Love Resolution

“Avery!” Marcus shouted, banging on the hotel door. “I know you’re in there. The manager told me. Open the damn door!”

After a moment, the door cracked open.

Bryan.

His nostrils flared and his hands clenched into fists.

The young guitarist stepped in front of the door and leaned back against it, a lit cigarette dangling from his lips. He was shirtless and wearing jeans that looked as if they had been hastily buttoned on.

Shit no.

“Marcus,” he acknowledged with narrowed eyes, propping the door open with his body, blocking the view into the room.

“Out of my way, Pup. I need to talk to Avery.”

“Funny, I don’t think she needs anything from you, a*shole.”

“Bryan?” Avery’s sleepy voice carried over to them. “Who are you talking to?”

Bryan shifted to look back, and Marcus saw her sit up in the bed. As she pushed the hair out of her eyes, the hotel robe she was wearing fell open at the chest, revealing the creamy white slope of her breasts and the dusky rose of her nipples. Involuntarily, he took a step forward while inside his stomach flipped over uneasily.

He was too late.

She’d slept with Bryan. He’d hoped to undo the huge mistake he had made, to tell her how stupid he’d been. But it was irrelevant now. There was no turning back.

Bryan’s hand came up against his chest, impeding him.

Cigarette smoke coiled in the air between the two of them. “Get your damn hand off of me, you opportunistic bastard, before I tear it the f*ck off,” he warned his voice a menacing rumble.

Avery gasped.

Marcus’ gaze collided with hers. Longing and regret flickered across her emerald eyes before being incinerated in a fiery blaze.

“Why are you here, Marcus?” she asked, clutching the robe to her chest. The detached way she spoke his name was a telling blow.

“Get your boy out of my way,” he said tightening the leash on his anger. “I’d thoroughly love to remove him myself. But if I touch him, I’m gonna hurt him. And as you know, I don’t need any more trouble with the law.”

“It’s ok, Bryan.” Her expression was stony. She absently twisted the belt on her robe.

Bryan made a sweeping gesture with his arm and stepped aside.

Marcus stormed past him, a glance at the tangled sheets making his guts knot up inside.

Avery straightened her shoulders defiantly.

So beautiful…

A gaping hole yawned in his chest that only she could fill. But she was no longer his, and he had no one to blame but himself.

F*ck me.

He clenched his jaw so hard it felt like his teeth would shatter. She might not be his anymore, but dammit she was still answerable to him as a member of his band. “You missed the VIP thing last night. Contractually, you’re obligated to attend,” he informed her in a condescending manner. “Sam was able to reschedule till tonight, but…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Her scalding tone obliterated the rest of what he’d been about to say. “Don’t tell me you really expected me to just skip right over from that scene at your room to the restaurant as if I didn’t have a care in the world?” She snorted derisively. “Oh, yeah. Of course you would. Being engaged didn’t mean quite the same thing to you as it did to me, did it?” Her whole body vibrated with anger.

Bryan crossed the room and stood protectively behind her. He put his hand on her shoulders.

The leash Marcus had on his temper snapped. “Doesn’t appear that it meant much to you either,” he threw right back at her, eyes narrowing on Bryan.

Her hands went to her hips and she advanced toward him, stopping when she was less than a foot away. “It meant everything to me. Everything.” Her green eyes flashed. “I would have done anything for you. And you just tossed me aside like a toy you got tired of.”

That’s exactly what I did, he thought grimly.

“I’m obviously a slow learner, but I got the truth shoved down my throat last night.” She rubbed a hand that trembled across her eyes before focusing back on him. “It took me a while for it to register but I finally got your message. You want me out of your life. Fine. I’m out.”

He winced at the finality of those words.

“But listen and hear me well. I may be in your band, but you don’t own me. My personal life and what I do with it are no longer any of your concern. I’ll take care of things with Sam in a bit, but right now, I want you to get the hell out of my sight.”