Make Me Stay (8 page)

“What a baby,” I said, as I closed the distance between us so I could punch his arm.

Rubbing his arm, he scrunched up his face in pain. “What the fuck, Kitty? I just said I bruise.”

“Found them!” my father yelled, walking back into the kitchen.

He had an album of photos under his arm. Setting it down on the work station, I started flipping through them, Kane by my side. He talked me through all that they had done to get my room ready for me. I caught myself leaning in closer to him, taking in his unique smell. His voice drifted to my ear as he talked, almost lulling me to a state of clam, peacefulness. As long as I kept things to myself and kept up a hard exterior, I thought, I was going to make it through the summer.

Turning the page to the next set of pictures, I did a double take. It was not pictures of my transformed bedroom; it was pictures from my childhood. The first was just me, maybe three years old, my blonde crazy curls in pigtails. I was sitting on top of a slide, ready to go down. The next was me on a swing. There was one of my father and me outside of the only home I ever knew. The last picture on the page was my mother.

I stared at it. I hadn’t looked at a picture of her since I had moved away, four years ago. My way of coping was to pretend she never existed. If she wasn’t in my memory, then it didn’t hurt. So I took on the painful task of un-remembering every moment with her. I was mad at her.
I’m still mad at her
.

CHAPTER 14

Kane

I expected to run into Caroline. I had planned on keeping my distance. I did not expect to find her in her PJs in the back kitchen. I came around the corner to see her sitting on a stool, talking to her father. She had her mane of curls down, falling on her back, almost touching the bottom of her shirt. Her flannel pants were low on her waist. The dimples that were just above her ass were in full sight. Her tank top was tight and, even though I was standing behind her, I could tell it was above her navel.

I nearly dropped to my knees when she stood up from the stool, and I got my first full on glimpse of her. Her tank top was thin and, as she stood up, her breasts bounced just enough
. Fuck, I’m hard.
Her nipples showed through the sheer shirt and I nearly fainted. I had to cross my arms to keep my hands from reaching to feel how hard and strained they were against the fabric.

I was good. I kept my distance--arm’s length, like I had told myself--but as we spoke and resolved how we were going to coexist, she took that step and punched me! I guess if I wasn’t going to be able to have her, I was going to have to settle for what I could. I agreed with her, that staying mad at one another was going to put stress on B. He was eventually going to figure it out, that we had issues, and that was the last thing I wanted to do, stress him out.

I wasn’t going to stop being who I was, and she was going to have to keep her opinions to herself. If she wasn’t going to give it to me, then I was going somewhere else. I had one hell of a libido, and I made sure to keep it happy.

In the middle of explaining how we transformed the whole second floor, she practically froze. Instead of a picture of Aiden messing with some wires, which was what I expected to be next, it was pictures from her childhood, her past. B never spoke about his past, only of Caroline. No one ever asked him about the mother or why he left. B could be very standoffish when he wanted to. He was a tall man with wide shoulders. Since he had moved here he had lost a considerable amount of excess fat and started lifting weights. For someone who was knocking on fifty, he was in great shape, and the ladies loved him as much as us, although he attracted a more mature audience.

“Dad, I’m going to go shower and get ready for my training. Kara said she’d meet me at the bar at two, so I’m going to head upstairs.”

B simply nodded. A sad look washed across his face, the same time as it did on Caroline’s. Clearly something was up, and I had a feeling it had to do with her mother.

“Kane,” Kitty said, turning to look up at me. “Thank you for making my room as amazing as you did. Don’t let your head get too big, or I’m never saying anything nice about you again.”

“I’ll try to keep it contained,” I replied, leaning back against the table, crossing my arms again so I didn’t reach out for her taut nipples.

“I guess I’ll see you the next time you play here.”

“Oh, you mean in two hours when we practice.” I paused for a moment and let that sink in.

“You practice here every day, don’t you?” she asked, smiling back.

“Get used to it, Kitty, I practically live here. See you in a few hours,” I said smugly, before she sighed and walked out the door. “What was that about B?” I asked once she’d walked out of the room.

