“I’m sorry, Hilly.” She leaned into Zade and he gave me a tight smile. I avoided Tanner altogether, choosing to watch Greta. She wore a full shirt this time, thank god. I was far too pissed to deal with her lack of clothing. The jeans, though—they left little to the imagination and thoughts of eating her all night pleased me. Callie interrupted my daydream by holding the phone at me. “You should take a look at them.”
I sighed and glanced down. Sure enough, the moment Jill had thrown her arms around me and when I walked away, she’d stolen pictures of me. If I had learned anything, it was that pictures told only part of the story and could be manipulated to fit someone’s agenda. Like these. Right now, the pictures clearly looked like I was cheating on Greta with our faces pressed together. Fake or not, it was not good news for my social media presence. “Shit.”
“Don’t respond to her. It’s not worth it. She’s grasping, Aaron. If you respond, it’ll get more attention than it deserves. Do you remember last year when girls would show me pictures of them with Zade?”
“Yes. I do have a fond memory of Catty Callie trending on Twitter.” I grinned, but stopped when Zade narrowed his eyes at me. “But you’re right. I hate it, though.”
“Focus on you. You’re doing a great job.” She’d attempted to make me feel better, and it had had mollified me a little. I shrugged it off, though. I wanted to watch my girl perform.
She killed it. Her throaty voice and the fedora she wore made her even more attractive to every guy in the bar. Hell, I already thought she was amazing and I wasn’t a fan of watching a bunch of guys drool over her. I needed to send another message to these asshats that she was taken. Real or fake, she was mine until January. I had no plans to share.
When she announced her short break, I went right up to her and dipped her real low before planting a wet kiss on her. She grinned, her teeth hitting my lips. “Ronnie. Hello there.”
“Gabs, you amaze me each time.” I smiled at her. The tension in my chest relaxed and I felt loads better. “A couple of guys were getting too aggressive with their staring. I had to show them who’s boss.”
“Damn it. I was hoping for a dick-measuring contest. I’m sure Clyde has a ruler and you could whip it out right on the table,” she teased and kept her arm around. “I’m for real. Whip it out.”
“Don’t be a Pita.” I pulled her close and found an empty corner. I knew what had been bothering me the last twenty minutes I’d watched her. “Look, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Is it about those pictures?” She rolled her eyes, putting a hand on my chest. “Please.”
“Wait, you saw them?”
“Yeah, of course I did. I’m addicted to social media. It’s a sickness.” She put her other hand on my hip so we faced each other. Her brown eyes filled with concern, narrowing as she took in my appearance. “Were you worried?”
“Yeah.” I wanted to kiss her again but held myself back. I deserved an award. “I thought you would’ve been upset. The pictures were taken out of context. She cornered me. I couldn’t push her away. It sucked.”
“Hey, I believe you.” She ran her fingers over my forehead and bit her lip. “Don’t frown so much. You’re going to get wrinkles there. You already have them.”
“Wait—you’re worried about my wrinkles and not the pictures that look like I’m publicly cheating on you?” I asked, flabbergasted.
“Ronnie, I trust you more than anyone. Except Callie, but she doesn’t count. Why would you break that when we’re doing this for you?” She shook her head with a laugh. “You might be ridiculous, but you aren’t stupid.”
“Well fuck.” I blinked a couple of times. “I never thought about it that way.”
She flicked my forehead. “Now, relax. Have a couple drinks. I’m going to mingle.”
I released her when she walked away and her words hit me.I trust you more than anyone.After my past, all the shit I had done, she still trusted me. That put an unknown emotion in my chest. It felt like confidence and something like contentment. It was a new feeling, and I barely had time to register it before my phone went off.
Why would my sister call at this hour?
“Kenzie? Are you okay?”
“Come home.” Her voice cracked. “Dad’s in the hospital.”
“What happened?” My throat turned to ice, the calm I’d felt seconds before nowhere to be found. A pain I was familiar with. Regret, hopelessness and despair replaced it. “Kenzie, tell me what the hell happened.”
She sniffed. “Due to the chemo, he’s easily susceptible to the flu. He got a bad flu a week ago and it kept getting worse. His fever is a hundred and three right now.”
“Shit. I’ll leave now.”
“Please.” Her strong façade broke and I heard her soft cries. “Please come home.”
Chapter Seventeen
Greta
I laughed at Callie— she did the perfect impression of Zade. He didn’t laugh but that was okay. “You have to come on stage with me for a song. Come on, Callie.”
