Tempting

I’m fine with that label. But I did make Kay a promise. “You have any upcoming shows?”

“Always. Why?” he asks.

“Get me tickets and I’ll spill.”

“Fuck, I’ll get you whatever you want. Bella is gonna flip when she sees this.” He stares at his new ink. “She’ll want one.”

“I’ll squeeze her in whenever,” I say.

He shakes his head. “I don’t want you touching her now that I know you have a thing for chicks with glasses.”

“You want someone else here touching her?” I ask.

“Good point. There really aren’t enough female artists. It’s sexist bullshit.” Joel turns to Dean. “How come you guys only hire dicks?”

“Nepotism,” Dean says.

“It makes the world go round.” Joel looks to me. “I’ll send over your shit tomorrow. Any date, any venue you want.”

“Anything here?”

“Fuck, nobody tells me the details. You think they keep me around for my brains?” Joel laughs.

“Nobody thinks that,” Dean agrees.

Joel laughs. “Right back at you.”

Dean nods. “It hurts, being this beautiful. Doesn’t it?”

“It’s our cross to bear.” Joel’s shrug is playful. Joyful. He’s that kind of guy. One who always cracks a joke. “I’m sure we’ve got something coming up.” He lowers his voice. “Now. Tell me… was it good dirty alley sex? Or fucking amazing dirty alley sex?”

My head fills with every detail. “It was perfect.”

Kaylee sets her backpack on the passenger side floor as she slides into the car.

Her eyes light up as they meet mine. “You look like a tool with your sunglasses hanging in your t-shirt.”

“This better?” I slide them on and offer her my best cocky smile.

“Much better.” She pulls the door closed. Clicks her seatbelt. “First name dropping. Then designer sunglasses—”

“Em gave me these for my birthday.”

“I remember.”

“That doesn’t buy me anything?”

“Not a thing.” She smiles as she plays with her seatbelt. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere you love.”

“Which is…”

I put the car in park and pull onto the street. “A surprise.”

Kaylee’s laugh fills the car. “How long will it take to get there.”

“Depends on traffic.”

“Hmm. That’s not the best hint.”

“What if I tell you something else?”

“If it’s something good.”

“I got tickets to a show.”

“Oh, tell me, Brendon the name dropper. Who are we going to see?”

“Hey, if you don’t want backstage passes—”

Her eyes light up. “Really?”

“And I’m the celebrity obsessed one?”

She nods.

“Dangerous Noise.”

“What?” Her eyes go wide. Her jaw drops. She stammers something incomprehensible.

Kay is actually speechless.

Fuck, it’s adorable.

Slowly, she presses her lips together. Nods. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

Her voice jumps higher than I’ve ever heard it. “Me, you, and Em?”

“If it works for her schedule.”

“That’s so… Oh my God. I can’t even… When?”

“In a few weeks.”

She nods. “I just… I need to get tickets to Jersey. So I’ll make sure it’s not the same dates. You can tell me when I buy them. Tonight, I think.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“No. This is good. And we… you… I want to think about happy things for a while.”

I want to ask about her Grandma. To know how that’s going. To help her work through all the messy shit in her head.

But this is good.

And shit’s been hard for Kay.

If she needs a break, I’m more than happy to distract her from every other fucking thing in the world.

“I might have mentioned you to Joel.” Or replayed every second of her coming on my hand. Same difference.

“Really?” Her expression gets hazy. Starstruck. “What about me?”

“How much you drive me out of my mind.”

“Oh my God.”

“He might have stupid shit to say if you go backstage.”

“A rock star has stupid shit to say to me. This is…” Her eyes go wide. She’s back to speechless.

“Awesome?”

“Yeah.” Her chest spills over her tank top as she leans in to turn on the radio.

It’s playing a particularly obnoxious pop-rock song.

Kaylee sticks her tongue out. “You… um… Sorry, I’m still on this whole, you’re talking about me with rock stars thing.”

“He’s just as guy.”

“A famous guy.”

“Even so.”

“Ugh, you’re so cool. It’s obnoxious.” Her laugh is nervous. Distracted. “You mind if I plug this in?” She pulls her cell from her pocket and shows it off.

“What you’re going to play.” I pull onto the main drag. This is going to take forever. I need to be there with her now. I need all of her now. She makes me so fucking greedy.

“Hmm.” Her voice is almost all the way back to normal. To mine. She taps the screen a few times. “What would you hate the most?”

“Too many options there.”

“True.” She plugs the aux cable into her cell. “I’ll have mercy.”

Rihanna spills from the speaks. S&M.

“You call this mercy?” I stop at a red light, turn to Kay, watch her eyes light up as she smiles.

“It’s our song now.”

“I’ll think of Dean sucking on his index finger every time I hear it.”

“I won’t.” Her voice drops. “I’ll think about you…” Her cheeks flush. “I can’t say it.”