Chapter 11
Kin
“Are you planning on going out tonight?”
I lifted my head from my history textbook and lifted a brow at my step-monster. What the hell was she doing in my room? I hadn’t even heard her open the door, but there she was, standing over my bed like she had every right to invade my privacy. “I’m going to First Bass with Lucy.”
Jillian nodded. “Good. Georgia is going with you.”
I sat up on my bed quickly. “No, she isn’t.” No way was I going out with Georgia. Not to First Bass, not anywhere. First Bass, like Lucy’s house, was becoming my safe haven and I wasn’t about to let Georgia spoil that for me. And I sure as hell didn’t want her there to listen to one of my new songs I’d written in the last few weeks.
Jillian crossed her arms over her very fake chest and lifted both her brows at me. “Yes, she is. Georgia needs more exposure. I want her in the tabloids just as much as you are these days. That means she needs to show up at First Bass with you and that Thornton girl. I want to see her on TMZ tomorrow night, McKinley. Being seen with you and the rocker’s kid will accomplish that.”
Before I could even respond to that, Jillian turned and slammed the door behind her as she left my room. Ah, hell. Really?
Well, she’d lost her freaking mind if she thought I would just fall in line with that shit. Pushing my textbook and notes away, I quickly grabbed my guitar case and silently headed for the stairs. I felt like a damn ninja as I made my way down the hall toward the stairs. Jillian would throw a fit if she caught me sneaking out alone. As I passed Georgia’s room I glanced inside and nearly dropped my guitar when I saw what she was wearing.
She had on six-inch heels, tattered fishnet stockings, shorts that ended right under her ass cheeks, a T-shirt that barely covered her chest and enough makeup that qualified her for clown school. Her hair was teased and put in some kind of complicated twist that fucked with my head just trying to figure out how she had accomplished that hair style. She looked like a cross between a really expensive hooker, a mime, and a total skank.
It took everything inside of me not to burst out laughing but somehow I contained myself and quickly made my way downstairs and out into the driveway. Lucy was supposed to pick me up and I prayed she hurried because I didn’t want to have to take Georgia with me. Fuck that shit.
The Range Rover pulled to a stop at the end of the driveway and I ran to get in after tossing my guitar into the back. “Go!” I commanded Marcus who was behind the wheel as usual. My heart was racing as I dared to glance out the window and saw Jillian stepping out onto the front porch.
Her eyes were narrowed and her face was set in hard lines that told me I was going to get an earful when I got home later that night. Ah, hell.
“What did you do, Kin?” Lucy asked with a laugh as she followed my gaze while Marcus did as I had asked and pulled out of the driveway so fast the tires actually squealed.
“Damn bitch wanted me to take Georgia with me,” I explained as I covered my face with both my hands so it would muffle my scream as I tried to release some of my frustration into them. Groaning, I lowered my hands and faced my best friend. “Jillian wanted me to take her because she said Georgia needed more exposure with the paparazzi, and being seen with us at First Bass would get her on TMZ.”
Lucy’s mouth fell open for a second before she snickered. “Wow. She’s a real trip, huh?”
I shook my head, trying to get the picture of my step-bitch out of my head. “Georgia was still getting ready when I came outside, but what she was wearing…” I shuddered. “Promise me if I ever leave the house looking like a cross between a high-end prostitute and skankzilla, you will do the right thing and slap some sense into me.”
Lucy started giggling uncontrollably but I was serious, damn it. “It’s not funny, Lu. You should have seen her. I guess she thought that since Harris owns First Bass and is the son of a rocker, she should try and look like a groupie or something. But she over-jumped the boundaries completely. I think it’s against the law to wear the clothes she had on in public. If she was going for shock value, she hit it hard. Her hair was as high as a Texas beauty queen’s and her makeup…” I couldn’t help shuddering again. “It was horrible. That eye makeup alone will haunt my dreams tonight.”
“Stop,” Lucy pleaded, laughing so hard she was holding her sides. “You’re killing me.”
Despite what I knew would be waiting on me when I got home that night, I couldn’t help but grin. “I’m being serious here.”
“I know,” Lucy said with another giggle. “That’s what makes it so freaking hilarious.” She wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands and turned in her seat to face me better. “I’m surprised you were able to ditch her.”
“It wasn’t easy. Going home tonight isn’t going to be an option, either.” I grimaced. “Can I stay with you?”
