Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
“Who are you trying to set a blaze?”
I jump at Iggy’s deep timbre.
“No one.”
I push past him to the stage and pretend I’m looking at the lighting, which I know next to nothing about. My job doesn’t even require me to be backstage at all, but here I am, stalking my ex-girlfriend and her new plaything like a little psycho. I’m so fucking pathetic.
Iggy chuckles. “Gotta give it to you. You’ve got good taste. Piper Hughes is pretty fuckin’ hot.”
An obnoxious smile creeps onto his face as I whirl around and jab my finger into his solid chest. “You don’t need to worry about how hot she is.”
Iggy laughs, holding his hands up. “You’ve got it bad.”
“I’ve got nothing but an urge to shove my foot up your ass.”
“Denial is a river in Egypt.”
I glare at Iggy. “That’s a stupid saying. It’s The Nile, not denial, so it makes zero sense.”
Iggy’s head tilts, and I’m sure he’s dramatically rolling his eyes beneath the gas mask. “Anyway, you bang her yet?”
“Who?”
“Oh, come on, Kaye, you aren’t this obtuse. You know who I’m talking about. Piper. Have you banged her yet?”
I step forward, forcing Iggy to take a step back. I must admit I enjoy how these four big men fear little old me. “Unlike some people, I don’t shit where I eat.”
“Hey, I don’t shit where I eat,” Iggy says, outraged.
“Is that why you’re not talking to Marley?”
Iggy straightens his shoulders and clenches his fists. I’ve struck a nerve, which is saying something since Iggy’s nerves are Teflon-coated.
He grips my shoulders and turns me around until Piper is the only person in my line of vision. “Focus, Kaye. Keep your eyes on the prize.”
“The band is the prize,” I whisper, tasting the bitter truth of the lie wrapped around the tip of my tongue like venom.
“Music is the fuel, but love is the prize. Look at Cain and Lars. They’re much happier than the rest of us because their lives are full. Billie completed them. As cheesy as all that shit is, it’s a hard truth. Life without love is no life at all.”
My eyes flutter shut, and I push back all the emotions surging inside me: anger, lust, rage, fear, love, and regret. “Sometimes, love can’t win. Sometimes, too much is stacked against you. Sometimes, love tears us apart.”
CHAPTER 8
Piper
Two weeks on the road, and Kaye has avoided me at every turn. Which is annoying because I only asked the groupie to tour with me to get on Kaye’s nerves. Make her crack like a pinata.
Sonya, the bleach blonde, ran into me again that night, telling me how Striker and Mayhem weren’t inviting anyone onto their bus. I wanted to tell her to kick rocks, then remembered how she set Kaye right off. Even though the girl is beyond irritating, I can deal with anything if it allows me to burrow under Kaye’s skin and infect her like an incurable disease.
“Baby,” Sonya coos, tracing her long fingernails along my arm. “You gonna dedicate a song to me?”
Dedicate a song to her? Another reason no one should stick with a groupie for more than one night. The girl is probably planning our wedding in her head, even though I haven’t touched her sexually since that night in the green room. If one guy from Gutless Void approached her to join them in their bed, she’d drop me like a hot potato.
But Sonya is a useful prop. I need her to achieve my end goal of making Kaye crawl like a dog, so I don’t care if she uses me to live out her rockstar fantasy.
“Nah,” I say as I sip my hot water. “I think I’m good.”
Sonya pouts, and I debate if getting on Kaye’s nerves is worth keeping this girl around. Her presence has done little to bring me closer to Kaye, who I’ve thought about nonstop since our encounter in the green room. God, she’s as fiery as ever. Does she still have a dirty mouth and a wicked tongue?
I’m about to tell Sonya that her time is up and I’ll book her a plane ticket home when Kaye walks by and gives me the dirtiest look I’ve ever received. Which is saying something since my mom teaches a masterclass in disdain. The only difference is my mother’s unapproving stare made me agitated, while Kaye’s makes me wet.
There’s nothing I want more than to have that little brat crawl to me, begging to use her tongue as my personal vibrator. I’d even be okay with her having me under her boot. I don’t care if it’s a fight or a make-out session. Angry or horny, Kaye is hot as fuck. As cheesy as it is, her eyes have this smolder, and I know it’s going to be a good time.