Tainted Kiss (Tainted Knights 1)

She hung up and stood. “Well, Travis is officially fired. Aunt Emmie is about to blow a gasket, but that’s his problem, not ours.”

Gray opened the fridge that now had a nice dent in it from Kale’s fist and pulled out a frozen pizza, handing it to Kale. He held it against his knuckles as Kassa leaned over the little island to take a better look at the damages to his hands.

“I thought you were supposed to be the funny, sweet one of these animals.” She gave him a wink. “Kale’s a badass.”

Jace and Cash came back in, minus Travis.

“We still have to play in half an hour,” Jace told them. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“Kin seems to have that covered, bro,” Gray assured him. “One of the perks when you’re an honorary member of Emmie Armstrong’s family, I guess.”

I leaned into Kale, relieved that it was all over now. “I love you.”

He kissed me slowly and softly, a total contrast to the raging beast he had been only a few minutes ago. “I love you, too, doll.”

EPILOGUE

Kale

A soft touch to my bare back pulled me out of a deep sleep. One touch from her, and I was sure she could have awoken me from death.

“I can’t sleep,” she muttered with a pout in her voice. She stroked her fingers up my spine, softly teasing me.

“So, you thought I should be awake, too?” I groaned, turning over and pulling her head onto my shoulder before kissing her forehead.

“Something like that.” She started her stroking fingers up again on my waist, tracing over my abs before circling my naval.

I shifted, trying to get comfortable on my bed. We had been back from tour for over a month now, and for the most part, we’d been staying at my place. I wanted to call it our place, but she was determined to remain at Jenna’s apartment, where we had only slept four times so far.

I knew if it weren’t for the fact that I would eventually have to go on tour again, she would officially move in with me. She didn’t want to be alone while I was gone, and I didn’t want her to be, either, so I hadn’t put up too much of a fight about it.

“What’s keeping you awake?” I murmured against her forehead, breathing in the scent of her cherry blossom scented shampoo.

“Sage sent me a text earlier.”

My eyes snapped open. She hadn’t spoken to her old roommate since the day we had gotten her things from their apartment. Santana had spoken to Sage’s mother a few times, but not to her.

“What did it say?”

She sighed. “She apologized. Apparently, she kicked Wade out. He’s been screwing some girl from his new job.”

“Good for her.” I closed my eyes again, tired enough to easily fall back asleep.

“She wants me to have coffee with her this week.”

My eyes snapped open again. “What did you tell her?”

“I didn’t tell her anything. That’s why I can’t sleep. I don’t know what to do.” She sounded sad, and I couldn’t stand to think of her hurting in any way.

Sitting up, I turned on the lamp on my nightstand. Then I leaned over her, kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose, before skimming my lips over hers.

“What do you want to do, doll?”

She bit her bottom lip, thinking about it for almost a full minute before blowing out a frustrated breath. “She hurt me a lot when she picked him over me. I don’t trust her not to hurt me again.”

I stroked a finger over her face, tracing across her forehead and down her nose, making her sigh with pleasure. “If you’re thinking about giving her a chance, don’t do it if you think it’s because she’s the only friend you have. You have a bunch of friends who would do anything for you. They love you almost as much as I do. You don’t need Sage.”

“I know that.”