Never Over You

by Ryleigh Andrews

  Rising from the sofa, he offered her his hand. “Let’s go.”

  The next morning, Ethan woke up and immediately knew his wife wasn’t in bed with him. He called out for her, hoping she was in the bathroom or the closet, but there was no answer. Maybe she was with the boys. Jumping out of bed, he threw on his shorts and shirt, and walked down the hall to the twins’ room. The boys were still sleeping soundly but she was not there.

  He hurried down the stairs, fighting the feeling of dread that was overwhelming him. He searched the house. No sign of her. Fuck—he couldn’t believe she’d left.

  Grabbing his phone from the counter, he hoped she’d left him a message, but not really expecting one to be there and he was right. Nothing! So, he decided to text Luke.

  Luke

  June 30, 2015, 7:26 AM

  Is she with you guys?

  Yeah. She was here when I woke around 6.

  That pissed him off. He hated that she’d walked to Luke’s house in the middle of the night and put herself in danger like that—unnecessary danger.

  I did not drop her off. Please talk some sense into her. That wasn’t safe of her to leave like that.

  A few minutes later, Luke sent his reply.

  She has been properly chastised and says she’s sorry. By the way, what happened to her hand?

  She cracked me across the face with it. Your pussy punches were nothing compared to hers.

  Pussy punches? Whose ass was on the floor?

  You caught me by surprise.

  Don’t make me ever have to do that again.

  I won’t.

  Did you guys talk?

  Yeah

  Did you ask her why she’s been acting so different?

  No

  Damn it, Ethan …

  Ethan had told Luke everything—how he’d been feeling, why he’d thought it was Todd, and after finding out the way Mia had been acting wasn’t because of the drummer, he and Luke discussed what else it could be.

  I was going to then she hit me. I took care of her hand and then she begged me to sleep with her. Would you have asked her? I hurt her enough last night. I couldn’t …

  You need to ask her. How’s it going to be any different if you don’t?

  I know …

  This has been a problem since the beginning. Your communication is crap. You let her get away with it.

  So do you.

  I’m not her husband. You need to tell her how it is—the truth. You can’t be afraid to spare her feelings because doing so always blows up in your face. She’s not blameless in this. She needs to know that. She needs to face it.

  Do you think she’ll see me today?

  No—she said she needs to think.

  Convince her.

  What do you think I’ve been trying to do? She’s stubborn.

  He needed to get to the bottom of what had been bothering Mia—what had made her so distant. Next time he saw her, they’d talk about it because he needed his wife back.

  Later that night, after he had put the boys to bed, Ethan received a text from Luke

  Luke

  June 30, 2015, 8:51 PM

  She left.

  Goddamn it! How the hell was he supposed to talk to her if she kept running away?

  Seriously?

  She went back to Chicago after her appointment.

  What kind of appointment?

  I can’t say, Ethan.

  What kind of appointment did she have? And why was she so secretive about it? That scared him. Who was she seeing and why did she leave afterwards? A thought occurred to him and he felt as if he’d been sacked by an entire football team.

  Was she seeing a lawyer?

  No.

  He was a mess waiting for that ball to drop. As much as he wanted her back, he wouldn’t blame her if she wanted it to be over. He’d betrayed her in the worst way because he hadn’t trusted her, and that lack of trust about killed him and, in turn, them.

  Ethan

  Chicago, July 18, 2015

  Ethan watched Rory and Pierce bounce with excitement. They knew their mommy played music for a living. Music was always in the house, be it the radio, the music stations on the television, or coming out of her beautiful mouth. But they’d never seen her live in concert.

  Tonight that would change.

  They were heading over to the stadium early to see Mia before the show started. She’d told him, via text, that she had set up a little space for them in her dressing room for when they hopefully fell asleep. The show started after their normal bedtime, but with all the excitement, Ethan thought they might be able to make it halfway through the show.

