Chapter Eight
Kit
What had I done?
I slept with my bandmate. No, I didn’t sleep with him. I fucked him. I screwed the man who hired me to be in his band. I’d just made the worst mistake of my life.
I reached for my discarded clothes while he was in the shower. I didn’t want to do the walk of shame back on the bus with him at my side. I needed to go back alone. Just as I slid into my boots, I heard the water cut off. A few seconds later, Aiden opened the door and walked out in just a towel.
I thought I’d be able to resist him after I’d gotten him out of my system, but seeing him standing there with the light from the bathroom at his back, I knew once would never be enough with Aiden Hawke.
“Were you about to run away from me?” he asked, one dark eyebrow raised in question. His wet hair fell to one side, covering the other eye. Damn, he was gorgeous. Why did my stupid hormones go haywire whenever he looked at me like that?
“This should’ve never happened, Aiden,” I said, trying to fit these weird feelings inside my heart.
“It was bound to happen,” he retorted, moving toward me. “You know that.”
“Still,” I began, but his harsh stare stopped me in my tracks.
“Just don’t, Kit,” he warned, dropping his towel. His cock stood out, hard and thick. “Why are you fighting this?”
“I’m not the woman for you,” I hedged. Aiden walked toward me slowly. His hand snaked down his abs and wrapped around his cock, squeezing the tip as he growled…again. Why did that make me want to whimper and fall at his feet?
“Says who?” he scoffed. “You?”
“Yeah.”
“You are not leaving this band,” he warned. My eyes widened as he voiced the exact thought that had been rolling around in my head for the past few hours. I could’ve sworn at that moment, Aiden Hawke could see into my mind, reading it like an open book.
“Aiden,” I sighed. I needed to tell him. He should know. “I need this job, and what we just did…yeah, that complicates things.”
“Complicates things?” he pushed. “You have this job, Kit. No one is going to tell you to go home for fucking me.”
“I don’t think you understand, Aiden,” I began, feeling tears prick the back of my eyes, but I wouldn’t cry. No, I’d learned to hide that emotion from many people over the years. Crying showed weakness, and weak, I was not.
“Tell me,” he said, taking a seat on the bed.
“I have to keep this job,” I started, but paused to bite my lip. It was hard to say the words, but he needed to know. “My baby sister is all I have, besides my mom. Hell, my mother is so far gone in her addictions, I’m not sure even rehab would help her.”
“You have a sister?” he asked, his eyes widening at my confession.
“She’s six.” I swallowed, trying not to break down. She was everything to me, and I wanted her to have so much more than I’d had. “My uncle has custody of her, but I still pay for everything she needs. This job is the best thing that has happened to me in several years. I don’t know how to do anything else other than play music. It’s the only way I know how to take care of her.”
“What is her name?” he asked, his voice softening.
“Kylie,” I replied, thinking of her long brown curls. The way I used to look before I decided to give into my need to be different from everyone around me. “She looks just like I did at that age.”
“Your sister will not have to worry,” he replied, touching the side of my face. He tugged slightly and I turned my head so I could look at him. The deep, green pools of his eyes darkened as he searched my face for something. “I can send your uncle money.”
“No,” I snapped, turning my head so his hand would fall from my face. “I told you! I don’t take handouts.” My feet hit the floor, and I stood up so fast my head spun. Aiden reached out for me, but I slapped away his hand. “Don’t!”
“Kit, don’t you dare!” he snarled as I grabbed my bag. I couldn’t let these feelings I had for him jeopardize my future. I had another person to think about. My mom was in jail, and Kylie had no one but my uncle to care for her. She needed clothes…food. I wouldn’t let her grow up in the slums of Phoenix like I had. I couldn’t lose this job…no matter how hard I was falling for Aiden Hawke.
“She’s my responsibility, Aiden,” I said, feeling the tears push toward the corners of my eyes as my hand fell on the door handle. I had to get out of there.
“But you are mine,” he said, slamming his hand on the door so I couldn’t leave.
“I’m not yours,” I whispered, turning around in the bracket of his arms. His face was set in a hard scowl, and I knew that being this close to him was a bad idea.
“The moment you opened your legs for me, Kit Ellis, was the moment you became mine,” he stated. “If you run from me, I will come after you.”
“Let me go,” I begged, dropping my eyes to the floor.
“Never,” he vowed, tucking his finger under my chin and pulling my face up so he could capture my lips.
I knew I was doomed the moment I dropped my bag on the floor and let him carry me back to the bed.