“Nothing, she’s just--she hasn’t dealt with it yet,” he said, closing the photo album.

“Hasn’t dealt with what?” I asked, digging a little deeper than I ever had with him.

“It’s nothing, Kane, just let her be. She might put on a good front, but she’s got some serious things to deal with and, until she does, she’s never going to be truly happy.”

I stared across at him, not wanting to intrude anymore, so I dropped it. I sat on the edge of the stage, my baby on my lap. I started strumming the tune I had started last night on the porch. It was a new song, slow and serious. I didn’t have words to it, but the melody flowed enticingly around me, and I couldn’t seem to stop playing it over and over again. While I played, I couldn’t get the image of Caroline out of my head, not the one of her breasts, or the dimples above her ass. It was the image of her looking up at me, before she kneed me in the balls. She could deny it all she wanted, but that look was real. No one had ever looked at me that way before, like she could see all of me.

I had my own reasons for staying single and most of them were selfish and egotistical. To put it plainly, I wanted the freedom to love ’em and leave ’em, to come and go as I pleased. You can't do that with a stage five clinger, trust me, I’ve tried. Kitty though--I had a feeling, the reason she had a stone wall up had more to do with her mother, than not being attracted to me.

The guys arrived right when Kara was starting to train Caroline. Since we had the day off, we took advantage and put in a good long practice. We worked on a horde of new songs, but I kept that one to myself. I wasn’t ready to share it, just like I wasn’t willing to share her. Not like I had a choice in the matter, but I’d do my damnedest to keep her from anyone else, at least until I got her out of my system.

Three hours in, Kara had us pretending to be customers. We each sat at a different table, placing orders and giving our little Kitty one hell of a time. If she could get through serving us, she’d have no problem in the future.

Reece shrugged. “I said, I wanted this medium, it’s too over done.”

“I don’t care anymore, Reece! I’m not taking it back again! Just eat your fucking food and shut up,” she yelled back down at him, smacking his red mohawked head for added humph.

I was almost crying, because I was laughing so hard.

“Caroline, you can’t do that. What if he was a real customer?” Kara called from behind the bar, trying to hold in her own chuckles.

“Well, he’s not. He’s a pain in my ass,” she yelled back, turning to Kara and slamming her hands down on her hips.

“You’re damn right, I’m a pain in the ass,” Reece said as he tried to swat at hers.

With sonic speed, she turned around and took his food from him.

“You’re not eating now. I’m kicking you out. Leave,” she said, walking away from his table and toward mine.

She was headed in my direction and I tried really hard to control myself. If she caught me still laughing, I had a feeling it was going to end in a new black and blue bruise.

“What are you laughing at?” she asked, glairing down at me. “Nothing. Can I get another beer? Mine’s gone,” I said, holding up my empty beer bottle.

“No! We’re out of beer, and I’m done playing around. I get it. Bring on the real customers that actually have some manners,” she said, snatching the empty beer bottle from my hand.

I watched along with the rest of the guys as her fine ass walked away and into the kitchen.

“Kane, what the hell? I need her to practice,” Kara called from behind the bar.

“It wasn’t me. I just asked for another beer. Reece is the one who pissed her off,” I pleaded in my own defense.

“You’re the ring leader, so you automatically get blamed,” Kara said, before leaving the bar to go after Caroline.

CHAPTER 15

Caroline

My first night was a piece of cake. The guys had stayed, but since they weren’t slated to play, the bar was not at all like it was the previous night. I found my way around and things were going perfect. The guys were giving me a hard time, but I eventually got a little revenge.

A group of women walked in, clearly having a girl’s night. They sat down and I proceeded to get their drink order and appetizers. I couldn’t help but notice that every time I walked by, they would be whispering and giggling about the guys. I stood back, leaning against the bar, watching the woman openly observe ONS as they sat around a table drinking and having a good time.

I kept looking from one table to the other, when Kane caught me. Leaning back on his chair, so he was away from the table, he beckoned me with a finger and a devilish grin. I shook my head and mouthed the word “No.” His face fell, his mouth twisted, and he really looked like he was going to cry. His usual grin turned upside down, his eyes got all big and round.
He’s ridiculous
.