  He walked through the wide hall towards her dressing room. The boys had run ahead. They hadn’t seen their mother in over a week and they missed her. They weren’t the only ones. Ethan missed her too. He hadn’t seen her since they’d made love and she’d run out in the middle of the night. Almost three weeks without seeing her. Three weeks of him trying to call her only to have her avoid his calls and respond via text or email. He let it go. He didn’t want to push her—well, not that much anyway. Just because she’d snuck out and had been avoiding him didn’t mean he was giving up.

  She had warned him she might hide, that she’d need time. So he gave her that—time. Something had gotten to her that night and she’d run. Once a runner, always a runner.

  The next couple of days, he was going to push. Starting tonight. He’d stay in their home and hopefully their bed. Tomorrow was her birthday party and as husband of the birthday girl, his attendance was mandatory, especially since their separation wasn’t really known. So this weekend, while in the brownstone, he was going to take advantage of every opportunity, every moment he could with her.

  As they rounded the corner, he spotted Allie up ahead. The boys screamed her name and ran to her. She bent down to hug each boy.

  Sleeping with Kristen had not only hurt his relationship with Mia, but with Allie and Luke as well. He’d lost his wife and his best friends. He’d never expected them to side with him. He was thankful that they’d taken her in and supported her. Luke had reached out to him, but things were still a little strained. Allie had been quiet the entire time and he didn’t know how to act around her.

  “Are you guys seeing your mommy perform tonight?” Allie asked the boys, bringing him back to the present.

  “Yeah! We’ve got big headphones, too!” Pierce said excitedly while his younger brother was looking around, absorbing everything. Rory was so much like his mother. Ethan didn’t always know what was going on in Rory’s brain. He was sensitive to change. Not being with her was hard. Pierce really didn’t seem to notice. He missed her, but came to accept it as the norm.

  Ethan caught up to Allie and his sons and she completely surprised him when she wrapped him in her arms. “Hi, Ethan,” she said with a smile. He wouldn’t question it and hugged his friend back, thankful for the branch she was extending.

  “Hey, Allie. How are you? How’s the baby?”

  He had been so happy when Luke told him the news about Allie. Never a bad day when more babies came into their life. His situation made him wonder if he’d have anymore with Mia. Five kids had been a running joke that had turned into a dream. But then his wife almost died and then there was the miscarriage. The thought of her on a table almost dying … made him realize that he was fine with the two wonderful boys he had. He didn’t want to lose her.

  “I’m fine. The baby is doing very well.”

  She glowed when she spoke. Pregnancy definitely agreed with her. “You look happy.”

  “I am,” she beamed.

  He hugged her once more and kissed her cheek. “I’m very glad for that.”

  “Uncle Ethan!” came a shout from down the hall. He whipped his head towards that voice—Kaitlyn. He hadn’t seen her all summer. His heart lifted seeing the beautiful teenager coming down the hall, walking briskly towards them. She was at that age where she wouldn’t run to him—too embarrassing. But she
definitely wasn’t embarrassed when she threw her arms around him and he twirled her in circles.

  “How are you, squirt?” he asked, making her laugh at the use of her nickname. She was tall like her father and had surpassed Mia’s height a couple years ago and just kept on growing.

  “So happy to be here and so glad to finally see you all. I feel like I haven’t seen Mia since Christmas.”

  “Have you seen her yet?” he asked.

  “No. She’s in her dressing room. Dad’s in with her now. She was having a moment. Whatever that means.”

  Allie laughed. “It means she’s really nervous about this show. More so than others.”

  “Why?” Kaitlyn asked what he wanted to know.

  Allie looked at him before answering. “A lot of pressure. This show is being recorded and this is their last show this year.”

  And what she didn’t say aloud, but with that look, was because he was there.

  The boys grabbed Kaitlyn’s attention and she walked around with them, making them laugh. Knowing his boys were occupied, Ethan turned and addressed Allie. “Should I be here?”

