Aidan
The tears are falling from her eyes thick and fast, pouring past my thumbs and curving down her jaw to her neck. She doesn’t reply to me; I don’t even think she can. I think all the energy she has is going into the tears she’s crying.
Fuck though.
No way.
No fucking way am I letting her walk away from me right now.
Not now that I know this is as real to her as it is to me.
I tilt her face back and gently press my mouth to hers. The salty tears that have fallen there create a barrier between us, but I kiss that away until there’s nothing left except the sweet taste of her—of my Jessie.
I can almost hear her warring with herself, torn between staying or leaving. As much as it hurts, it is her choice. But one of them will be wrong. One of them will fucking kill me, of that I’m sure. If she chooses to walk away from me right now, I know I’ll never be the same again.
If anyone has ever had the power to break my heart, it’s her. And that heart is hanging in the balance right now.
She opens her eyes. The tears have made them shinier than I’ve ever seen them, but her hesitation has dulled their usual sparkle. Her wariness and fear has made them a shadow of their usual color. “How do I know this isn’t another lie?”
“Because hearts don’t lie.”
She drops her gaze to the ground. Hearts don’t lie, but mine sure as hell just fucking sunk to the pit of my stomach. Every part of me wants her to stay, even if it means I have to fight to convince her everything I just said is true. I can’t fight if she isn’t here.
“You’re my favorite lie, too, and my worst choice,” she whispers, followed by a deep exhale. “But I don’t know if I can do it, Aidan. I don’t know if I can keep taking the crap I have been. Are you really willing to let me do it? Because next time, it might not be my car. I think some of those girls really, really want to kill me.”
“If you try and go, I’ll save them the job,” I murmur, smiling.
The edges of her lips curve up just a little. “Try it and I’ll put your drumstick up your butt,” she replies.
“Kinky.” I wipe the last tear from beneath her eye and wrap my arms around her shoulders. She drops her bag and towel and willingly steps into me, holding my waist. I bury my face in her wet hair and kiss the side of her head. “They’ll stop when they realize this is for real. We have security for a reason. But that doesn’t really matter—what matters is us. If I promise to piss you off every day and always leave a drumstick within your reach, will you agree to be with me for real?”
“You’re serious about the drumstick?”
“I never joke when it comes to my tools.”
She tut-tuts, but I feel her smile against my skin. “Is the drumstick for you or your fan club?”
“For whatever purpose it’s needed. My brothers are bastards. I’m not gonna restrict you to just shoving it up my ass, you know.”
She laughs and tilts her head back. “How do you do it? Ten minutes ago I was sure I wanted to be as far away from you as possible, and now I’m laughing while silently thinking of all the ways I can hurt you with your drumsticks.”
“Hurt me? Whoa now. I thought they’d be our new sex toy. Hurting brothers, not me!”
“Sex toys?” Tate asks, walking around the far corner with his arm around Ella. “Who’s usin’ sex toys?”
Ella slaps his bare stomach, and Jessie pushes me off her. “We found your vibrating vagina,” she tells him, lifting her towel and wiping her face.
“Aw, shit. Ella didn’t know about that!”
Ella laughs. “So you think.”
He stops, looking at her. “I don’t have a vibrating vagina.”
She quirks an eyebrow. “You’ve had several. They just all came with legs and the ability to sell their story to the media. You probably should have gone for the plastic one.”
He looks at me, defeated. “I really fuckin’ hate it when she kicks my ass like that, you know?”
“You’re tellin’ me,” I reply, picking up Jessie’s bag. She smirks at me.
“Goin’ somewhere?” Tate asks her, looking between the bag and her as we walk back to the lounge area.
“She tried to,” Kye answers helpfully, unscrewing the cap on a water bottle. “She ran, Aidan chased her like he had a jumbo jet up his ass, she cried, he begged, groveled, pleaded, whined, begged some more, and she finally gave in after one of those movie-type kisses.”
“Thanks, man. That doesn’t make me sound like a loser at all,” I drawl, dumping the bag back on her lounge chair.
“You’re welcome, bro. Thanks for the front-row seat.” He tips his water bottle at me, but his grin and wink are directed at Jessie.
“You tried to leave and you chased her? Again?” Tate snorts. “Y’all need your own fuckin’ reality show. Duggars and Kardashians got nothin’ on you.”
I wish I could fucking argue that, but I can’t.
“And Jessie has a better ass than Kim,” Kye adds.
Can’t argue that either.
“Go find your own ass to look at, because you’re outnumbered,” Ella pipes up, prodding Kye in the shoulder.
Kye snorts, screwing the cap back on the water bottle and dropping it on his lounge chair. “My own ass? Fuck no. It’s bad enough dealing with all y’all, never mind another.”
Jessie rolls her eyes, unbraiding her hair and reaching into her bag at the same time. “We have to deal with four of y’all,” she argues, rightly, too. “It’s only fair.”
“We, huh?” Conner asks, grinning. “So you’re his real girlfriend now? Aw, look at you two. All grown up!”
