I was fighting this need—this damn craving—that was starting to consume me for that girl.
During the time I’d been trying to put her out of my mind and focus my attention elsewhere, I’d gotten two texts from Lucy. It had taken every ounce of willpower I possessed to not text her back. It went against everything inside of me to ignore her the way I’d done. Lucy wasn’t just the girl who I was in love with. She was also my best friend, my voice of reason when I needed it most.
I’d been telling myself that I needed to avoid her until her birthday. If she were out of sight I wouldn’t have to fight as hard to control the need I had for Lucy Thornton. I’d thought it was the perfect plan, the only option available to me if I was going to keep my hands to myself for the next few weeks.
Fuck, I’d been wrong. So damn wrong.
Last night I’d gone straight to First Bass as soon as my plane had landed and still I’d tried to hold my ground. My assistant manager had done a great job of holding down the fort while I’d been out of town, but there were some things that only I could take care of. I’d forced myself to focus on work and not call her, text her, or stop by her house on my way home. Yeah, that last one would have really went over well with her Demon father, but I’d still contemplated it.
Death seemed like a reasonable enough payment for five minutes with the chick I was in love with.
Jace had been in house and had followed me into my office. After catching me up on a few details that my assistant manager hadn’t informed me about—probably because she hadn’t known—Jace told me that Lucy and Kin had been absent from First Bass except for open mike night. After talking to Lucy that night, he’d been surprised to find out that I hadn’t contacted her.
I hadn’t told anyone about what had happened in my office the night I’d kissed Lucy. No one. I’d figured the less people who knew, the less chance there was of Jesse Thornton finding out, which was how Lucy wanted to keep it for the moment. But everything was starting to fester inside of me and it all spilled out like vomit as I’d told Jace what had happened and why I was avoiding her.
My friend had sat back and listened to it all with a sympathetic look in his blue eyes, but when I was done he’d shaken his head at me. “You poor dumb bastard. Looks like you’ve just screwed yourself rather than making it bearable. You’ve been able to keep your hands to yourself for months now—and honestly, bro, you’re my hero for that because I sure as hell couldn’t have done it if it were Kin. But what makes you think you couldn’t withstand it for a few more weeks?”
I’d scrubbed my hands over my tired face, feeling the jet lag starting to wash over me. It didn’t normally affect me so badly, but I hadn’t slept more than an hour or two a night because I’d been worried about Jenna, on t
op of missing Lucy. Thoughts of our kiss had haunted what little sleep I had gotten and I had woken up more than a few times from the kind of wet dream I hadn’t had since I was sixteen. “Because now that I’ve felt her against me, had her in my arms, fucking tasted her lips, I don’t think I can keep from kissing her every damn chance I get.” It just spewed out of me and I grimaced, feeling like a pussy for admitting out loud how fucked up I was over a girl.
Jace lifted his brows at me. “Dude, she’s seventeen. That’s considered legal. You wouldn’t be doing anything wrong if you guys…” His voice broke off when I shot him a glare.
“It might be considered legal, but my dad would kick my ass. And that would be a picnic compared to what Jesse Thornton would do to me if he found out that I touched his daughter while she was underage.” That particular Demon and his band-brothers would chop me up and scatter me across the country, and I would bet money on my dad helping them. He loved Lucy.
Jace had scratched at the several days’ worth of scruff on his chin. “Yeah, I can see why you would be cautious. But I wonder what you should be more worried about. A few rockers killing you, or Lucy feeling like all she is to you is a piece of ass now. The look on her face the other day wasn’t a good one, bro. She seemed really hurt.” He shrugged as he stood. “But it’s your choice, man.”
I’d chewed on that the rest of the night. The thought of Lucy hurt hadn’t set well with me. I hated the idea of her hurting more than I was scared of her father. I’d slept even shittier that night. When I’d woken up, I’d thought about texting her, but I didn’t want to explain why I’d been avoiding her for so long in an emotionless message. Since it was open mike night, I figured she would be in with Kin and I would talk to her then.
Leaving word with Tiny to send her to my office as soon as she walked through the door had seemed like a good idea when I’d gotten to work, but now it seemed like a copout. He’d sent me a message as soon as she’d gotten to First Bass letting me know that she wasn’t going to come back to my office.
Looked like Lucy had moved on from feeling hurt. Now she was pissed at me and I wasn’t sure how to approach a pissed-off Lucy. Fucking hell, if it was anything like when my stepmother was pissed at my dad, I probably needed to take shelter and wait for the storm to pass. But I knew that wouldn’t help. Hiding from her wasn’t going to make any of this better. Trying again, I’d told my first floor bartender to have one of the waitresses to ask her to come back to my office.
“We need more Patron out here, boss. Oh yeah, and Miss Montez has informed Michelle that you know where Miss Thornton is. And there was something about fucking yourself.”
I blinked as the voice of the bartender filled my office over the small intercom I had on my desk. It let me keep up with my bar staff. All of their headsets connected to that small, little device and had cost me a pretty penny but had been worth it. At that moment, I wanted to throw it against the wall and break it into a hundred different pieces.
In one of the two chairs sitting in front of my desk, Jace chuckled. I’d completely forgotten that he was there. “Sounds like something Kin would say.”
“Damn.” I raked my hands through my hair and glared up at the ceiling. “She’s going to be stubborn, isn’t she?”
“Of course she is. Would you want her if she came running to do your bidding whenever you snapped your fingers? Its not fun if you don’t get to do a little chasing.” Jace got to his feet lazily. “I’ll go talk to her.”
I smirked at my friend. “Good luck with that.”
“Is that a challenge?” Blue eyes flashed with interest and I chuckled. “I bet I can get her to come back here.”
“No way, no betting.” I made it a rule to never bet on anything. Ever. That shit only caused trouble and I didn’t need any more than I already had at the moment. “But I wouldn’t mind watching you attempt to persuade Lu to come back here.”
“I can talk any chick into doing anything I want her to do,” Jace informed me with an arrogance that made me laugh out loud.
“Oh yeah? So what’s up with Kin? You just not trying there?”
Blue eyes darkened with irritation. “Kin is different. She’s a whole new type of stubborn that no one has ever been able to conquer. She’s not going to forgive me until she’s good and ready. I just have to bide my time.”
“And if it takes fifty years?”
Jace grunted. “So I’ll wait fifty years. Fuck, I’d wait the rest of my life. She’s worth it.”