Savage Hearts by Chloe Cox

she blushed under his hand.
    He thought about that long enough that it took him a while to notice both Declan and Molly were looking at him funny.
    “What?” he demanded.
    “You’re laughing ,” Molly said.
    “So?”
    “I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen you laugh,” she said. She was looking at him all wide-eyed.
    “Come on,” Soren said, frowning. “I have a sense of humor.”
    “Not lately,” Declan said. “Sorry, man, it’s true. Since all that drama with Bethany OD’ing and the band breaking up, you’ve been a little dark, dude.”
    “Bullshit.”
    But Soren shifted in his seat, eyes ahead on the big marquee lights of the club ahead of them, looking for the valet but thinking about how they might be kind of right. He’d always been a reserveng
Chrissakes . He sounded like a frigging robot.
    “Soren,” Declan said sharply. “Why are you still beating yourself up over this crap? Bethany even knows it wasn’t your fault. She lied to you about her pill habit, you broke up with her, done. What she did after that, she did for her own reasons. She’s pissed that you think it was your fault.”
    Soren pulled in front of the club and brought the car to a stop, locking eyes with Declan in the rearview mirror. The valet stood outside, helplessly confused, while no one in the car moved.
    “You seriously trying to convince me I didn’t fuck up when you kicked me out of the band over it?” Soren said.
    Declan glowered. “At least I came to my goddamn senses.”
    “He just wants you to be happy, Soren,” Molly said. “We both do.”
    “Only I wouldn’t say it like a freaking Hallmark card,” Declan added.
    Soren cracked a smile. “No one buys your tough-guy act anymore, Dec,” he said. “We all know Molly’s got you under her thumb.”
    “I wouldn’t put it exactly like that,” Molly said.
    “Oh Jesus, ok, everyone out of the car,” Soren said. “Dec, promise you won’t jump your woman until we get at least one song out on stage, or I will kick your ass.”
    “No promises,” Declan grinned. “C’mon, look at her.”
    Soren laughed. Those two couldn’t keep their hands off of each other, and Dec could still floor Molly with just a few words. The band was lucky Molly was as awesome as she was or they would have lost a lead singer to this lovey-dovey stuff. At the same time, Soren couldn’t miss the look Declan threw his way, sizing him up. He knew Dec felt a little weird about finding a woman to marry when Soren was still on his own. The two of them had been inseparable for twenty years, and now even Soren himself didn’t know where he fit into the picture. He knew Dec wanted the same happiness for him, and it was just too freaking tragic to watch Declan and Molly try to help him when Soren knew he just wasn’t capable of it.
    Once, long ago, with Julia, he’d thought about it. But he was so young then that he probably had no idea what he was thinking, and now he had enough experience to know he just wasn’t built that way. Some people have an infinite capacity for love. Soren wasn’t one of them, and he knew better than to lead a woman on.
    At least, he knew better now.
    Which was why Cate Kennedy and her freckled curves and her need to be let her inner sub out without any obligations to the man that helped her was absolutely perfect. That, and the way she gasped when he touched her.
    Damn.
    Soren got out of the car and tossed the keys to the valet, giving the kid a look that said, Ding my car and die . He was just about to crack a joke to lighten the mood when he saw the red Jeep idling at the end of the street.
    “Dec, you see that car?”
    “Yeah.”
    “You remember seeing it outside your house?”
    “No.”
    “You’re paranoid, Soren,” Molly said, taking Declan’s hand. They were all itching to get into the club, find the music, get on stage. Brian and Gage and Eric were probably already there. Just Soren, who still carried that stress with