Thoughtful(130)

Shutting the door, I darted upstairs for the quickest shower known to man. I wanted out of this house. I purposely avoided looking at Denny and Kiera’s room. I didn’t think I’d be able to look at it again. What she’d done to him in there, while she had pretended he was me, was going to dig and fester inside my brain like an incurable disease. Fuck, I didn’t want to be here. Heading to my room, I stripped bare and then shuffled to the bathroom.

Once I was dressed and refreshed, I headed back to Evan’s place for rehearsal. Afterward, when the guys wanted to go to Pete’s, I was torn. I wanted to say no, wanted to bow out, but a large part of me wanted to go, and that part eventually won out. As painful as it was going to be, I missed Kiera, and I knew I couldn’t go another night without seeing her.

My heart was heavy on the ride over. I had no idea how she’d react to seeing me after how we’d parted ways. After parking, I sat and stared at the bar in the rearview mirror. I wasn’t sure what I was waiting for, I just knew I couldn’t go in there yet. The night at the club flashed through my mind—her fast breath, her eager mouth, her hands fisting in my hair. So much passion had been between us, we’d nearly ignited on the dance floor. That couldn’t have all been fake.

A bang on my window knocked my memories from my head. Griffin was standing at my door, and Matt and Evan were a few feet behind him, waiting for me. Smirking, Griffin gestured at the mirror I’d been staring into. “You look great, princess. Get the fuck out of the car.”

Rolling my eyes, I cracked open my door. I could do this. I slugged Griffin in the arm for his comment, and he backed away from me with a scowl. “Ease up, pissy pants. It’s not my fault you didn’t get laid the other night.”

Grinning in a self-satisfied way, he splayed his fingers as he walked backward. “Five, dude.”

Forcing my gaze away from the front doors I was dreading, I met Griffin’s eyes. “What?”

“That’s how many times she made me come! And that doesn’t include the two times I jizzed the next morning.” Stumbling over a rock in the lot, he almost fell on his ass. Klutz.

Grimacing, I walked around him. “Awesome,” I muttered. I’d already had a color commentary during the act, I didn’t need a play-by-play of it afterward.

Still wanting to brag, Griffin fell into step behind me. “It was unbelievable. The things that girl can do…It’s too bad for you that she chose me, man. Not that I blame her, but you seriously missed out.”

Matt snorted. “Are you serious? She totally wanted Kellan, but he turned her down. You were runner-up, dude.”

I looked back just in time to see Griffin’s dumbstruck expression. “You smoking crack there, cuz? She was all over me, hot to trot. She even told me that she’d been wet for me since the first time we met.”

A knowing smile on his lips, Matt flicked a glance at me. “When you first met? You mean, when she was practically giving Kellan a lap dance, and she barely acknowledged your existence? That first time?”

Griffin barged past me. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

Matt was laughing as he hurried to catch up to him. “Wait, Griff! Tell me again how much she wanted you! Was that before or after she was practically palming Kellan’s junk at the table?”

I shook my head at the pair of them as Evan laughed. Griffin walked through the front door first and the noise of the bar filtered out to me in the lot. Bending down, I pretended I was tying my shoelace. That was what I’d been reduced to: lame-ass stalling techniques. Fuck. Was I ready to see her?

Evan paused, waiting for me. “You okay?” he asked.

I mentally double-checked my features, but I wasn’t making any strange, pain-filled expression as I retied my shoe. All of my turmoil was internal. “Yeah,” I replied, standing. “Why wouldn’t I be?” As far as Evan knew, this was just another night at Pete’s.

Evan studied my face. “I don’t know. You just seem…off.” He crooked a grin. “Maybe you’re still hungover from last night? You did get pretty shitfaced.”

I made myself smile. “Yeah, maybe that’s it. I do feel a little worn.” Emotionally worn. Physically I felt fine.

Determined to prove that this was no big deal and I could be in a room with Kiera without it tearing me in two, I opened the door and walked into the bar. I tried not to look, but my eyes automatically scoped her out. She was back in the band’s section, but her eyes were glued to the door, like she was waiting for me. Goddamn, she was beautiful. Her Pete’s shirt hugged her in ways that showed off every lean asset I loved, and her jeans sat low on her hips, teasing me with just an inch of skin. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail that just about undid me every time I saw it. It reminded me of sex—wild, unrestrained, passionate sex. It made me want to yank the band out, grab a fistful, and pull her into me.