Some of the amusement left Lucy and she reached for my hand. “Of course you can,” she assured me and I let out a relieved breath.
I’d spent a few nights at Lucy’s house in the past and I both loved and hated it. I loved how easily Layla Thornton had taken me under her wing and made me feel like one of her children. I hated it because it only made me ache for my own mother that much more. Layla had even offered to let me stay with them permanently.
It had taken every single ounce of willpower I had to turn her down. I’d promised my mother and I was going to keep that damn promise. But as soon as I turned eighteen, I was gone. Nothing could keep me in Scott Montez’s house a second longer than was necessary.
The rest of the drive to First Bass was uneventful for the most part. Marcus pulled to a stop in front of the club and handed the keys to the Range Rover over to the valet before helping Lucy out. I grabbed my guitar case and followed her. We didn’t even look at the huge guy standing in front of the velvet ropes, keeping people out. I gritted my teeth as more than one pap called out my name and then Lucy’s, but neither of us bothered to give them so much as a glance as we entered the club.
Normally on Wednesday nights we didn’t go up to the VIP floor, so when Tiny stepped forward as we started to pass the VIP entrance, we were both surprised. “Miss Thornton,” the big, delicious man with the scary-as-fuck voice greeted her. Even though she knew the guy, his sudden appearance startled her and she stepped back, instinctively moving toward Marcus. “Mr. Cutter asks that you join him in his office at your earliest convenience.”
She stiffened and I watched her eyes widen. I pressed my lips together. Harris had ignored Lucy for over a week now and suddenly he was requesting she come to him? Yeah, that shit wasn’t going to fly with Lucy. Even I knew that. I tightened my hold on her hand, offering her silent support.
Lucy straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Thank you, Tiny, but please inform Mr. Cutter that I won’t be joining him in his office. If he couldn’t find two seconds to send me a text letting me know he was alive, I sure as hell don’t have time to visit with him now.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing when I saw the big man’s mouth actually drop open in surprise. Apparently telling Tiny ‘no’ didn’t happen often. I couldn’t help smirking up at the big guy in amusement, but before I could say a single word Marcus was pushing both me and Lucy forward.
He found us a table and I sat down while he took up his usual post several feet away. That was one of the many things I liked about Marcus. He was respectful enough to give Lucy some space and I knew Lucy was never afraid to be herself around him. His loyalty was to her, and he would never tell her parents anything unless it was something that posed a potential threat to her life.
While I got my notebook out that was filled with all the new songs I’d been working on, a waitress stopped by our table and I ordered ginger ales for both of us. Lucy looked like she was lost in a world of her own and I couldn’t keep from calling Harris Cutter a stupid sonofabitch to myself. Lucy had confided in me that Harris had kissed her the night we’d had a girls’ night out with her mother, sister and Aunt Emmie.
That had been more than a week ago and the douchebag hadn’t so much as called her or texted her. If I hadn’t known how close Lucy and Harris were, I would have said that he was just the typical dickhead who had gotten his taste of my friend and was giving her the brush off, but Harris was different. I’d seen the way he looked at Lucy Thornton. Seen the hunger in his aquamarine eyes and the love that seemed to radiate off him whenever they were near each other.
I’d had to twist her around my finger to get her to even agree to come with me and I could see she wasn’t exactly comfortable. I felt bad for conning her into coming, but knew that I wouldn’t have gotten past the front door without Lucy’s help. That didn’t mean I liked seeing her like that. She hadn’t been this uncomfortable about being in First Bass since the first time I’d come in to do an open mike night.
The waitress returned quickly with our drinks and set the first glass in front of Lucy. “Mr. Cutter would like for you to join him in his office,” she told Lucy.
Dark brown eyes lowered to her soda, but I wasn’t about to just sit there while Harris had his staff pass on messages and orders. “Tell Mr. Cutter to go fuck himself,” I snapped at the girl. “If he wants to see her so damn bad, he knows where he can find her.”
While the waitress’s mouth twitched and her eyes widened, I turned my attention back to my songs. Fuck Harris Cutter. If he’d hurt my friend he would have me to deal with. I’d cut his balls off and hand them on a platter for Lucy to do whatever she pleased with them…
I felt his presence long before his shadow crossed our table. My heart stopped for a second when I realized Jace was at the club, only to start racing when I felt his gaze on me. My fingers tightened around the pen I was making notes with to keep them from trembling.
