Just One Spark (The Kingston Family 4)

“You don’t. That’s where trust comes in. Look, it’s still early days, and like you said, you have more time to learn about the guy. Same for me. I don’t know any of ’em well, but I’m working on it.”

She nodded in understanding.

“And from the way he’s looking at you? It doesn’t seem like he’s anywhere near wanting to end things, which is why I didn’t go after him with these.” He held up his fists.

“No, it’s because you need your hands to play.”

He shrugged. “Whatever. But if I see red flags, you’ll be the first to know.”

She expelled a harsh breath. “Great. My brother is keeping an eye on my…”

“Boyfriend,” he said with a grin.

She pulled the dishtowel hanging on the dishwasher handle and whipped him with the end like they used to do when they were kids. “One thing I promise. I won’t let anything that happens between me and Dash affect you and the band. Your future is too important.”

“Then I guess we have each other’s backs. Like always,” Axel said, his expression soft.

Pushing himself up from his seat, he strode around the counter and pulled her into a hug.

One she needed badly.

* * *

Everyone had gone home and only Xander and Sasha remained. Axel had left and Sasha was in the kitchen. Dash heard the water running from the sink. Sasha was probably cleaning up but it wasn’t her job. He had a cleaning crew coming in the morning. Xander usually left gatherings early because, like Cassidy, large groups of people and crowds were too confining for him, even if they were family. Yet Xander remained seated on the big sofa.

Which meant his brother wanted to talk.

Resigning himself to … a lecture? A pep talk? Dash didn’t know but he walked over to the taupe couch, plopped his ass down, and put his booted feet up on the cocktail table.

Xander raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

Dash shrugged. “My house, my rules.” Just like when he’d sat on it earlier. “So why aren’t you home already?”

“Because I wanted to see if you needed anything.”

Dash narrowed his gaze.

“Cassidy?” Xander prodded. “Sasha and I saw she left early.” With a shrug, he also put his feet on the table.

“She had a headache. I think the whole family in one place, inside with loud noise, is too much for her.” Dash also had a gut feeling Aurora’s talk about touring had been the ultimate trigger for her to withdraw.

“Take it from someone who knows. We’re a handful.” Xander folded his hands across his stomach. “So you two are a real couple?”

Dash nodded. “Trying to be. It started out as a damned good idea, but I knew from the minute Naomi suggested it, Cassidy pretending to be my girlfriend would give me a way back in. One I might not get otherwise. I’ve been bending over backwards to show her I want to change.”

Xander glanced at him. “I’m sure it’s easy now. We’re all living within a mile of each other. It’s the travel and issues on the road that you need to consider.”

“No shit. Aurora asked about the next tour, and from that moment on, Cassidy was in her own world.” Dash fiddled with a hole in his jeans. “I can change a lot of things. I deleted hookup numbers from my phone and told her, and I can promise not to sign another body part ever again. But I can’t change the nomad part of my lifestyle. And that seems to throw her.” Which left him unsure if he should show up at her place tonight or give her the space she needed.

He wasn’t concerned about his own behavior. At this point, the thought of hooking up with anyone other than Cassidy turned his stomach. Especially a chick with fake tits, too much makeup, and heavily sprayed hair. He shuddered at the thought of the typical groupie who followed the band. But Cassidy was probably worried.

He decided to be honest with his brother. “I haven’t been with anyone since Cass that first time.”

Xander, who’d been pinching the bridge of his nose, probably due to a headache, whipped his head around to look at him. “No shit?”

Dash shrugged.

A slow smile spread across Xander’s face. “Then you know what you want, just like I did. Now you have to find a way to make it work.”

And Xander would know. He and Sasha had to find serious compromises in order to be together. From each living on a separate coast to her travel for work, not to mention a fucked-up past, they’d had their challenges.

“First Cassidy needs to know about me.” He paused, drawing a breath. “Tomorrow’s the meet and greet at the rehab place in town.”

“Anniversary of Billy’s death,” Xander muttered.

Dash clenched his jaw before managing to say, “Cass’s parents were killed in a car accident by a guy under the influence of drugs. Something tells me she might not want to cut me any slack.”