“You know, I’d have a great shot at your balls from here.” She brandishes her hairbrush, and he steps back out of her reach. “Besides, he’ll just keep chasin’ me.”
“Like a dog with a ball,” Kye continues. He taps his thighs and whistles at me. “Here, boy.”
Jessie claps her hand over her mouth, and I grab the nearest object, which happens to be the brush from Jessie’s hand. I throw it at Kye, and he only just ducks in time for it to fly past his head.
“Bastard,” he laughs, shoving his finger up at me.
“Payback,” I shrug. “I shared a womb with you for nine months. You used to kick the shit out of me.”
“Really? You’re playin’ that card?”
“Hey,” Tate interrupts. “You used that all the time when we were kids. You told Mom that Ads beat you when she was pregnant and you were just getting your own back.”
“I remember that,” Sofie agrees. “You used it when you were eighteen, too.”
“He still uses it,” Conner snorts.
“So does Aidan,” Jessie laughs, redoing her hair. She ties it off with a snap. “Can I have my brush back now, Kye?”
Predictably, Kye picks it up and throws it back at me. Jessie reaches up and catches it with one hand before I can so much as move out of the way.
“Jesus,” she mutters. “Y’all look like I just gave birth to Yoda or somethin’. I was on the softball team in high school, remember?”
“You were?” I ask. “I think I mostly just stared at your ass in high school.”
“What’s changed?”
“Point made.” I grin, taking her hands and helping her up.
“Daddy!” Mila yells. “Mama, side!”
Sofie drops her head back.
“Comin’,” Conner calls back grinning, then grabs Sofie. “Come on, princess. You wanted to bring her with us, now you’re payin’ the price.”
“If I didn’t think it would boost your ego, I’d say I should listen to you more,” she groans.
“It’s the toddler slides or the big one.”
“Hey, Mila, you want a Popsicle?” Sofie asks.
“Yeah! Yeah! Wed!”
“Come on then.” Sofie grins, holding her hand out for her. Mila goes toddling over, but Jessie gets up and intercepts Mila, throwing her over her shoulder before Sofie can get her.
“I owe her one!” Jessie explains as Mila giggles like hell. “Looks like you’re goin’ on the big slide!”
“This isn’t fair!” Sofie complains as Conner grabs her, smiling.
“You’re the only one who hasn’t been on it,” I remind her, watching as Jessie takes Mila to the only open stand in the waterpark, set up for our convenience, since we are the only people here.
“Yeah,” Tate agrees, a smile spreading across his face. “And it took Ella’s bikini top off.”
“Aw, fuck,” Kye grumbles. “I miss all the good stuff.”
“Get your own girlfriend, then you won’t miss anything,” Ella teases him.
“I’ll move out if y’all are gonna start with that.”
“Can I have your room?” I laugh.
“Fuck off.”
“Dollar.” Mila stomps over, Popsicle in one hand, the other stretched out.
“Slide,” Kye bargains.
She tilts her head to the side. “Otay. Let’s go!” She hands Tate her Popsicle then tugs at Kye’s shorts, pointing at the slide.
“Have fun,” Jessie grins, coming over to stand by me. Kye disappears with Mila, and Tate wipes Mila’s Popsicle down Ella’s back. She screams, and he runs away, her hot on his heels.
I laugh and wrap my arm around Jessie’s shoulders. She leans into me, and I kiss the top of her head, squeezing her shoulders.
I feel apprehensive about this, because I always did promise that I’d never put anyone through what Sofie and Ella have dealt with quietly and Jessie already has. Just as we, as brothers and a band, settle down one by one, our fans are bound to get crazier.
And as worried as I am for whoever Kye’s future girlfriend might be, I’m really fucking glad he’s the last single one. I’m taken.
A magazine hits me in the head.
“Hey!” I look up, hand flying to the spot on my forehead where it just hit me.
“Look at the cover!” Tate yells, storming into the kitchen and clenching his fists. “First he rips you a new asshole for doing what you want, then he instructs the media to run bullshit stories!”
I frown and bend down to pick up the magazine. I slap it on the table, and the words jump out at me:
IS AIDAN BURKE CHEATING ON HIS TATTED LADY LOVE?
Beneath the big-lettered caption is a picture of, apparently, me, entering a bar with my arm around a blonde. I squint and pull it closer to my face. “That’s Kye,” I say, dropping it down.
“I know,” Tate growls. “When you called Marc after we left Florida yesterday, he probably thought you were going to tell him you were breaking up with Jessie. When you told him you weren’t, he got pissed and planted this story.”
“He counted on the breakup for publicity.” I stand up. “Does Jessie know?”
“Does Jessie know what?” Ella asks, opening the front door and stepping to the side.
Jessie’s lips thin. “Do I know that you apparently spent last night with Chelsey in a bar by the beach? No. I didn’t get hounded this morning after work or have three different journalists try to buy coffee before my boss called the cops.”
I wince. Fuck. “Sorry.”
“What for?” she asks, walking into the kitchen and leaning against the table. “You weren’t with my best friend. Your brother was. They could have at least Photoshopped your tattoos onto him—and checked your actual whereabouts before they ran this stuff.”