Damn it.
I hadn’t let myself think about Jace that day—something that was nearly impossible ninety percent of the time. Other than one or two times, I hadn’t seen him since the night he’d sucked face with a random groupie. I’d done my best to ignore him since then, but that hadn’t stopped him from texting or leaving me voice messages daily. Until the last two days, that is. I hadn’t heard a word from him in the last two days…
I wasn’t upset about it.
Really.
So what if he had given up. That was what I wanted.
Really.
Jace paused at our table and I could feel his blue eyes drilling into the top of my head as I forced myself to concentrate on the song I wanted to sing later. It wasn’t perfect yet and I wanted to make sure it was before I got on stage.
I heard him blow out a harsh breath through his nose, but when he spoke it was to Lucy, not me. “Harris wants to know why you won’t come back to see him.”
“It probably has something to do with him being a dickhead,” Lucy assured him. “Better be careful, I hear it’s contagious.” She let out a surprised gasp and I lifted my eyes enough to watch her through my lashes. “Oh, wait, too late. You’ve already caught it.”
I couldn’t hold back the snicker that bubbled up. Fuck, I loved Lucy Thornton. She was the best friend any chick could have. That girl was just as protective of me as I was of her.
“Been taking lessons from Kin?” Jace asked and I could hear the grin in his voice.
I lowered my eyes back to the notebook, refusing to feel pleasure at the odd compliment I heard in his tone.
“Probably the other way around,” Lucy told him with a sass that had been absent over the last week. “If you want to sit with me while Kin preforms, that’s cool. When you aren’t trying to stomp on her heart and pride, I actually like you.”
My hand tightened on my pen, but I was quick to assure her I was fine. “Just my pride, Lu. My heart is no longer involved.”
It was the biggest lie I had ever spoken, but Jace didn’t need to know that even if I was sure that Lucy suspected.
I heard Jace inhale deeply again and gritted my teeth at how aware of him I was. “I’ll come sit with you, Lucy. If you come back and talk to Harris.”
“See you later, Jace. It was good talking to you. Maybe we’ll see you next Wednesday.” Lucy was quick to dismiss him. I watched out of the corner of my eye while she pulled out her phone, ignoring Jace now.
“You aren’t coming tomorrow night to watch Tainted Knights?” He sounded disappointed.
“I’ve seen you and your band play before,” Lucy told him, her gaze still on her phone. “I’m sure I’m not going to miss anything important. The only reason I’m even here now is because of Kin. As soon as she’s done, we’re leaving.”
“Damn it, Lucy. Harris wants to see you.” His tone was full of frustration, but there was no way I was just going to sit there and let him talk to her like that.
I stiffened and lifted my head to find Lucy calmly meeting Jace’s gaze, not even fazed by his tone. “I’m right here.”
“He’s busy, Lucy. Give the guy a break. He’s had a rough week.”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that,” Lucy assured him with a shrug that should have looked careless, but to me looked like she was hurting. “He hasn’t called or texted me in over a week.”
The chair between me and Lucy was pulled back, and Jace sat down. I tried hard to turn my attention back to my song, but with him now sitting less than a foot away I was helpless to not feel his presence to my damn marrow. I caught the scent of his cologne, that spicy male scent that he fucking knew I loved, and gritted my teeth against the sudden rush of desire as it pooled between my legs.
Jerk.
Jace
I understood why Kin and Lucy Thornton were such good friends. The two little hell cats were just alike. Their freaking personalities were so similar they could have been doppelgängers. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, because God knew how hot Kin could get me with her sassy, ball-busting personality, but it sure as fuck drove me up the wall when she was being so stubborn that she wouldn’t even give me two seconds of her time.
Lucy, I’d learned over the last few months that I’d known her, was the exact same way, if not more so. But where Kin was unable to forgive, Lucy had always seemed to be able to put shit behind her and move on once she had cooled off. She wasn’t completely unreasonable about things.
Normally.
Right then, however, I could see she wasn’t going to be the rational one about the situation between her and Harris. I couldn’t really blame her. My friend had acted like an idiot, kissing her and then avoiding her for over a week. Sure, I understood that he was scared of what not only his father would do to him but what the Demon that was Jesse Thornton would do, but truthfully, if it had been me and Kin in the same situation, I wouldn’t have given two fucks about anything but having her in my life.
Fuck anything but the girl I loved.
