Tainted Heartbreak (Tainted Knights 3)

Aubree nudged Roanna, who shot her a death glare, but I saw the pink that filled her cheeks. A cocky grin teased at Sin’s lips, and he turned back to face the crowd—but not before winking at Roanna. The Bombshell moved back until the rest of us had swallowed her. The next time Sin glanced our way and she wasn’t where he’d last seen her, the cockiness disappeared and something dark clouded his face.

He left the stage, bulldozing through us until he got to Roanna. His guitar bounced off my hip, but he didn’t issue an apology as he caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to give him her eyes. “Okay?”

That one word was growled out, but I could tell there were a hundred different meanings behind it. I nearly melted into a puddle beside Riley just watching the interaction between the two rockers. She sighed heavily, but after a moment, finally nodded.

Sin’s face eased into that cockiness again. Stepping back, he spared me a glance. “Sorry,” he grunted and walked back onstage to finish the song with his band.

Moments later, the song was over, and so was their set. Sin was off the stage first. He took Roanna’s hand without sparing anyone else a second glance, and they walked toward where I had noticed tour buses parked earlier.

My gaze followed them for only a second, until goose bumps popped up along my arms. Lifting my head, I found Cash standing only feet away, his gaze trained right on me. As if in slow motion, I watched as the frown he was still wearing turned into a smirk. “Dreamer.”

Riley grabbed my hand, her nails sinking into my palm, but I couldn’t pull my eyes off the rocker standing mere feet away. “Hi,” I murmured a little shyly.

“I was looking for you,” he confessed, walking toward me so his three other bandmates could exit the stage.

“Were you disappointed when you couldn’t find me?” I laughed.

“Yeah, I was.” His eyes fell to the cup I was still holding tightly. “Want another lemonade? My throat is on fire. I could use something cold to drink.”

“Amara!” Riley hissed at me, and I sighed.

“Cash, this is my best friend and roommate, Riley,” I introduced. “Riles, Cash Graves.”

Grinning, Cash offered her his hand. “Hey. Would you like to grab something to drink too?”

She glanced from him to me and back again before shaking his hand. “Actually, I’m going for beers with London and Genesis.” She sent me a meaningful look, telling me I had to give her every single detail later. “Have fun. See you in a few?”

I nodded, and the Bombshells put their arms through hers. Aubree shot an interested look between me and Cash, smirked and skipped off after the others, calling over her shoulder, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

“Which isn’t a lot, actually,” Jace St. Charles said with a wink as he squeezed past us. “See you at dinner, fuckers.”

“Jace,” his sister called after him as she stomped down the back stairs. “I’m not done yelling at you!”

Gray muttered a curse, said something to Cash I didn’t hear, and followed after them, leaving us with only Kale, the brunette, and a different road crew who were now setting up the next band’s equipment out on stage.

“Hi,” the brunette greeted me with a smile. “I’m Santana.”

“Amara,” I told her, returning the smile.

“So how do you know the Bombshells?”

“My friend and I just met them today,” I told her honestly. “During their set, the guys behind us sent Riley over the fence, and Bruce helped us out. We watched the show from the stage and became instant friends afterward. We’ve been hanging out all day.”

“Did your friend get hurt?”

“She’s fine. It takes more than that to bruise Riley,” I laughed.

Kale had pulled Cash to the side for a private conversation. The drummer was laughing. “It smacks you hard and right between the eyes, my brother. You don’t see that shit until it hits you, and then you can’t let go.” His eyes landed on Santana and softened. “You don’t want to.”

“I don’t even want to know what they’re talking about,” Santana told me with a roll of her eyes. “Knowing those two, it’s something weird, and then it will be in my head. And I just don’t have room in my brain for that crap right now.”

I looked at Cash, saw his eyes were on me, and tried to lower my gaze. But the intensity in those dark orbs trapped me, and I couldn’t look away. My breath hitched, and suddenly we were all alone backstage. I didn’t hear Santana and Kale leave as Cash moved toward me and took my hand that wasn’t holding tightly to my cup.

“You ready?” he asked in a hoarse voice.

My throat was so dry, I couldn’t speak, so I nodded. Entwining our fingers, he pushed through the crowds to the first vendor we came to. Grabbing us two bottles of water, he carried them both until we found a less congested area.

Taking one of the bottles of water, I gulped a third of the contents before observing, “This place is crazy.”