how you worry when it comes to her.”

  I sighed. “You’re right. I do worry about you when it comes to that crazy bitch after everything she put you through. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what’s happening with you. You know I care about you, right?”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just didn’t want to bother you with it.”

  “Chloe, you’re such a dummy. You can bother me with anything—except your sex life with Logan. I draw the line there.”

  She laughed as I merged onto the interstate.

  “You mean, my nonexistent sex life with Logan.”

  My head spun around in her direction. “What? You mean, you two haven’t done the deed yet?”

  They’d been official for a few weeks now. The way Logan looked at her—well, I’d assumed that they’d had sex about two-point-five seconds after they made it official.