Gritting my teeth as that thought filled my head, I scooted my chair closer to Kin’s. Fuck this shit. I needed to follow my own advice and fight for the girl I was desperate to have back in my life instead of just waiting for her to forgive me. She needed a reason to trust me again, to know that I wasn’t going to leave her behind ever again. That started right that second.
Her auburn head lifted from the notebook that I knew she always wrote everything from her songs to her beautiful poetry in. Blue eyes frosted over when she saw how close I was, but I just grinned at her and leaned over the table to take a look at what she was writing. “What’s this one about?” I asked as I skimmed over the few lines I could see.
She shrugged. “It’s about a girl who hates this guy so much she cuts his dick off and feeds it to the sharks that frequently swim in the ocean behind her bastard father’s house.”
“Ouch,” I muttered, but my grin stayed in place.
“Wroth Niall has a really badass machete,” Lucy commented as she turned her attention back to her phone. “I can ask him to overnight it to me and lend it to you, Kin.”
A smile teased at my girl’s lips and my heart literally stalled in my chest at the sight. When was the last time I’d seen Kin smile, even that little bitty smile that was teasing at her lips right then? The sad truth was, I couldn’t remember and my gut twisted with regret. Damn it, Kin should always smile. That I was one of the reasons she didn’t anymore fucking killed me.
Her head lifted and she winked at Lucy. “I’ll let you know if I need to take you up on that, babe.”
“Hey, you’re Jesse Thornton’s kid.”
My head shot up at the sound of some guy’s voice just as Lucy and Kin turned to face the newcomer. I could tell this douchebag was going to be trouble just by looking at him. He had some smug-ass grin on his face, like he was an actual somebody who deserved everything handed to him. The guy standing behind him didn’t appear to be nearly as much of a prick as his friend but, when his gaze went to Kin, I was ready to knock his teeth down his throat.
Lucy’s brows lifted as she looked up at the guy who had just spoken. “I’m Lucy Thornton,” she told him with a new coolness to her tone that I hadn’t heard often from her.
Without being asked to join us, the douchebag pulled out the chair between me and Lucy and dropped down into it like he owned the fucking place. When his friend pulled a chair up on the other side of Kin, I couldn’t keep my hands from balling into fists. Yeah, I’d love to make that prick eat some teeth.
“What’s it like to be a rock star’s kid?” the guy beside Lucy asked as he leaned closer.
She shrugged. “He’s a great dad.”
“I bet you’ve seen some awesome shit. Who’s the most famous person you ever met?” He turned toward her even more. “I saw a picture of you with your old man and that dude from that big science fiction movie a few years back. That must have been cool, huh?”
“His name is Chris, and no, it wasn’t cool at all. Chris is friends with my family. I see him all the time.” She picked up her glass and took a thirsty swallow, trying to give the fucker the cold shoulder, but he only moved in closer.
His head lowered toward her ear and Kin and I both stiffened when we saw the hunted look in Lucy’s dark eyes. She didn’t like this guy getting too close, and I could see a trace of fear in her gaze. That small sign of fear was all I saw, though, as her entire body seemed to clench like she was about to strike. I wondered just how much damage Lucy Thornton could cause. Knowing her father’s reputation, I was sure he’d taught his daughter a thing or ten about protecting herself.
Behind her, I saw Marcus moving closer, as if he knew that he needed to get Lucy away from this idiot, but was waiting for a cue from Lucy.
The idiot said something low enough that only Lucy could hear, laughed at his own joke, then leaned in even closer to say something else. Lucy’s face turned blood red with anger and I scooted my chair back at the same time Kin did. Marcus moved in even closer and out of the corner of my eye I saw Harris rushing toward the table.
“You did not just say that to me,” Lucy raged as she pushed away from the table and stood so she could glare down at the douchebag. “Who the hell do you think you are, asshole?”
The guy laughed, like he was having the best time of his life. “Take it easy, honey. I meant no offense. I thought all you rocker bitches sucked dick for fun.”
I jumped to my feet, forgetting about the second guy in my need to make that fucker bleed. Kin was already reaching for him at the same time Harris stopped behind Lucy and Marcus moved to stand behind the prick who was still grinning up at Lucy like the moron he was.
I was so intent on ending the sonofabitch that I didn’t see Lucy move. One second she was standing there, seething with justifiable rage, the next she was shaking out her hand. The blood now gushing from the guy’s face told me she had broken his nose. He wasn’t grinning now as he cupped his nose in both hands, his eyes already starting to swell.