I stood from the bar and made my way over to their table. Stopping in front of him, I sat back on my hip and crossed my arms. “What do you want?” I asked, looking down at him.

“Kitty, the guys and I wanted to ask you something.”

Rolling my eyes, I switched hips to show my frustration. “What pray-tell do you want to ask me? And I swear to god, Kane, if you ask me to have an orgy with you all, I’m going to punch you in the face.” I held my fist up for added flare.

“Calm down, calm down. We weren’t going to ask you that, although...”

“Kane,” I seethed, taking a step closer to him and pulling my fist up.

“Whoa, calm down, Kitty,” he said, holding his hands up.

“What’s you type Kitty, what makes you purr?” Reece asked from the other side of me.

Whipping my head toward him, I felt my jaw drop. “You’ll never know, Reece, because it sure as hell isn’t you!”

The door to the bar opened just then and we all turned to see a man walk in. My eyes stayed on the person a little longer than the guys’ did. It was Nate from the other night. He stood by the door while Emily, another girl who worked at the bar, grabbed him a menu and took him to a seat in my section.

The wicked smile speared across my face as I watched him pull the chair out and sit down. Catching my eye, he held his hand up and gave a little smile and wave. He was in casual clothes, jeans and a T-shirt with a leather jacket. His hair was slightly messy but still off his face. He was every bit my type, my go to when I was living in New York.

Rotating back to the table of playboy rock stars, I smiled down at them. They were oblivious, except Kane. He was attentively watching me watch Nate.

“That right there boys, is my type--a man.” Shrugging my shoulders, I cheerfully smiled at them. “Anything else?”

“Nate Rodgers, is your type?” Kane asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, but don’t worry, one day when you grow up, you all might become men too. Reece, you might become a woman, if you keep wearing those tight-ass pants.”

“That’s harsh, Kitty. Do we have to cut your claws?” Reece asked.

“Yeah, come on, Kitty, you don’t have to be mean to us all. I haven’t even made a play for you,” Aiden added.

“I only speak the truth boys.” I went to walk away but Kane reached for my hand, pulling me back to the table.

“Don’t lie,” he breathed, standing from his chair and getting in my face. “That’s not really you’re type. You keep that wall up if you want, but I know you felt something last night and Nate Rodgers didn’t have a damn thing to do with that.”

I thought that we had squashed this, this morning.
“Kane, we talked about this. Last night was--”

“It was real,” he said, before I could finish.

“No, it wasn’t. I have to go,” I said, trying to back away.

“Caroline, take the wall down,” was all he said before letting me turn to leave.

I glanced back once I got to the bar. But Kane wasn’t looking. He was laughing and smiling with his friends.

Why did he have to do that?
It was bad enough I had to pretend I was in a straightjacket so I didn’t reach out and grab a hand full of that hair of his, or caress his tatted-up, cut arms. What I did feel, for a moment last night with him, was enough for me to scare myself straight. Nate was my type because, he was simple, average, easy to let go. If I kept up what I was doing last night with Kane, it would have gotten difficult, because he’s not average and I didn’t trust myself not to let go. So the best thing to do was exactly what I did. Put that wall up and keep him at bay.

I walked over to the table of women. “I couldn’t help but over hear you girls,” I said, kneeling down by the table.

The five women turned their heads my way. They weren’t the prettiest bunch, but they seemed nice. I smiled wickedly at the guys, as they watched me talk to the women. Their faces scrunched in confusion before I turned back.

“The guys over, they were wondering if you would join them? They’ve had their eyes on you girls all night.”

All five women stared at me, a look of disbelief on their faces.

“How do you know that?” the girl with the round face and glasses asked.

“I’m friends with them. I was just talking to them, and they’d really like to meet you ladies,” I said, smiling.

The women looked at one another before standing from the table. They grabbed their drinks and followed me over.

The guys were all talking and didn’t notice the horde of women coming their way. I stood in front of Kane and tapped his shoulder. Rotating around in his chair, he looked up at me then behind me to the five women, who these guys would never give the time of day to.