Tainted Bastard (Tainted Knights 4)

As Sin chewed, he glanced around our living room, taking in the posters on the wall of the female rockers we all worshiped. Older rockers like Janis Joplin and Joan Jett were hung up beside Lzzy Hale, Maria Brink, and Gabriella Moretti. Other than those five posters, we didn’t have many pictures to decorate the place. But one day, I dreamed of seeing platinum records on the walls and a Grammy on each end table. One day, the Blonde Bombshells poster would hang up there with those other five amazing female rockers.

“Gabriella Moretti comes into the club sometimes with her husband,” Sin said with a nod at the rocker’s poster. “Liam Bryant is pretty tight with Harris. All of the members of OtherWorld are always dropping by whenever they’re in town.”

“Ah man, I would kill to have her play with us,” London sighed dreamily. “She is my unicorn.”

“One day, babe,” Aubree told her with a grin. “One day.”

“When you guys get a record deal, make sure to have your manager talk to Annabelle Brockman. She represents Gabriella. She could probably make that happen.”

“Harris will set it up for us,” Peyton informed him, her tone heavy on the bitchiness. “He will do whatever I tell him to.”

Sin snorted. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

“He will. Just wait and see. I’ll talk to him about Gabriella tomorrow.”

“Let’s watch a movie,” Genesis cut in, keeping Peyton from sputtering any more stupid shit that might piss Sin off and make him leave.

I didn’t want him to go. I liked having him there, liked how he sat close to me without making me nervous. This guy saved me, took down a 200-pound drunk to protect my soul sisters and me. I kept remembering how his voice softened when he was calling me “sweet girl” and how I only wanted to hold on to him when I was having the worst panic attack I’d had in years.

Genesis produced three different Redbox rentals she must have picked up when she got the pizzas. “What will it be? I got one bloody and action-packed, one claiming to be hilariously endearing, and some nonsensical rom-com.” Her lips twisted with disgust, letting us all know her opinion on the romantic comedy.

“Action!” Aubree called out.

“I’m good with either comedy. Unless it’s redneck comedy.” London tossed in her vote.

“Rom-com,” Peyton added.

“Ro, what do you want to watch?” Genesis asked, giving me an imploring look that begged me not to pick the rom-com.

“Is Gerard Butler in the action movie?” I asked with a grin. “Ah, Gen, you know I love every one of his movies.”

“I prefer Statham myself,” Sin commented, taking another bite of his pizza.

“I love Jason Statham movies!” I cried, excited that someone in the room could appreciate my admiration for the actor.

Sin shifted closer. “Yeah? I have a collection of all his movies. My mom and I used to watch them together all the time when I was a kid.”

“Fuck, they’re soul mates,” I heard Peyton whisper to London. My head snapped around, glaring at the other girl, but London was already telling her to shut her mouth.

“We watching this movie or not?” Genesis complained, waving the DVD box around. “I would like to eat my dinner before it gets cold, bitches.”

“Yeah, play it,” I told her, lowering my gaze to my pizza I hadn’t even touched yet. I was hungry a moment ago, but after hearing Peyton say that about soul mates, I only felt queasy.

Genesis turned off all the lights in the room except for the standing lamp in the far corner and retook her seat on the floor, using the coffee table as her dinner table like she did most nights.

As the opening credits appeared, I felt Sin’s hand grasp mine, and I couldn’t help how I tensed. It was how I always reacted to human contact, no matter who touched me. He pretended to ignore my reaction and just held the tips of my fingers, his thumb skimming softly over my knuckles.

Slowly, I began to relax, realizing he was holding my fingers to show me he wasn’t trying to threaten me. It was nice, having a hot guy whom I kind of liked hold my hand during a movie. It felt juvenile, like we were on a middle school date, but I enjoyed every second of sitting there just having a guy touch me so innocently, and not freaking the fuck out.

Halfway through the movie, he nudged me with his elbow. “Eat,” he commanded quietly.

“I’m good,” I whispered back.

“Eat anyway,” he said, tugging at my fingers before going back to rubbing his thumb across my skin.

Fighting a smile, I picked up a slice of my veggie pizza and took a small bite. It was cold, but it tasted good, and I realized how hungry I really was. By the end of the movie, I’d eaten almost everything on my plate.

As the ending credits began to play, Genesis stood and grabbed everyone’s dirty plates. “I’m exhausted,” she said with a yawn. “Think I’m going to crash.”