“Precisely. By the way, I’m watching it on YouTube right now. And it is kind of hot. Or it would be if you weren’t my brother.”
He practically growled at his sister. “Rae, what have I told you about looking me up online? Shouldn’t you be studying or something?”
Rae was a freshman at the University of Georgia. She’d enrolled under his mom’s maiden name—at his request—so that people wouldn’t give her hell about him and his rehab and all that. He didn’t make any appearances on campus but he was pretty sure her roommates knew who he was because there was a lot of squealing in the background every time he called.
“Or something,” she said, sounding distracted. “Anyways, stop stressing about it. I saw how she looked at you at the benefit. And I’ve texted her a few times. She hasn’t responded, but I’m pretty sure that’s because she knows I know you two are going to get married and have me lots of adorable nieces and nephews.”
“Rae—”
“I’m just sayin’. But back to, um, studying, I go. Later, big brother. Good luck with my future sister-in-law.” With that, she hung up.
Trace was pretty certain she wasn’t studying. If her grades were low this semester, he was going to take her car away. He was paying her tuition after all.
He sat on his bed and rubbed his neck. Rae had a point. He and Kylie had a history. He shouldn’t have just sprung that kiss on her in public like that. Especially when he’d promised not to cross lines if she came on this tour with him.
He’d made it all of two days.
What he couldn’t figure out was why good ol’ Steve-O wasn’t busting his door down to kick his ass. He almost snorted out loud. The kid could try anyways.
If the situation was reversed and Blythe had kissed his girl—in front of people or otherwise—there would be some serious ass-kicking happening. But he hadn’t heard a peep. The only person who’d said anything at all about it had been Kylie. And he was pretty sure she was more shocked than actually pissed.
Lying back on his bed, he smiled at the memory of her sweet mouth moving against his. Soft, and then more firmly. Urgent, like she knew it couldn’t last.
His dick jerked to attention in response to the thoughts about her mouth. Damn she’d looked good up on that tailgate. The view he’d had of her from below hadn’t been half bad either.
She was lucky he’d stopped at a kiss and hadn’t carried her off like a crazed maniac to have his way with her. The things she did to him with just a look would break a lesser man. As much as he ached to do something about the tension between them, he had no idea what course of action to take.
In addition to the tattooed complication, there was one other thing stopping him from demanding the bus pull over at the next jewelry store so he could buy the girl a ring and beg her to change her last name to his.
He’d called his sponsor. The urge to drink had passed. But there was no denying that seeing her and being a part of her universe was a trigger. Gretchen had warned him countless times that he wasn’t strong enough for this. She’d been right, though he’d never admit that to her.
It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t Kylie’s fault, he knew that too. But he knew that if he tried to explain that being around her was tempting him to drink, she wouldn’t see it that way. And she’d probably call the whole damn tour off.
So he’d keep it to himself.
For now.
“MORNING,” HE said through a mouthful of cereal as Kylie walked out of her room. “I made you some coffee. Black with two sugars, right?”
“Morning. And, um, yeah. Thanks.”
He extended the black mug as a peace offering. “So we should talk.”
“Trace…” She paused and regarded him intently.
He used her momentary silence to appreciate how truly beautiful she was. No makeup. Long blond hair falling softly past her shoulders. Bright, clear blue eyes taking him in as well. Her plain blue T-shirt made her eyes look even brighter.
“Before you say anything, I wanted to apologize. For last night. You were right. Kissing you in front of everyone like that was inappropriate.”
Her eyes softened and he lost himself in the endless pools of blue. This was his girl. His Kylie Lou who haunted his house in Georgia. The one who had mud fights and made love in barns and showers. The one no one else got to see but him.
She cleared her throat and reality hit him like a sledgehammer. Well, him and one other guy maybe. God, he hoped it had just been one other guy. He didn’t have the balls to check online to see if she’d dated anyone else while he’d been away.