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Chapter Twenty-One

Khaos

“ S o, what did you think?” I grab Ash, pulling her into me when I notice her boss has left.

Her palms slam into my pecs, wedging a space between us. She distances herself, black paint coating her hands.

"What didn’t you understand about not telling my boss about us?” Her voice is shrill and her muscles tense.

“It’s a song, who says it’s about you?” I scoff, inching forward, the space she’s created meaning nothing to me.

“Khaos! My name is in the damn title!” She yells.

I shrug, “Whoops.”

“Also, if you’re going to divulge new information, divulge it to me and not a million people. That’s literally my job to provide insight on the band that I’m following!” She’s really worked up, her body humming in frustration.

I’m an addict when it comes to her anger. Her rage simmers off of her in little waves, tickling my skin. I can taste the frustration in her voice, and I want to lick it all away, swallow it whole. It’s subconscious, the way I provoke her, always ready to feed the fire in her soul.

“Slipped my mind. Won’t happen again.” I smirk.

“Why wouldn’t you tell me you’re from Chicago?” She huffs.

“Didn’t think it mattered. A million people are from Chicago. It’s a big city.” I brush her question off. “Now, can you please tell me what you thought of the song?”

Her fierce, blue eyes roil like a threatening storm as she sucks her bottom lip between her teeth. I can practically hear her thoughts warring inside of her mind right now, debating whether she wants to tell me the truth or to fuck off.

Crowding her into a corner of the green room, out of sight from everyone else, I trail my hands along her sides, fisting the fabric of her dress against her hips.

As I wait for her answer, I slip my mask off, tossing it to the couch next to us and bring my nose to the crook of her neck.

Slowly, I inhale, sucking in the scent of coconut shampoo and lilac flowers.

She shivers in my hold, my nose tickling her ever so slightly.

“I hated it.” She swallows.

“Liar. I don’t think you hated it at all.” I call her out, my lips finding the skin above her shoulder.

She tilts her head just enough to give me more access, my lips touching down in soft, little kisses. “I hated it as much as I hate you.”

I chuckle, “So not at all then?”

“More than you can imagine.” She corrects me.

I sink my teeth into her flesh, eliciting a silent scream from her, her head slamming back into the wall behind us. “Let’s get out of here.”

Tying my mask back on, I lead her out of the theater, her hand entwined with mine.

The back door flies open, and I’m instantly stunned, a bright flash blinding me followed by a few more.

I cover my eyes with the back of my hand, realizing we’ve been ambushed by paparazzi for the first time since touring.

Leave it to Chicago to fuck everything up.

Ash rips her hand from mine, covering her own face as we dart for our bus. The guys already waiting inside.

“What the fuck was that?” I wonder out loud.

“What? What’s going on?” Than asks, worried.

“Since when do you have paparazzi following you guys?” Ash questions for me.

“Never.” Hypnos answers.

Ash groans, flashing her eyes my way. “You do know how this is going to look now, right?”

I shrug, unsure, never having been in this situation before.

“Well, you guys just released a new song about a girl and now you’re caught holding hands with said girl...” Sam spells out.

“So what? There are going to be rumors now?” I laugh, not seeing the big deal. “I don’t even go on social media, what do I care?”

“Only, they’re not rumors.” Sam mutters.

“Hey, you know what? It’s not bad press. Maybe this is what we need. Spice up our lives. We’re popular now that we have the paps following us.” Than tries to console a green-looking Ash.

“He’s got a point.” Hailey shrugs.

Ash groans. “I’m screwed. I don’t want to be known as the journalist who’s sleeping with the band-”

“Just me.” I correct her.

She rolls her eyes, “This is just going to give other journalists amo to discredit me and boost their audience.”

“Let’s just wait to see what gets released.” Sam says.

“Agreed. Don’t worry about it right now. I’m sure it will all blow over in a few days and you can go back to being invisible.” I reassure her.

Famous last words... The next two months are brutal.

Ash was right, getting caught with her in public is all anyone seems to talk about.

Luckily, no one was able to capture a picture of her face.

Her hand blocking most of it, but it doesn’t stop the incessant gossip.

Who is the girl in the pictures? Has she seen our faces?

Are there any other songs written about her?

It’s a rollercoaster of praise and destruction, Ash at the center of it all.

On the bright side, she didn’t lose her job. Her boss wasn’t happy about the other media outlets eating this up like we served them with the fattest cake on the planet, but he seems to think she can recover from this.

She spent half the drive to New York conjuring up fake news about my mystery girl, using it to her advantage and now, we’re both lying in bed, the gloom of winter weighing us down.

We have just over a week of the tour left before the holidays and a long three weeks of separation looming ahead of us.

Her voice fades as her beauty entrances me. Like wolfsbane with vibrant, luscious petals so captivating to the eye, but deadly to the heart. The worst part is knowing how poisonous Ash is for me and I can’t seem to stop myself from drinking her in and letting her kill me.

She’s gushing about all the things she’s excited to see in the city, her words crawling in one ear to fall out the other.

All I can think about is how hard I've worked to tarnish something so pure, but even the dirtiest things we do together can't seem to ruin the halo hovering over her pretty blonde head.

“Khaos?” She waves her hand in front of my face .

“Sorry, I was distracted.”

“What’s going on inside that head of yours?” She smiles, rolling over on her side to face me.

I run my hand down the length of her body, resting on her hip.

“Just thinking about how much you’ve ruined me.” I admit.

“Hey-”

“And how much I love it.”

“Well, only two more months before I’m gone, then you won’t have to worry about it anymore.” She teases.

My head nods despite my lungs aching inside of me, air turning to rocks, every inhalation like an avalanche. I’ve barely accepted the fact that we’ll go our separate ways temporarily in just a week let alone permanently in two months.

“Who will quiet my nightmares?” I ask her, my fingers rubbing circles against the exposed skin of her hip.

“Hypnos is a great cuddle buddy, maybe he can help.”

With the air around us taking on a solemn vibe, I decide to change the subject. I’m losing Ash in just a couple months and if there’s any chance of keeping her, any at all, then I need to confide in her. I need to test the waters to see exactly how much she can accept of me, the real me.

“Can I tell you something? Off the record.”

“Of course.” Her smile is enough to shatter my heart.

My eyes find hers and that smile falters, her lips dropping into a grimace. She’s nervous, afraid of the words that will come next, and she should be. I release a heavy sigh knowing that everything is going to change now between us. There’s no way it can’t.

“Remember when you asked if we worshiped the devil?”