Harris smirked as the four turned and flounced away. “I love it when you get all territorial on me, Lu.”
Laughing at him, I lifted my head as Kin came over with two glasses of ginger ale in hand. I hadn’t even noticed her go off toward the bar once Harris had looked at me. I took one of the glasses she offered as she dropped down beside Jace on the couch. “Did you guys eat dinner yet?”
Jace shrugged. “We ate in Harris’s office. Did you?”
“We stopped for salads with Layla and Aunt Emmie,” she told him as she rested her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head, closing his eyes as if savoring having her beside him.
Harris kissed my neck, pulling my attention completely back to him. “Want to go home?” he murmured close to my ear. “I could really use an early night.”
I could feel exactly what he could really use pressing into my hip. I squirmed against him, making him groan, and grinned up at him wickedly. “Don’t you have a show going on soon? You told me this morning you needed to be here in case something happens.”
“I realized that’s what I have two assistant managers for,” he said, but I could see the resignation in his eyes. “Fine. But as soon as the show’s over, can I take you home?”
Stroking a finger over his chin, I kissed his cheek. “As soon as Roanna sings the last note, I’ll be happy to go home with you.”
Since I was going home with Harris, I told Marcus to take the rest of the night off. I didn’t use him nearly as much as I once had, but there was no way my dad was going to let me get rid of him. Neither was Harris. Marcus was like one of the family now, and I couldn’t even think about a time when he wouldn’t be around.
Downstairs, I could tell the show was getting ready to start. The crowd was getting amped up, and the VIPs were moving closer to the balcony to watch. The four of us stayed where we were, just relaxing as the club filled with the sound of Roanna’s hypnotic voice.
Halfway through the show, Jace’s phone started going off. At first, he ignored it, sending it straight to voice mail. After it went off for the fourth time in a row, he finally got up to take the call. His face was like a thundercloud as he left us sitting there. I moved off of Harris’s lap to sit
beside Kin on the couch. “Everything okay with him?” I asked her as she watched after Jace with a frown wrinkling her brow. He had seemed kind of out of it all evening, staring off into space and tuning out everything around him. Including Kin.
“He says he’s fine, but he’s been kind of moody lately.” She shrugged. “I thought it was just because of the whole Kassa and Gray thing at first, but he seems okay with that for the most part. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’ve been worried about him.”
Her phone buzzed, and she lifted it to read the text. “It’s Kassa. She and Gray are coming.” She gave a relieved sigh. “I’ve been so worried about her. Losing the baby has been rough on her and Gray both. I never thought I would feel bad for Gray, but seeing how hard he’d taken what happened, I can’t help feel sympathy for the douchebag.”
“I’m glad she’s getting out of the apartment.” Kassa hadn’t been out often over the last few weeks. The girls and I had been going to her apartment and doing things we thought would cheer her up, like having a mani/pedi night and eating nothing but junk food, but losing her baby was destroying Kassa. Getting out and spending time with her friends was going to be good for both her and Gray.
Jace came back a few minutes later with beers for himself and Harris. Dropping down beside Kin, he took a long swallow, but I could tell something was wrong with him. He was tense, and the way his jaw was working, I couldn’t help wondering what was going on with him.
“Who called?” Kin asked, concerned.
“It was no one,” he bit out and took another drink of his beer.
“You’re practically vibrating right now. I can tell something’s wrong. What happened?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine,” she argued, getting upset.
“Kin, drop it. It’s not important.”
“Tell me who it was,” she demanded, and I shifted away from her instinctively.
“It was Kassa.”
Kin went completely still beside me, and my mouth dropped open because I could practically smell the lie before it even left his mouth. Now I knew for sure something was going on with Jace. He never lied, and especially not to Kin. Hell, I was surprised Harris had asked me to marry him before Jace had asked Kin. Those two were inseparable, and I’d felt so guilty for asking Kin to stay to help me out over the summer while Jace had been off on tour. She had been lost without him, and he’d been devastated without her by his side during the nine weeks they were apart.
But ever since he’d been back from tour, he had become more and more withdrawn.
Kin lifted her brows as the rest of her face went completely blank, and I shot Harris a questioning look, wondering if he had any idea what was going on. He caught my gaze but shook his head, telling me he was just as clueless as I was. “Oh yeah? What did she say?”
“Nothing much. Just checking in. She’s fine.”
“That’s all?” Kin’s blue eyes narrowed, giving him one last chance to tell her the truth.
“Yup.”