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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

SAINT

“ T his place is awesome !” I squealed, standing up to wiggle my ass in time to the gorgeous Rihanna singing how she found love in a hopeless place. I shoved another five-dollar bill in Heather’s G-string, then, circling one arm in the air, lasso-style, I yelled, “Twerk that ass!”

My new friend, who was dancing on the table in front of me, shimmied her hips in my face and gushed, “I can’t believe I’m dancing for Saint McClure. I’m such a huge fan.”

“Woo hoo!” Talia bellowed from a few feet away at the bar. “Shake it, girl.”

I looked up to see my other new friend, Kennedy, strutting across the bar top before doing a sexy hair flip, and I gave another loud whoop when my new BFF, Sunshine, danced behind her and did a high kick before shimmying her shoulders.

“Do you want another drink, hon?” I called up toward Heather.

“Yeah, thanks, babe,” she said gratefully. “Dancing’s thirsty work. ”

I danced over to the bar where Talia was in conversation with some guy who had just approached her.

“Hey, beautiful, I’m Rockabye,” I caught him croon. “Can I get you a drink?”

She looked him up and down with interest, then sighed disappointedly. “No. I better not. Drinking’s bad for my legs.”

He looked at her, his forehead furrowing. “Why? Are you allergic? Do they swell up or something?”

“No,” she replied ruefully. “They spread.”

Kennedy, who at that moment was strutting past Tally atop the bar, stared down at her for a split second, then let out a loud cackle.

I busted out a laugh.

“Jesus,” Rockabye muttered, his face heating. “Bitches are crazy.”

Kennedy roared so hard she almost fell off the bar.

My other new friend, Sophie, wandered over with my other new friend, Tristan, who I’d been told was a hair genius. He’d already announced that he couldn’t wait to get his hands on mine and Talia’s hair.

“What’s so funny?” Sophie asked.

Kennedy wiped a tear away, doubling over at the waist, and shrieked, “They spread!” She laughed so hard that she swayed precariously.

“Whoaaa!” I exclaimed, jerking my hands up to help cushion her blow in case she fell.

As I moved, I saw two more hands appear beside mine, except they weren’t small and soft.

No, these hands were big and tanned, and the perfectly muscled arms they were attached to had sexy veins meandering under the skin.

Plus, one of the fingers proudly displayed a black-and-silver wedding ring.

My neck twisted left, and my eyes met golden ones that danced with humor. “I’ve got this, babe,” the beautiful man who was Kennedy’s husband rumbled from deep within his chest. “Come on, Kitten, before you fall.”

I sighed like a schoolgirl with a crush (though to be fair, there was no like about it—I definitely had a crush), and then I sighed again as I watched the beautiful man reach up to tag his woman’s waist and pull her down from the bar before tucking her safely into his arms, bridal-style.

Kitten?

Gawd!

My poet’s soul squealed in delight.

I loved these men.

And I loved this place.

It was fucking awesome .

The booze flowed.

And the club girls were so nice !

My gaze met Gopher’s (my other new friend, who’d been making us these amazing cocktails, which he’d named Ol’ Lady’s Ruin). Apparently, Ciara, the bar manager, was away visiting family, but I was sure when she returned, we’d be great friends too because everyone here was just so dang nice !

Jacob needed to get to it and look for a house or land for us because I could see myself spending a lot of time in Virginia. LA had been getting old for a while, especially with the whole stalker thing.

I loved New York, and we always recorded there, so I planned on talking to the band to see how they felt about relocating our base there from LA.

I knew Jonny loved NYC, and Boomer wouldn’t care either way.

It was Sam who’d be affected the most, as he lived at his dad’s compound in Montecito .

Anyhoo , either way it would be fine. We were only a five-hour flight away, and Jacob had a fucking private jet anyway, so. .. Go me !

I pointed at Gopher and cried out, “ Ruin me, biker boy. In fact, Ruin me times two because Heather wants to be Ruined too. ”

A slow grin spread across his handsome, all-American-boy face, and he jerked a nod. “Two Ol’ Lady’s Ruins comin’ right up.”

“Awesome!” I exclaimed just as a deep voice sounded from beside me.

“Hey, babe.”

I twisted my neck right that time to see a young guy of about eighteen eyeing me up. “Hi!” I cried, sticking out my hand. “I’m Saint.”

His surprisingly full lips curved, and I knew this kid was going to break some hearts in his time—he probably already had.

“Know who you are,” he rumbled from his chest just like Kennedy’s man had moments before. He took my hand and squeezed, jerking his chin toward Breaker and Kennedy, who by then were smooching and dancing along to the music. “Thanks for helping my mom out there. She gets a bit carried away.”

My eyes widened. “You’re Kennedy’s son.”

