The Only Song (Only You)

12. Jaxon

Chapter 12

Jaxon

I ’m five steps down the hall, stretching the slight strain in my neck and ignoring the way my fingers ache because I slept shit last night. If I spend another night with no sleep on that tough couch, there’s no amount of rehab that’ll make rehearsals bearable for me. We’ve barely begun the tour and now is not the time to make my injury worse. My phone buzzes in my pocket, a former friend who’s been begging me all day to give him money, but I ignore it in favor of the woman following me.

When I hear the familiar click of Sadie’s heels chasing after me, my mouth quirks. I knew with how our conversation ended she’d be scrambling after me.

My mind flickers to when she said my name and I’ve never wanted to hear it more. God, the things I’d do to have her say it again.

“Tanner, wait!” She calls after me. I yank the double doors open and lean against the doorway. Sadie rushes to meet me, panting, her cheeks a gorgeous rosy red that compliments her hair.

“Out of breath, Sass?”

“I teach at minimum ten students a day. I don’t get much time to go to the gym,” she snaps.

“Thought I just made you breathless,” I tease with a smirk. My arm leans against the doorway as her eyes narrow.

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself.”

She passes through the door and I chuckle behind her, stepping out onto the staircase leading down to the street. Luckily, we’re only a few blocks away from our hotel, but it’s a brisk walk back in the cold.

“You wanted to talk. Let’s talk. About the deal, or truce, or whatever,” Sadie says. She expertly climbs down the stairs in those tall heels that do nothing but accentuate her slender legs, which does nothing but accentuate her round ass. I pick up my pace to match her step so she doesn’t catch me staring or see how turned on I am by it.

“Did you figure it out yet?” I ask. Testing to see if she understood what I’d said. Because the way she put it sounded a lot like she was trying to do something that wasn’t for herself. And that’s a waste of time if you ask me.

Sadie huffs beside me, a small fog in the cool night coming from her lush lips. I can tell the air is dry, mostly because I’m trying not to get a boner from how she licks her lips wet from it.

“I haven’t figured out what you mean by it . I thought my request was pretty straightforward.” She pins me with a glare. I have to clench my jaw to regain focus, hoping she didn’t catch me staring at her lips. “Now I’m thinking I shouldn’t have asked you.”

“Do you want the solo for you, or are you doing it for someone else?” I ask.

She groans. We pause on the middle landing, half-way down the stairs. The evening sky stretching above us. A full moon casting her in an angelic glow. She’s unbelievably striking. Dark lashes. Crimson wavy hair. Pretty pink lips.

I need to stop thinking about her lips.

“I told you I’d like a solo,” she says slowly.

“Yes. And I’m asking you, is it for you?”

“What? You know what, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“I thought you wanted it?” I challenge, knowing it’ll stoke her fire. That’s the thing about Sadie, she doesn’t back down and where it used to irritate me in college, it’s starting to grow on me.

She lets out a frustrated whine. “I do! And I already said I’ll do anything you want. You want me to buy you coffee on breaks? You want me to match all my markings with yours? You want me to stop challenging you? Anything, Tanner. I want this for my career. So yes, I’m doing it for me.”

Now she stokes the fire in me, because that’s exactly what I don’t want.

“That’s the problem,” I say, my voice low. I lean towards her minutely, not missing the way her breath quickens.

“What is?”

“I wanted to know that you want it for you because that’s all that matters. You want to succeed? You focus on you . No one else,” I sigh. A muscle in my jaw ticks as I clench it again, and I choose my next words wisely. “I didn’t mind that you asked me, Sass. What I did mind is that you said you wouldn’t fight with me on anything. That you’d do anything I say.” I tower over her now, but she doesn’t lower her gaze. She’s always been tough like that and I get off on it.

“Do you… want me to fight with you?” she asks, confused, still holding my gaze. She sounds breathless, like the way I feel when she says my name.

I shake my head. “No. That’s not what I mean.”

“Please tell me what you do mean because I’m?—”

“You shouldn’t have to feel like you have to be anything but yourself when you’re around me.” Her breath catches, honey-hazel eyes staring up at me wide. “Test me. Challenge me, Sass. You’re the only one who does, and I don’t want that to ever stop.”

Her lips part, brown lashes fluttering as she tries to parse through my words.

“I don’t understand.” Her voice sounds small, and I itch to take her hand again, but I keep it to myself .

“You want a deal? I’ll give you a deal.” I lean in closer, my voice a low growl, and I notice the way she shivers, but that’s likely from the cold, not from the way our noses almost touch. “I’ll give you a solo in New York if you let me teach you.”

She rears back. Whatever heat that was building suddenly evaporates. “ Teach me?”

I nod. “There are some things I want to show you. Things only soloists know. I can help.”

She laughs and the sound of it lights up my core. “I don’t need your help, Tanner.”

Her tone is sharp, but I’m not fazed one bit. I learned to be fearless from her. “When was the last time you performed solo, Sass?”

I pin her there. A muscle in her throat flexes as she crosses her arms over her chest. Silky red hair flitting from a breeze as she wrestles with the thought.

I don’t have to guess, I already know. It’s been at least six years since that day.

“Argh. Fine. You win. I’ll train with you. Teach me your ways, master. How’s this going to work?”

Warmth floods my chest even as she rolls her eyes. She nibbles at her bottom lip, and I’m definitely finding it more endearing than annoying. I can’t stop staring at it.

“An hour after each rehearsal. I’ll train you.” She lets out an exasperated sigh, but I know she won’t refuse.

“Deal.” She holds her hand out.

My palm slides into hers, wrapping around her dainty fingers and soft skin. I try to ignore how my body instantly ignites at her touch and pretend as if heat doesn’t go straight to my dick.

So, I clear my throat and rasp, “One more condition.”

“What?”

I lean in to whisper in her ear. “Don’t fall in love with me.”

She drops my hand as laughter bubbles out of her. It’s even brighter than before and it makes my blood sing.

“ Stop. I’m not going to fall in love with you, Tanner. You’re insufferable.”

I wink, my lips pulling into a smirk that makes those gorgeous eyes roll. “I could say the same for you too, Sass.”

Another chill breeze rolls through, pushing the hair off her shoulders as she shivers from the cold.

“Shit. I forgot my jacket inside,” she says. She peers up at the double doors that are now locked. By the time she’s turned back, I’m holding my sweater out to her, but she just shakes her head. “Oh, it’s fine, don’t worry. Don’t want you to get cold.”

My brow arches as I drag down her exposed shoulders. Her tight bodysuit hugs her curves alluringly, tucking into a flowy skirt that accentuates her ass. And her sheer black stockings? Sexy as sin.

I nudge the sweater toward her, seconds away from putting it over her myself so I stop tracing her every curve. Or thinking about how my hands would fit over them. How I’d make her whisper my name again.

She takes the sweater with a shy “thanks” and once we reach the bottom of the stairs, I gesture her across my body, taking position by the road as we make our way back to our hotel.

I was wrong to think the sweater would stop my thoughts.

The whole walk back is distracting. I know Sadie Love in my sweater will be ingrained in my mind forever.

Bright red hair, rosy vanilla scent in an oversized sweater, stockings and heels.

Don’t fall in love with me . Was the warning for her or for me?