side of Gabe’s drum kit. His instrument was tucked away behind the equipment for the opening bands, far to the back of the stage where the overhead lights didn’t quite reach. His eyes were closed as he punished the drums; there was no other way to describe how he was playing. His face held none of the rapture, none of the fervent concentration she’d witnessed at the concert three nights before. There was only anger and retaliation.
She was afraid to interrupt him and would probably have stood gaping all day if the skin on his snare hadn’t ruptured.
“Fuck,” he said. He flung his ragged sticks between two of the drums and dropped his elbows to his knees. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, his fingertips digging into the wicked-looking dragons on his scalp. Gabe looked anything but wicked at that moment. He looked… broken.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” he yelled. And then he kicked one of his bass drums clean off the riser, taking a set of crashing cymbals with it.
Melanie was stunned and half-tempted to back away and pretend she hadn’t seen him. “Gabe?” she said quietly.
He tensed and turned, searching for her in the shadows.
“Is something wrong?”
“Yeah,” he said in a harsh, raspy tone. “Everything is wrong. Get the fuck out of here. I don’t want to talk to you.”
She sucked in a breath, certain she was hallucinating. Who was this guy? Definitely not the Gabe she’d come to know over the weekend.
“What?” she said breathlessly.
He glared at her. “You heard me. Go back home to Kansas! And take your fucking girlfriend with you.”
“Well, yes, I’ll be taking Nikki when I go home,” Melanie said, still more confused than insulted, hurt or angry. Though she could feel those emotions quickly taking hold of her. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you, Melanie? How many guys have you done this to? Did they think it was sexy to be caught up in your kinky little triangle? Well, I don’t want any part of it. Take your loser friend and fuck off. We’re through.”
She obviously wasn’t registering words correctly, because his made absolutely no sense.
“Gabe, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t want to be with me? Where is this coming from?”
“You can’t have us both, Melanie. It’s me or her.”
She gaped at him, unable to believe her ears. She knew some people were naturally jealous—hell, she happened to be one of them—but what kind of asshole slapped down that kind of ultimatum out of the blue? He knew what Nikki had been through. He couldn’t possibly expect Melanie to desert her.
“Are you asking me to choose between you and Nikki?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, his jaw set in a harsh line. “Yeah, I am.”
“Asking that of me makes it very easy to pick,” she said, struggling to get the words out around the lump in her throat. “How can you even ask me to choose between the man I love and my best friend? Why would you ask me to?”
He threw out a hand, pointing toward the parking lot. “Your best friend? Don’t you mean your lover? I’m sure there are plenty of guys who would love to be the spare dick in your bed, but I’m not one of them. If you’re going to be my one and only, then I have to be yours as well.”
Melanie’s head started spinning. She wasn’t sure what to focus on: the fact that he thought Nikki was her lover or that he thought she would actually cheat on him or that he considered her his one and only.
“She’s not my lover,” she said finally, needing more time to process the rest of what he said. “Never has been. Never will be.”
“Bullshit, Melanie. I saw her kiss you.”
Melanie touched the back of her hand to her lips, feeling suddenly queasy. “You saw that?”
“Yeah, I saw it. I also heard you say that you love her.”
“And I suppose you didn’t stick around long enough to hear my reaction to Nikki’s misguided confession of love?”
Some of the tension went out of his long, lean frame. “I’d already seen all I needed to see,” he said quietly.
“So you didn’t hear me tell her I considered her my sister? Did you hear me tell her I am not attracted to her? Maybe I went easy on her, but for fuck’s sake Gabe, hasn’t she been hurt enough? I’m not fucking my best friend!”
He didn’t say anything. But his eyes narrowed, as if he were considering her words.
“What do you mean that I’m your one and only?” she blurted without thought.
“Don’t change the subject,” he said. He hopped down from the riser and took several steps toward her, but stopped short of touching her. “Did you mean to say that I’m the man you love?”
She laughed hysterically, light-headed from the see-sawing emotions surging through her. “Oh, you heard that little slip up, did you?”
“Did you mean it?” he pressed.
He reached out and cupped her shoulder, and she forced herself not to pull away. And not collapse into his arms.
“I don’t know if I can love a man who believes what he sees with his own eyes over my word,” she said, hoping to break some of the tension between them before it broke her.
“Maybe I need glasses,” he said, one side of his mouth lifting in a grin.
“Gabriel Banner in glasses?” she said, touching her fingertips to her chest. “Be still my quivering loins.”