  “Yes. You definitely should be here. Actually, you should go see her. Without the boys. Kaitlyn and I will keep an eye on them.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes. She needs a pep talk and who better to give it to her than you,” she said, shoving him in the direction of her dressing room. He took a deep breath and carried on to Mia.

  He knocked on the door and entered and saw her on the sofa next to Luke, her head resting on his shoulder. She looked anxious. One hand toyed with her necklace while her other rested upon a bouncing leg.

  “Ethan!” she exclaimed, bolting up. Her eyes behind him and frowned. “Where are Pierce and Rory?”

  “Oh, they’re hanging out with Allie and Kaitlyn.”

  “Kaitlyn’s here?” she stammered, her eyes instantly turning glassy at that news.

  Luke smiled at her. “Surprise!”

  The tears fell like twin waterfalls from her eyes and Luke wrapped her in his embrace and kissed her head. “Pull it together,” he whispered.

  “I will. Damn it! I’ve got my three favorite kids here. I’m so happy.” She wiped at her eyes and then laughed. “Good thing I haven’t done my makeup yet or Allie would be pissed.”

  Ethan caught Luke’s eyes and jerked his head towards the door. Luke gave him an uptick of his chin and turned to Mia. “Speaking of Allie, I’m going to find her,” he said, giving her a quick hug. “I’ll see you in a little bit and I promise to bring Kaitlyn with me.”

  “Thanks,” she said and kept her eyes on Luke until the door closed behind him.

  “You look stressed out.”

  “I feel stressed out.”

  “Why?” he asked, wanting to know if it was because of him and also to help her calm down.

  “Oh, lots of reasons. I mean, I shouldn’t be. I already did two shows and they were fantastic. I don’t know if it’s because I know it’s being recorded or what, even though I’ve had so many shows recorded …”

  “Is it because you knew I’d be here?”

  She surprised him by blushing. So it was him.

  “I could leave …”

  “Oh, don’t do that. Just be warned. You will not like my show’s message tonight.”

  “I figured as much. And your message will be heard. I need to hear it. I want to hear it, actually. I need to know what you’re thinking. I haven’t talked to you in almost three weeks.”

  “Yeah … I know. I needed to think.”

  He wondered if he would get more out of her than that and decided to see.

  “And did you?”

  “Yeah. A whole lot.”

  “Are we going to talk about that at some point?”

  “Yeah,” she paused in thought. “You’ll be at my birthday party tomorrow, right?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.” Definitely not now.

  “Cool,” she said, sounding like a teenager and then gave him a small smile.

  His wife stood before him looking so much younger than her thirty-six years, especially the way she swayed back and forth with all her nervous energy. He needed to draw that away from her.

  “The boys are so excited to be here. It’s all they’ve talked about this week. They wanted to listen to your music, which, by the way, you swear a lot! So if one of them says ‘fuck’ …”

  She laughed from deep within her. God, he missed that laugh so much. It’d gone missing the past couple of years.

  “You like that word.”

  “Well, yes … I do,” she said with her lovely lyrical voice. “It’s my favorite word.”

  Did she just try to flirt with him? He cleared his throat, needing to change the subject. He knew her game. She was trying to distract him.

  “So, Rory is soaking this all in. He’s quiet, wide-eyed, and completely mesmerized by everything that’s going on around him. As he gets older, I see him growing into a male version of you. His love of music, his need to make sure his people are happy, those eyes of his so like yours. I swear if he knew how to write, he’d be scribbling everything down just like you.”

  She smiled tenderly. He knew that thought made her happy.

  “They may not look like me, but at least one of them will be like me. Hopefully without all the drama though. He’s so sensitive, Ethan. It scares me sometimes.”

  He understood her fears. She went through her own parents’ divorce. She knew firsthand what that could do in the most extreme way. He needed to reassure her. If it came to divorce for them, it wouldn’t be like her parents. Rory wouldn’t go through what she had.

