It takes extreme effort to not watch him walk away. Instead, I focus on the piece of pizza that’s sitting in front of me.
“What did you do to our boy?” Cole ask.
“What?”
“Kacen, he’s different with you,” Gavin explains.
“He’s never let a girl sit in on writing, none of us have,” Tristan adds.
“I’m sorry. I told him I would be a distraction,” I apologize.
“Logan, you’re not a distraction. It’s fine that you’re there,” Gavin tries to reassure me.
“We made this pact as a band, as brothers,” Cole begins to explain. “No women while we’re trying to focus on an album. Not unless she’s it.”
“Okay, you’re confusing me,” I admit.
“You’re it for him. He would have never agreed, let alone insisted that you join us if not,” Tristan says.
My head is starting to spin. I can tell by the way they’re acting that they are deadly serious. “So, that means . . . what? That he wants to date me?” I feel ridiculous talking about this with them. They’re ROCK STARS!
Cole doubles over with laughter. “Logan, he wants to more than date you. You. Are. It.” He emphasizes each word.
“I can’t . . . How do you . . .” I can’t seem to find the words.
“Now, you know what comes next right?” Gavin asks.
“N-n-n-no,” I stutter.
“We need to know your intentions toward our boy,” Cole says deadpan.
Holy shit! Is this really happening? “I, we, I mean, I’m not sure. I work for him,” I say like an idiot.
“And?” Tristan asks.
“It’s wrong,” I counter.
“Says who?” Gavin fires back.
I feel like I’m up against the firing squad. “What if he changes his mind?” I whisper the question. That’s really what it comes down to. I told Kacen as much earlier today. I’m scared he will change his mind, and I’m already falling hard for him; hell, I’ve fallen for him. I can at least admit that to myself. I will never recover if he changes his mind.
Tristan walks over to me and places his arm around my shoulders. “You can’t think like that. Kacen knows what he wants. He’s not one to make decisions lightly. I talked to him while he was in Hawaii. He told me all about this amazing girl he met.”
“We’ve watched him watch you for weeks. He never used to be up at the ass-crack of dawn, now he is. No matter how late we stay up working on the album, he’s up and showered before you get here,” Cole says.
“He talks about you all the time. He gets on us for talking to you or even looking at you in a way that makes him feel like we would swoop in and try to take you from him,” Gavin adds.
“He’s protective over you, and that’s never happened. With the few serious relationships he’s had, he’s never been like that,” Cole explains. “Hell, I would go as far to say that he’s in love with you.”
I gasp for breath at his words, just as Kacen walks back into the room. I’m coughing like a fool as his big frame steps in front of me. “Logan, baby, what’s wrong?” I can hear the worry in his voice.
I shake my head no, still coughing.
He grabs Tristan’s arm and throws it off my shoulders. “Don’t fucking touch her. What happened? Someone needs to start talking.”
I’m still hacking up a lung. Gavin hands me a bottle of water, and I’m able to take a small sip, which seems to help. I cough a few more times and take a few more small sips of water before I feel like it’s under control. Kacen is there in front of me, his hand rubbing circles on my back, begging me to tell him what to do.
“I’m fine,” I say.
“You are not fine,” he says through gritted teeth. “What happened?” he asks again.
“Nothing, I was eating and it went down wrong. I’m okay,” I say, placing my hand on his chest.
“Jesus.” He pulls me into his chest. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“And I rest my case,” Cole says.
Kacen doesn’t even bother to ask him what he means by that. He has a death grip on me as he gently runs his hand up and down my spine. He’s all hard and rigid, and yet he handles me with infinite care. Is that love? Hell, do I even know what love is? I thought that’s what I had with Daniel. I realized all too late that it wasn’t. I never felt for him like I do Kacen. He never made my heart skip a beat just from entering a room. It never felt like bolts of electricity flowing through my veins when he touched me.
That only happens with Kacen.
I’m in love with him.
“Logan, do you want to go lie down?” he asks.
“No, Kacen, I’m fine, really. I just couldn’t stop coughing,” I reassure him.
He cups my face in both hands and stares into my eyes. He must see what he’s looking for as he finally relents. “Okay, you all ready to get started?” he asks, releasing me.
“Yep, we’ll see you down there,” Gavin says. The three of them leave us alone.
“Come here, you,” Kacen says, pulling me back against his chest. “I know I just acted like an ass and completely overreacted, but your face was red and you were gasping and couldn’t stop coughing. Everyone was just standing around and . . . Fuck!” He pulls out a chair and sits down, pulling me between his legs. His head rests against my belly. I run my fingers through his hair. We stand like that until he gets himself under control.
“That’s a first for me. I’ve never flipped out like that over . . . Logan.” He lifts his head and pulls my hand from his hair to rest over his heart. “You own me. I’m offering you everything I have to give.”
“Kacen—”
“Shhh. Don’t say anything. I just needed you to know.” He pulls my hands to his lips, kissing each one, and then stands. He doesn’t say anything else as he leads me down the steps to the studio.
If I had not already realized that I loved him, that last little speech would have pushed me over the ledge.