No Quarter (NOLA's Own #2) (44 page)

My phone just
would not
shut up!

Cranky, I dragged my ass out of bed and stomped my way over to my bag. Wrenching it up off the floor, I dug into the small front pocket and retrieved the offending object.

“What?” I snapped.

“Good fucking morning to you, too!” Lili snapped back. “Lounge in ten minutes, bitch.”

“I’m going to be back in bed in ten minutes!”

“The hell you are! Lounge! Ten minutes!”

Grumbling, I tossed the phone on the bed and headed to the bathroom. In seven minutes, I had peed, showered, dressed in my favorite baggy jeans and
Zoso
shirt, shoved my hair into a black loose-knit hat and my feet into my black Chucks.

Alys and Lili were at the bar, each with an alcoholic beverage before them.

“Hair of the dog?” I asked sarcastically as I plopped my ass in the empty stool next to Alys.
Fuck it
. I ordered a Bloody Mary for breakfast.

“What happened last night?” Alys asked.

Her voice was so concerned and sweet that I felt my nastiness melt.

“Which part?” I took a sip, and man, that was
the best
Bloody Mary I’d ever tasted.

“The part when Phil threw Devon into a wall,” snipped Lili, keeping her voice low so it wouldn’t carry.

Heaving a sigh, I said, “I didn’t know it was Devon when I started dancing with him. When I did, I tried to make my escape, but…” I told them as much as I could without spilling the beans on Phil.

“X told me what happened to Camryn,” Alys said softly, her eyes darting around, making sure no one could overhear. “And I filled Lili in on it.”

I nodded.

“I don’t believe it,” Lili stated.

Alys looked at her, incredulous. “You think Phil and X would lie about that?”

“No, but I think Camryn would. I asked around. Tara told me Camryn does makeup for Cornered Cannibal. Makes you wonder, right?”

“You think she beat
herself
up?” Alys asked heatedly.

“No, but Devon isn’t the only one in that band with a rep for liking it rough. Jürgen has been known to get real heavy-handed with some of the groupies. And she’s a makeup artist. She refused to go to the cops.”

Jürgen was the enormous Danish lead singer for Cornered Cannibal. He was about the same size as Phil, except with more muscle, and he wasn’t half as attractive.

I nodded, and Alys looked at me in surprise.

“There’s something off about that chick,” I explained. “If you were her, would you be showing up at places where you knew the man who had raped and beaten you was hanging out and having a good time? Let alone, still work for them. And why would he try so hard to see Phil, if he had raped and beaten the chick Phil was dating? It doesn’t make sense to me.” I wondered if Phil even knew she still did makeup for them.

“I didn’t think about it like that.”

“That’s because you believe the best in everyone,” said Lili. “You take everything at face value, Alys. I’m telling you, there’s something up with that chick.”

“Are you sure you guys just don’t want to believe the worst of one of our heroes?”

Devon might have issues and demons like any other human, perhaps more than others. But no, I don’t believe he did that. He
loves
Phil. I
saw
that. He wouldn’t do something like that to someone Phil cared about.

“In any case, it’s not for us to get involved,” I stated. “I know Phil wishes that I could feel about Devon as he does, but I don’t. I’m not scared of Devon. He wanted to talk to Phil, and he thought I could help him do so. That’s all.”

I looked at my two best friends, and truth be told, they looked rough around the edges.

“Shit, what happened after we left?” I asked, laughing.

“A lot of alcohol,” replied Alys, groaning. “I’m not sure if X is even alive. He smelled like he’d been pickled when I left him in bed.”

“What time is it?”

“Eleven forty-five,” replied Lili. “Lewis left with Phil this morning. Do you know where they went?”

“Phil told me it was an appointment of some kind, and that it was a surprise, so I guessed a tattoo.”

“Yeah, I can believe that. What do you think he’ll get? I bet it’s MacGregor in huge block letters across his gut.”

“Fuck, I hope not,” I grunted in reply. I sucked down some Bloody Mary.
“He’s fucking nuts, you guys.”

“Well, yeah. We kind of got that already,” Lili said dryly.

“So, I guess everything is good with the two of you?” asked Alys.

“Yeah. Why?”

She bit her lip, and her nostrils flared. “Well…because when X and I were getting into our room last night, we, uh…heard Phil.”

I felt my cheeks grow warm. “Heard him doing what?”

“Well, I’m guessing you were the one
doing
because he was screaming for you not to stop whatever it was you were doing to him.”

“Oh my gods above,” I said weakly.

“What were you doing to him?” Lili asked, completely intrigued.

Alys busted out laughing at the look on my face.

“Aw, man! You aren’t going to tell us, are you?” Lili whined.

I grinned and sipped my drink, and before Lili could harp on about it, her phone on the bar top buzzed.

“Hey, babe! We’re in the lounge, having a drink. Don’t judge me!” she snapped the last bit and flipped her phone shut.

Minutes later, Lewis and Phil strode in. Phil looked thunderous when he spotted me, and he held up my phone.