  “His life won’t be like that, Mia. He has two parents who love him, adore him. We will be there to support him—always. And you are not that bad … actually, you’re pretty special.”

  “Ethan.”

  “You are. Just wish you saw it like I do, like Luke and Allie, like your bandmates.” He went to her and grasped her face between his hands. “You, Mia Devereux, are pretty fucking awesome.”

  “You said ‘fucking,’” she said, her lips twitching as she attempted not to smile.

  “Stop with all the fucking.”

  They laughed together at that, but Ethan had to reiterate what he’d just said so she’d get it. “I know what you do, using that humor of yours when you’re uncomfortable. You should own how special you are. Take a compliment, damn it. Say thank you.”

  She looked up at him, the smile gone and her eyes cataloging his face. “Thank you, Ethan,” she said, her voice quiet. He still had his hands on her face. God, the need to kiss her was too much. His gaze lowered to her full and slightly parted lips and grinned affectionately as she tugged that lower lip into her mouth. He bent his head and brought his eyes to her dark ones. He saw the arousal there and they hadn’t even kissed yet. That would change, he thought, as his lips grazed hers. Just the touch so delicious. He traced the soft fullness of her lips with his tongue before gently pushing it into her mouth. With a moan, her hands grasped his waist so hard like she’d been afraid that she might fall at any moment.

  He broke the kiss and waited for her to open her eyes, full of desire …yet he saw the fear there. “I’m not going to let you fall. Never again. God, I promise you that.”

  The tears glistened in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but the dressing room door flew open and in charged their boys. He squeezed her arms and pushed her towards her sons. She bent down, her arms open wide as the boys yelled her name, flying into her outstretched arms and knocking her backwards.

  “We missed you, Mommy!”

  “I missed you, too,” she said, holding them in her arms, but her eyes remained on his.

  He needed to fix this—for all their sakes. They all needed each other.

  Mia

  Mia raced off stage and straight to her dressing room. Allie made sure there was nothing after the show for her. She wanted nothing. The celebration would be tomorrow for her birthday. Those
were the people she wanted to celebrate with.

  Quietly entering her dressing room, making sure not to wake the boys, she saw Bridgette sitting on the sofa watching over them. Mia pointed to the shower and smiled. She was fucking hot and needed a cold shower fast. The sweat that came off her body was enough to fill a pool. She probably smelled too.

  That show was brutal. Hotter than expected. There were points in the show where she had cramps in her hands and legs. She tried to stay hydrated but the sweat had left her quicker than she was able to replenish it.

  After the shower, she left her hair damp and threw on a short sundress. It may be close to midnight but the temperature was still hovering close to eighty.

  Gathering her clothing from tonight, she put it in one of the trunks and would have her assistant, Bree, take care of that. Speaking of Bree, where the hell was she? Mia needed help bringing this to the car. Plus she needed to talk to her about the next few days.

  Sighing, Mia turned to the table and her bag, but stopped when she saw Ethan come into the room. He smiled down at the sleeping boys and headed to her.

  “How much longer will you be?” he asked, stopping inches from her. His presence overwhelmed her—that earlier kiss still very much on her mind. It had stayed with her throughout the concert too and she’d found herself glancing his way often. Mia wanted more than the kiss … even now.

  Clearing her throat, she spoke. “Not long. Just need to get their things in order.”

  “Car’s by the dock. Bridge and I will take the boys over.”

  “Where are Luke and Allie?” she asked

  “They already left. Allie needed to cool down.”

  “Okay. Give me ten more minutes,” she told Ethan. He nodded and lifted a sleeping Pierce in his arms while Bridgette took Rory. Mia held open the door for them and then she went about folding the blankets and packing the boys’ things.

  Ugh. She had a lot to carry out—the blankets, her bag, the boys’ bag. Where the hell was Bree? Mia was exhausted. That show took almost everything she had and she was also in desperate need of food and water.