He puffed his surprisingly large chest out. “Kai Stone.”

My eyebrows snapped together. “Wait. You’re Kady’s twin? But she’s only fifteen.”

He puffed his chest out a little further. “I look older than my age. Everyone says I’m mature.”

“You are,” I agreed. “I thought you were about eighteen.”

His eyes lit up. “Really?”

I smiled and nodded. “At least.”

He stared at me with his lips parted slightly and his golden eyes soft.

My eyes flicked over his pink, flushed face. “Are you okay, Kai? Are you coming down with something?”

“No,” he squeaked, then cleared his throat. “No,” he said, voice deepening. “I’m cool. ”

I shot him one of my dazzling smiles and watched curiously as his eyes glazed over again. “Anyways,”—I jerked my thumb toward Tristan, Anna, and Sophie, who were squealing as the song morphed into an old Usher tune—“I’m gonna go dance with my new friends. Catch you later?”

He shook his head as if he was coming out of a daze and rumbled, “Yeah, babe. Catch ya later.” Then, with his cheeks pinking even more, he turned and sauntered away.

My gaze followed, and my eyes widened in surprise as they caught on my new friend, Sunshine. Her gaze was also following Kai, except hers seemed dark with displeasure as she stood with a hip popped and her hand jammed to it, scowling at his back.

I was about to walk over and ask her if she was okay when a sweet voice announced, “Sunny’s in love with Kai.”

I jumped a mile high before turning to see Kady standing there.

My hand went to my throat. “Jesus. You scared the life out of me.”

She smiled apologetically. “Sorry, I was just saying, Sunshine’s in love with Kai.”

“Awww. That’s so sweet,” I gushed.

“Not really,” Kady announced. “He loves her, but he won’t be her boyfriend because she’s family. He says he loves her like a cousin.”

I winced, my eyes sliding back to Sunshine, who looked fit to be tied. “Well, it’s legal, I guess.”

Kady laughed. “Doesn’t matter. Kai won’t; plus, he’s got all his honeys to juggle.

He has different girlfriends who made the cut to be one of his honey squad.

Sunshine won’t put up with that because she says she’s a strong, independent woman, and she doesn’t need no man bossing her and giving her lip.

” Kady leaned in. “The boys at school all ask her out, but Uncle Bowie says she’s not allowed to date until she’s fifteen, and even then, no car dates, so she keeps them dangling on her string to make Kai jealous. ”

I resisted the urge to laugh and instead sucked back a mouthful of the cocktail Gopher had just placed on the bar for me while I took in Sunshine’s extremely pretty face and her arresting huge, grey eyes.

“Tell her not to worry. When she gets older, she can date all she wants, and believe me, by then Kai will be older too, and he may appreciate a strong, independent woman.”

Kady nodded sagely. “That’s what I said. Let Kai play the field and have his honeys. He’ll leave eventually anyway to enlist in the Army like our dad did. If she waits for him to grow up, she can grow up at the same time, and when they come back together, they may both be ready.”

“That’s very good advice,” I told her softly.

She smiled. “I’m good at giving advice.”

I took in her face, which was equally as pretty as Sunshine’s. “What about you? Have you got a boyfriend?”

She shook her head. “I don’t care about boys. I only care about my music.” Her eyes settled on mine, and she asked, “Have you met Taylor Swift?”

“Yeah, at an awards show,” I confirmed. “I wouldn’t call her a friend, and I’m not in her squad, but we say hi when we see each other. She told me she loved “Empty”.”

Kady’s eyes widened. “I can’t wait to pursue my music.”

“What do you play?” I asked.

“Piano and guitar, and I sing, too. Mom and Dad get me private lessons, but they said I’m not allowed to go to LA to pursue my dreams until I finish college.”

“So kill two birds with one stone,” I suggested. “Go to a performing arts college in LA. That way, you can go to auditions and even try your hand at session work to get some experience. I could hook you up with some people.”

She let out a loud squeal and her hands flew to her mouth, and she breathed, “Really?”

I nodded. “This isn’t a nepotism thing, though. I can hook you up, but you have to impress the execs and producers enough to get the gig. I can’t control that. And I agree with your parents that you have to stay in college while you do it.”

“Noah said the same,” Kady explained. “He’s the lead singer of Dischordium. It was Noah and Hendrix who played guitar with me growing up and taught me all the cool stuff.”

“That bodes well,” I assured her. “Noah’s a great guitarist.”

She beamed. “Yeah, and so’s Hendrix.” Her voice dropped. “I think Drix was hoping he could jam with you and the boys, but he’s too embarrassed to ask because he said you probably get hassled all the time, and he doesn’t wanna be a fanboy ‘cause the brothers will rip him a new one.”