“Don’t you ever speak to me like that again, you godsdamn motherfucking piece of shit. I will cut your dick off and feed it to you,” she screamed in his face.
Marcus moved fast, grabbing the bleeding dude by the back of the neck and forcing him to his feet none too gently. Several of Harris’s security team appeared out of nowhere and surrounded him and the bleeding guy’s friend.
Kin rushed around the table, and I followed a little more slowly.
“You need some ice, baby.”
Lucy pulled her hand away from Harris’s hold. “It’s fine. I just need to go to the bathroom and wash it off.”
Kin wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Come on, slugger. Let’s go clean you up.”
She nodded and started to turn away from Harris, but I saw the slight sheen of tears in her eyes and in the next second Harris was pulling her into his arms. “Baby, it’s okay,” I heard him murmur. “I’ve got you, Lu.”
Her shoulders started to shake and a moment later a small sob left her. “I-I think I broke my hand.”
Shit.
I took a menacing step toward the bleeding fucker, but Marcus tightened his hold on his prisoner while two security guys stepped between me and the guy who I wanted to put my fist through. Who the hell treated chicks like that? Alicia would have skinned me alive if she ever heard me say anything like that in front of a girl, and I’d always been careful how I treated chicks in front of my sister. That this idiot had upset Lucy so much only made me want to take a turn or three at kicking his ass, so I could only imagine what Harris was feeling right then.
But instead of worrying about the dude bleeding all over his club’s floor, Harris was caught up in soothing Lucy who was still crying. “Okay, baby. I’ll take care of you,” he promised her as he pulled back and looked down at her before bending to brush a kiss over the tip of her nose.
Fuck, I should take notes from my friend. Maybe if I paid enough attention I could work some of that magic on Kin.
While Harris talked to his security, I moved closer to Lucy and Kin, who was now examining Lucy’s hand. Her knuckles were already swelling and bruised. She had blood on her hand, but I couldn’t tell if it was hers or just the douchebag’s. She needed to wash it to make sure she didn’t have any cut skin, and an ice pack to help with the swelling.
Harris turned away from his security personnel who were already dragging both the bleeding fucker and his friend away. “Let’s get you to the emergency room, Lu.” He pulled her against his side and headed for his office that led out onto the back street.
A Range Rover was already waiting outside for us. Marcus opened the back door and Harris climbed in and pulled Lucy right onto his lap. Kin got in on the other side and I nudged her over so I could sit with them. I wasn’t gonna lie. Marcus was a scary-ass fucker and I’d much rather torture myself sitting next to Kin than deal with that hulk of a badass by riding in the passenger seat.
Like I had expected, it was pure torture sitting beside Kin. The ten-minute ride was hell-filled-heaven stuck in that back seat. There was no room so Kin was pushed up against every inch of my right side. I hadn’t been this close to her in a hell of a long time, but I was thankful for it nonetheless. I could smell her shampoo, could practically taste the body wash she had always used. The combination was intoxicating and my mouth watered for just a tiny taste, even as other parts of my body hardened and begged for her closer touch.
The SUV came to a sudden stop in front of a nearby hospital and I would have given my left arm to have had just a few more minutes with Kin like that. Instead, Marcus got out of the front seat and reached for Lucy. Harris didn’t let her get far, though, as he took charge of the situation from the second her uninjured hand was back in his own.
I got out on my side of the car and offered Kin my hand to help her out. To my surprise she took it, and my heart pounded at the contact so hard it nearly burst out of my chest, but as soon as she was free she pulled away and followed after Lucy.
Grimacing, I headed into the emergency room where Harris was already talking quietly to a nurse. By the time I reached them, Harris and Lucy were being led back to a room with Marcus, but Kin and I had to stay in the waiting room.
I hated the circumstances that had brought us to this, but I wasn’t going to waste a fucking second of the time I would get to be alone with Kin. The waiting room was half full and Kin found two seats in the back. I dropped down beside her and she didn’t shy away when I draped an arm over the back of her chair.
“Do you think her hand is really broken?” Her voice was slightly shaky and she looked up at me with worried blue eyes.
“I doubt it. It’s most likely a bad bruise or a sprain, but those can hurt worse than a break. Kassa sprained her foot when she was thirteen. The doctor said she would’ve had a shorter recovery time if she’d actually broken it.”