I read the caption under the image. The image was apparently taken at 10:30, which is when I just so happened to be naked and underneath Jessie. “I’d have some mad skill to be with you and her at the same time.”
Tate snorts. “Are you secretly the Flash?”
“Batman,” I reply. “What do we do?”
“We need to think about that.” He grabs a bottle of water from the fridge. “But when our manager, the guy who’s supposed to have our best interests at heart, goes and fucks with us this way, then I’m not fucking happy with him.”
“So fire him,” Jessie says simply, shrugging.
Tate and I glance at each other.
“What?” she says, looking around at us. “You didn’t like his original idea, although you went along with it.” She shoots me a glance. “But at least that kind of made sense. This is just bullshit. Anyone can see this isn’t you.” She jabs at the magazine cover. “Look. Like I said. Tattoos. This is your left arm, and on your left arm you have trees. Kye doesn’t have anything on his lower left arm.”
“And your fans know it,” Ella adds. “We already checked Twitter. They’re going nuts over the fact the media screwed up.”
I pull out my phone and open the app. Just like she said, Twitter is blowing up, and our surname is trending again. “Well, his plan worked, either way,” I admit.
“But it’s a piece-of-shit plan,” Tate argues, still angry. “We need to get together tonight—all four of us—and make a choice.”
“Fire him.” I shrug.
“What will you do with no manager, though? My sister is obsessed with stalking y’all’s page for news on the new album you’re gonna record.” Jessie bites her thumb.
“Lawyers,” Tate answers. “The album will get recorded. We have the studio time already, and a whole other team aside from Marc. We knew what kind of guy he was when we signed his contracts three years ago, but we thought we needed a ruthless asshole to get us somewhere.”
“It wasn’t the best choice we made, but this industry changes so often, and he has the track record,” I continue, resting my hand on Jessie’s thigh. “It won’t be hard for us to find a new manager. We made more than any other ‘boy band’ in America last year.”
Jessie looks down at me, a smirk on her face. “Yet y’all still live at home with your mom and dad.”
I pause. “Shut up.”
She laughs.
“We’ve gotta move out,” I mutter, and Tate echoes his agreement.
“And now,” he finishes.
“Anyway,” Jessie says, jumping up. “We’re going shopping. We just wanted to stop by and tell you that I saw and laughed.”
“You gonna be okay?” I ask. “We can call Ajax and have him send someone to go with you.”
She raises an eyebrow. “I don’t need a bodyguard, rocker boy. Ella has mace in her purse, and I’m not afraid to use it.”
“You don’t need mace,” Tate tells her, grabbing an apple from the bowl. “You just have to open your mouth and shoot them down. You’re fuckin’ scary.”
Jessie smiles sweetly. “I know.” She bends down and kisses my cheek before she and Ella walk outside.
I share a glance with Tate, and we follow them to the door. The reporters camped outside yell questions at Jessie: Does she know where I was last night? How does she feel about me cheating on her? Does she know who the girl is?
I can just imagine her rolling her eyes as she leans out her window. She puts her fingers to her mouth and whistles.
“Shit,” Tate winces.
“Mhmm,” I mutter.
“Can we ask you a question?” someone yells.
“Just did,” Jessie responds. “Can y’all move? You’re blockin’ the road, and my right foot is a little heavy.”
“We have a question for you!”
“Yes I know where Aidan was last night. I’m pretty okay about him cheating, but only because he’s really fucking bad at poker, and yeah, I know who the girl is, but since you got Kye’s name wrong, you probably don’t need to add another name to your pretty little confused heads. Now can y’all please move?”
I snort, fighting my laughter.
They yell at her again, and her head disappears from view, followed by the rev of the engine. They still don’t move, so she makes good on her threat. Her car rolls forward slowly, but in typical media fashion, they still don’t move.
“Oh shit,” Tate chuckles.
She speeds up until it becomes clear she really isn’t gonna stop, and pure amusement and a sick kind of pleasure flood through me as the media scrambles out of the way.
“Assholes!” Jessie yells just before she turns off the driveway.
“I like her,” Tate says, nodding. “She’s fun.”
I just laugh in response, because fuck yeah, she’s fun.
“Aidan!”
“Aw, fuck,” I groan as questions are suddenly directed to me. “Now we’re gonna have to call Ajax and get these fuckers away from us.”
“Do you have anything to say about the allegations?” a man yells, holding out a voice recorder like it’ll catch anything I say from fifteen feet away.
“Allegations?” Tate looks at me. “What’d you do, murder someone?”
I shrug and look back. “Nah, not really,” I call to the guy.
“So you don’t care that you cheated on your girlfriend?”
“Poker is a pretty hard game, I guess. But hey—you win some, you lose some.”
“Nailed it.” Tate nudges me, pulling out his phone. “Y’all need to get off our property now. If you have any questions, you already have our representative on speed dial, I’m sure.”
“So you don’t have anything to say?”
I pause before I turn away, and grin. “Yeah, y’all should watch out, ’cause the Burke boys don’t date damsels in distress.”