Tainted Forever (Tainted Knights 5)

I found myself giggling for the second time that evening, and it was my turn to wink. “It was worth a try.”

“It’s official. You are definitely one of my nieces now. You’re acting just like them.” He touched his wineglass to mine. “Welcome to the Stewart family, Kin.”

Chapter 19

Jace

Hearts of Stone was the new band playing every Thursday night at First Bass. With a female lead and three guys making up the band, they didn’t necessarily have a unique look, especially with all the other mixed-gender bands out there these days. But their sound had them standing out from all the rest and was why the masses kept trying to get in for the weekly live shows.

I stood at the banister overlooking the first floor and the stage below, taking in the crowd’s reaction to the band, rather than the band themselves. The people in the front row weren’t being rowdy or trying to get onstage like they used to do with the Blonde Bombshells, but there was no denying that most eyes in the front row were glued to the lead singer. I guess the fact that the bassist and guitarist were intimidating as fuck was enough to keep the dickheads at bay for the most part.

Lifting my beer to my lips, I started to push away from the railing when a soft hand touched my arm. Looking down with narrowed eyes, I saw a curvy little blonde with big brown eyes gazing up at me with a coquettish smile on her Kylie Jenner-wannabe lips. She was hot, there was no way of denying that, but I wasn’t interested.

“You’re Jace St. Charles, aren’t you?” she asked over the loudness of the music below.

Ugh. She was already annoying me. “Last time I checked,” I told her with an irritated roll of my eyes.

She didn’t seem to notice the shift of my eyes as she stepped in closer, crowding my personal space. “I’m Tessa—”

“Nope.” The name alone had me walking away with a shudder. I already had all I could take with one Tessa, and her crazy ass was still locked up for what she did to my best friend. No way in hell was I touching that even if I were tempted.

Which I wasn’t.

The only chick I wanted was Kin, and until I fixed us, my cock wasn’t going to be seeing any action. I belonged to her. I wasn’t fucking around just because she kept saying we were broken up.

It wasn’t surprising to find most of our usual crew sitting in the back corner. Thursday nights seemed to be our night to hang out lately. Kassa and Gray were sitting on one of the two couches, with Santana perched on Kale’s lap beside them. Across from them, Amara was sitting with Cash and Riley, while Sin had taken one of the two chairs. Ro sat on the arm of his chair, a beer in her hand as she people-watched, while Aubree and London shared the other chair across from her. They were minus a Blonde, but I thought I’d seen her earlier making out with some baseball player on my way in.

“Have you gotten to hold Hayat yet?” Kassa asked as soon as I was close enough for her to speak without having to yell the question.

I shook my head as I bent and leaned my forearms on the couch beside her, happy she was talking to me rather than ignoring me like she’d been doing all too often lately. “She’s too tiny. Pretty sure I would break Harris’s kid if I touched her.”

“Kin was at the hospital when we stopped by to check on Lucy earlier,” my sister told me, her bottom lip starting to pout. “She was greedy and wouldn’t share too much. I only got to hold the baby for a few minutes before she was taking her away from me.”

I kissed the top of her head. “Get married first, then you can start thinking about babies of your own.”

“That’s the plan,” she assured me. “Right, babe?”

Gray nodded. “Whatever you want, little butterfly.”

I wanted to roll my eyes at him, but I stopped myself. Maybe I could take some pointers from the douchebag. Fuck, maybe I could take pointers from all four of my bandbrothers. They had happy relationships, even if Cash and Amara were just now getting back together after a two-month split.

Glancing around at Sin, Cash, Kale, and even Gray, I realized that their girlfriends looked pretty damn happy. I needed to pay better attention, and maybe if I were lucky, I would figure out what Kin kept saying she needed from me.

Because I didn’t understand what she wanted. She was my life, my entire world. Had I not shown her that? Hadn’t I always put her first, other than keeping the whole Eden thing from her?

The scary part was, I didn’t know.

When I getting ready to go on the summer tour the previous year, I didn’t want to leave her behind to help Lucy plan the wedding. I wanted to stay with her since she couldn’t come with me. Fuck, I nearly even said I would quit the band just so I could stay home with her.

But she wouldn’t let me. Instead, she dried her eyes and put on a brave smile as she pushed me toward the bus.

Wasn’t that putting her first?

No, I realized with a sudden moment of clarity. No, that was me putting me first because I didn’t want to be without her. It had nothing to with wanting to make her happy but everything to do with my own selfishness.

Fuck!

“You all look cozy over here,” a deep, familiar voice said with amusement.