She let out a relieved sigh. “Caleb broke his foot his freshman year of high school. He had to have a plate and wore a boot for three months. Football was a no go, so that’s when he started going crazy with the weightlifting.”
“I remember you telling me about that,” I murmured, remembering her stepbrother who could easily bench-press one of the cars he was so intent on learning to engineer in college. “He tripped over Angie’s curling iron in the bathroom.”
Kin’s eyes widened and the smallest of smiles teased at her lips. “Yeah.” The smile was quick to disappear and she looked away from me. “Yeah…”
Her voice was full of so much sadness that it gutted me. I knew how close she was to the twins. She probably missed them just as much as I missed Kassa. “Don’t you get to see them at all, Kin?”
She was quiet for a long moment and I was sure she wasn’t going to answer me when she finally shrugged and shook her head. “Scott won’t let me go visit them for Christmas, but Carter said he might be able to come out here to California for a few days. That helps a little.”
My hands clenched into fists and I glared off at nothing in particular as I realized just how lonely Kin must be. I knew she had Lucy, but she was probably the only person Kin had right then. She needed more people to support her, to help her grieve for her mother. To just be there for her.
I should have been one of those people.
“I’m so sorry about your, mom,” I told her, and her head snapped around. It was the first time I’d actually given her my condolences for losing her mother. Fuck, I sucked. “Abby was a great woman, and I know how close you two were. I’m sorry you lost her. I’m…sorry for everything.”
Kin stared up at me for nearly two full minutes, but I didn’t dare look away or break our gazes in any way. She wasn’t glaring at me, and the look in her eyes told me she wasn’t plotting my death. But I could see the hurt still shining bright, could see the pain that was right below the surface.
Finally, she blew out a long harsh breath. “Thanks, Jace. I really appreciate it. My mom… She liked you. When you left for California, she was proud of you and the other guys.”
A white-hot blade stabbed into my chest. Abagail Jacobson had been proud of me? Fucking hell, why did that hurt so much?
Because you haven’t done shit to make her proud, dumbass. All you’ve done is break her girl’s heart and fuck around.
We sat there in silence for nearly ten minutes. I tried to find the right words to tell her again how sorry I was, not just for her mom, but for leaving. For not calling. Not finding out if she was okay or to see how she was handling what was going on with her mother. I wanted to say the right thing that would make her forgive me for so many fuckups, but nothing would come. Me, Jace St. Charles, had no words for the first time in my life.
Before I could find the right thing to say, she surprised me by turning in her hard, plastic seat and looking me in the eyes. She blew out a harsh huff, but then gave me a grim smile that made me want to put my fist through a wall for some fucking reason. “Look, Jace, I’m sorry. I’ve been a huge bitch to you for months now.”
I had to clench my teeth to keep from opening my mouth and saying something stupid. Yeah, she had been a bitch, but I’d deserved it. So I sat there, staring at her with wide eyes as she continued. “I understand why you left, and I’m actually really proud of you and Tainted Knights for accomplishing so much.” She smiled, but it was full of sadness. “I knew the second I heard you guys performing in Bristol that you would go places. It’s just…I guess everything happened all at once. You left. My mom got so sick and then…died...”
Her voice broke but she cleared her throat and continued as if she hadn’t just nearly cried. Nearly broken down and sobbed. But that was Kin. She was strong when she needed to be. That she’d had to be so strong and on her own for too damn long only pissed me off that much more. At myself. At her father. At the fucking world.
“I had no right to be so mad. I’m sorry I was a bitch,” she said with a little more strength in her voice.
“Kin…” I didn’t want her apology. She had nothing to be sorry about. I should have tried harder, should have fucking been there for her when she needed someone to hold her through losing her mother. Through having to uproot herself during her senior year of high school and move in with a new family she didn’t know, like or trust.
She shook her head. “No, don’t say anything. I just… Can we be friends? I mean, we’re going to see a lot of each other, what with your best friend being so obviously in love with my best friend. We could at least be civil to each other and try to be friends.”
She wanted to be friends.
Friends.
Civil.
Fuck friends.
Fuck civil.
But hell, it was more than what I had right then. Maybe she would even answer the damn phone when I called her now. So biting back my need to yell at the world that I wanted more than friendship—that I wanted her back in my arms where she belonged—I nodded. “I’d like that, Kin.”