His arms went around her hesitantly, and the tension immediately dropped away. She pressed her ear to his thudding heart.
“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you,” he said.
She shook her head slightly. “I guess if I saw you macking with Shade, I’d have probably jumped to the same conclusion.”
“Ugh, that’s disgusting,” he said, shuddering dramatically. “Do you have any idea where that man’s mouth has been? Have you met his ex-wife?”
Melanie chuckled and pulled away so she could look into his grass-green eyes. “I do love you,” she said. “I meant that. I just figured it was much too soon to tell you.”
He smiled. “The time feels right to me.”
She laughed a little, embarrassed, and then she snuggled into his chest, hoping he’d say the words in return, but not wanting to pressure him.
“I have this strange idea about love,” he said against her hair. “I think a man can love many women in his life, until he finds his one and only. Then it’s game over. He’s stuck loving her, and no one else, for the rest of his life.”
“Is that a bad thing?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t known my one and only long enough to know what fifty or sixty years with the same person feels like, but the first week has been pretty fucking spectacular. Well, except for the part where I thought she was in love with someone else. That pretty much sucked.”
“She isn’t,” she whispered. “She’s only in love with you.”
“That’s a relief.”
Melanie lifted her face to look at him, and he claimed her lips in a deep, passionate kiss. He drew away much too soon.
“Will you tell me one thing?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you anything.”
“Is she a better kisser than I am?”
Melanie swatted him on the butt. “What kind of a question is that?”
“A competitive one.”
She pursed her lips, considering. “I’m not sure. I think you’d better show me your best game so I can decide.”
She grabbed the back of his neck and surged up on her tiptoes so she could kiss him more thoroughly.
“Mel?” he whispered against her lips.
“Gabe?”
“Would you consider becoming my personal traveling accountant for the summer?”
Her heart skipped a beat as a world of possibilities opened wide before her. “I don’t know if you can afford me,” she teased.
“The job has a great benefits package,” he said. “I promise to wake you every morning with an orgasm and a smil
e.”
“Hmm,” she murmured, snuggling closer to his chest again. She could never seem get close enough to the man. She doubted she would ever feel he was close enough unless they were naked—skin on skin—and he was buried deep inside her. And if she spent the summer on the road with him, being woken each morning with his promised orgasm and smile, there would be plenty of opportunity to experience the closeness she craved. “Not bad perks.” She slid her hand down his belly and cupped his cock. It jerked against her palm, and her pussy clenched in response. “Is this package included as a benefit?”
He laughed. “That’s up for negotiation.”
She grinned up at him, her heart near bursting with the love she felt for this man. “I’ll put in my two weeks’ notice tomorrow.”
“I promise you won’t regret it,” he murmured before claiming her mouth in a deep, toe-curling kiss.
Melanie couldn’t regret anything that kept her in Gabe’s arms.
When he drew away, she stared up into his eyes—rimmed with dark bruises that made her heart ache—and whispered, “Tell me.”
“Tell you, what?”
She toyed with his shirt, too embarrassed to flatly request the words she wanted to hear. “You know.”
He touched her cheek and her hair, searching her eyes for clues. “I love you. Is that what you want me to tell you?”
She smiled brightly and nodded, happiness giving her heart buoyancy.
“Then I’ll tell you again. I tell you as often as you need to hear it. I love you, Melanie.”
“I love you too,” she gushed.
“Now let’s go find a nice private location so I can show you.”
“Oh yes,” she said. “Let’s.” She did adore the way the man’s mind worked.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’d like to thank Wendy Christy for being the most faithful of beta readers, and the amazing Beth Hill for her fabulous editing skills. Thanks ladies for helping me make each story a better story and each character are better person. I’d also like to thank my devoted fans, who’ve made my dreams a reality.
WHAT’S NEXT
If you’re familiar with the series, you probably noticed that in Tell Me, I departed from the “One Night” tradition of the Sole Regret series. I hope you’re okay with that, because we’ll be reliving this same three-day weekend through the eyes of each Sole Regret band member in this 5-book “More Than One Night” arc of the series. A lot will be happening with the guys in their relationships and one night just couldn’t cover it all. There will be a lot of surprises in store in the coming books. You’ve been forewarned. Next up is Adam in Tease Me. Madison is fired up and ready to enjoy her first experience at La Petite Mort, a performance sex club in New Orleans underground, but not everything is fun and games for the pair of daring lovers. How can Madison trust a man who keeps secrets from her?
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