When I dropped down beside Dallas in the last row she was pissed. “Do all rock stars think that they can snap their fingers and anyone with a vagina will drop their panties for them?” she asked.
I blinked, surprised at her question and the fire in her blue eyes. “Um…Yeah. You’ve met Shane. That’s the way it works in their world.” I knew that better than most. Vegas still haunted me.
“Pricks,” she muttered.
“What did I miss?” I asked, half afraid of her answer.
If Drake had tried anything with Dallas I didn’t know if I could sit there without having an emotional meltdown. She was my friend, but I was sure I would end up doing some physical damage to her pretty face!
“Axton Cage is a douche bag,” she informed me, like I didn’t already know that.
I had hung out with the “rock god” more than once. He wasn’t the nicest guy, but he wasn’t the worst one I had ever meet either. He was cool as long as he wasn’t drinking or drooling over Gabriella Moreitti. But those two had broken up about six months ago, for good this time or so all the tabloids had reported. Gabriella wasn’t a topic that we happily talked about in my family. Emmie and Gabriella had a war going on between them, and that meant Layla was anti-Gabriella as well. Which in turn, because I was loyal to my sister, meant that I was definitely anti-Gabriella!
“Oh shit! That’s Lana!” Axton exclaimed. The sound of my name made my head snap around, and I was caught in the blue-gray gaze of Drake Stevenson.
My heart literally skipped a beat. He was my soul mate. I had always known that, and my soul had been without its mate for far too long. My skin felt as if it were going to split open from the emotions shooting through me. Drake looked good. Oh, fuck. He looked amazing. He had lost a little weight and there were a few new lines around his eyes and mouth. His hair was a few inches longer, and I thought I saw a little gray at the corners, but to me he had never looked better.
My stomach tightened and lower, liquid heat pooled. My nipples hardened and I mentally chastised myself for not being able to control my physical reaction to the sight of the sexy rocker. No one had ever affected me like this but Drake.
As I took all of him in, I realized that I wanted him back in my life. On what terms I wasn’t clear of yet. I didn’t know if I could be his friend without falling deeper for him, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted more from him. I just knew that I couldn’t keep going on without him in my life.
A small smile tilted my lips as I came to that conclusion, and I raised my hand to wave. I thought I saw relief cross his face, and he started to smile back, but then he turned his head, frowning at something the man at the end of the judge’s table had said…
That was when I saw him. Cole Steel. That was probably the biggest shock of my life. No way! I glanced at Dallas, but she didn’t seem at all fazed about the old rocker’s presence. Maybe it was because she wasn’t easily impressed with superstars. Maybe it was because she was still pissed at Axton. Or maybe it was because she didn’t know that dirt bag’s secrets like I did!
Somehow, I contained my shock. Okay, I was beyond shocked, but no one needed to know it. They didn’t have to know anything. If I kept my cool, then everything would be fine. Cole wouldn’t know who I was, wouldn’t even guess the truth. There was only one feature that we shared, and that wasn’t all that big of a detail to notice.
“You’re going to break your phone if you don’t relax your hold on it,” Dallas told me after a few minutes. “Is it that bad seeing him after so long?”
“Yes,” I whispered, and then shook my head to clear the hatred haze. “No,” I corrected myself, knowing that she had meant Drake and not Cole. “No. It’s actually good to see him. I’ve missed him.”
The sudden crash startled me, and I jumped up, not knowing what to expect. Drake had Cole pressed against the wall holding him up by his throat, and it scared the hell out of me. He was saying something to the older rocker, but it was too low for me to make out. His face was purple he was so mad, and there was a vein popping out in his neck.
Around me, the other fans were becoming rowdy. Axton was still sitting at the judge’s table, seeming reluctant to stop his friend. A producer and two security guards appeared, attempting to pull Drake off of Cole, who was clawing at Drake’s hands while he gasped for air he wasn’t going to get.
I pushed passed Dallas, knocking another woman to the ground as I rushed toward the fight. If you could even call it that! It looked more like Drake dominating some little old man the way Cole Steel looked right now, still pressed against the wall.
“Drake!” I screamed his name as I ran toward him. He seemed to jerk at the sound of my voice but still didn’t release his hold.
I glanced around, frantic. “Shane!” I screamed. “Shane!” Where was he? Before I could reach Drake strong arms wrapped around my waist. “No. Let me go!” I kicked behind me, connecting with someone’s shins.
“Dammit, Lana!” Axton huffed. “Be still!”
“Let go, Ax. He’s going to kill him.” I had never seen so much rage coming from Drake before. “Let. GO!”
“Drake!” Shane’s voice boomed around the room, and I glanced around, relieved to find the younger Stevenson brother. He reached his brother and wrapped his arms around his neck in a sleeper hold. “Let him go, bro.”
Drake struggled as his brother pulled him back. “Fucker!” he bellowed. “You ever talk about her like that again and I will end you!”
Cole put his hands to his bruised throat, coughing as he sucked in life giving oxygen. Shane was still pulling Drake back, getting him as far away from the old man as possible while his brother struggled to get back. “A little help here, Ax!” Shane muttered, out of breath.
I was still trying to get free from Axton’s hold on me. He seemed more eager for Drake to finish what he had started than keeping him back. “Sure. As soon as this little spitfire stops clawing at me, I’ll be right there!”
I reached down and caught Axton off guard when I bit into his forearm. He released me with a string of curses, and I stumbled a few steps before righting myself. Then I was doing what I had meant to do in the first place. I threw myself against Drake.
He went completely still in his brother’s arms. There was only a small hesitation and then he was wrapping me in his arms. I felt his nose skim against my neck as he inhaled deep. Drake’s big body shuddered, and I thrust my fingers through his hair, holding him in place as the rage faded.