“Kenna, you nearly gave me a fuckin’ heart attack,” he hissed, shoving my phone into my hand.

I rolled my eyes, and he scowled.

“What did she do to you that made you scream for her not to stop last night?” piped Lili’s little voice.

Phil’s eyes shot to her, and he retorted, “She touched me in places I’ve never been touched before.”

I clapped a hand over my mouth and buried my face in his chest. His arms wrapped around me, and he kissed the back of my head.

“It was fuckin’ awesome,” he grunted. “What are you drinkin’?”

“Bloody Mary,” I said, muffled into his chest.

“Ooo, that sounds tasty.”

He ordered one for himself and sat down next to me.

I glanced over at Lili.

She mouthed,
Tell me where!

I mouthed back,
His asshole!

Her elfin face twisted up in shock and disgust, but then she looked as though she was considering this, and then she looked impressed. She nodded and turned to Lewis.

Phil sucked down a fourth of his drink, snagged the celery stick out of it, and chomped. “You wanna order room service and stay naked all day? Or do you wanna go out and see a bit of LA, and then come back, order room service, and get naked then?”

Next to me, Alys choked on her whiskey and water.

“Let’s go get food. Then, we can come back, and you can show me your new tattoo.”

He grinned. “Yeah.”

Phil took me to lunch at this little place not too far from the hotel where they served only organic, locally sourced produce on their menu. He had found out about it while getting his tattoo from the artist. We sat in a cozy corner and chowed down on soup and sandwiches, sharing the food.

He then took me into a few shops and bought me clothes and a few bits of hipster jewelry. He glared at me when I opened my mouth to protest him spending too much.

Old habits die hard.

He ended up buying a few things for himself, too, like a pair of badass black leather wrist cuffs.

Overall, it was a nice few normal hours, just a regular couple going shopping. No mobs of fans attacked us although we did get a few double-take looks from people, and I swore, I saw a few celebrities myself. By mid-afternoon, I was done with shopping, and we headed back to the hotel.

“So, are you going to show me the newest addition?” I asked.

He grinned. “Hells yes!” He unbuckled his belt.

“Wait!” I barked.

He looked at me in surprise. “What?”

“Please tell me you haven’t put my name on you again.”

“I haven’t.”

“And please, please, please tell me you haven’t tattooed your perfectly beautiful cock.”

“Pfft.” He grinned. “That would mean I wouldn’t be able to fuck you until it healed, and I ain’t stupid. I can’t go more than a couple of hours without being up your cunt.”

“Okay. Then, show me.”

He dropped his pants, and I spotted a bandage on his inner thigh, which he started peeling off.

When I saw it, I gasped. It was where I’d bit him last night! Horrifically bruised, it was oozing now, and I was a little confused. I hadn’t broken the skin. I had been careful not to. Until this very minute, I had actually forgotten about it.

“I had your bite mark tattooed. When it heals, all you’ll see is the imprint of your teeth.”

“For the love of all that’s holy,” I breathed.

He smiled, so proud of his new bit of ink. “It hurt like a son of a bitch, but it was totally worth it. I went to piss this mornin’ and saw it, and I wanted it forever.”

With my elbow propped up on my thigh, I rested my face in my hand, and I just gave him a resigned look.

“What?”

“You’re a madman.”

He grunted, kicking off his boots. “Oh, good. You got my love letter.”

“When was the last time you spoke to him?” asked Phil, twirling a strand of my hair around his fingers.

“Last night when he got home.”

“I meant, before that,” he huffed in exasperation.

“Um…two or three days after we got back from LA. Why?”

“I thought you guys were close, is all.”

“We are,” I replied, a little surprised and maybe a little defensive, too.

Connor was home for the Thanksgiving holiday. I hadn’t seen him since Grandma’s funeral. All four years, he had opted to take classes during the summer, so he could graduate ahead of schedule. He would be finished before the New Year, and as far as I knew, he was moving back home to New Orleans. He hadn’t said he hated Miami, but I knew he never wanted to live there permanently.

“The soul of this place is too corrupt,” he had told me once. “It doesn’t speak to me like New Orleans.”

I missed Connor
, really
missed him. Suddenly, I was aware of just how much we hadn’t been in touch recently. I found myself wondering why that was.
Even though I might have been a little absentminded, being wrapped in a world full of Phil, what was
his
excuse for not calling me?

“How come you guys don’t talk more often then?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Up until I hooked up with you, we’d speak several times a week. Now, it’s maybe once a month. I know he’s been really busy. I’ve asked him if he has a girlfriend, and he doesn’t, so I really have no clue what he’s been up to. I’m sure he’ll tell me later today.”

“He doesn’t know we’re together?”

What Phil meant was,
He doesn’t know you’re dating me?

“He knows I’m in a serious relationship. He wants to meet the man who finally caught my ass—his words, not mine.”

Phil grunted in response, trailing fingertips over my breastplate and down to my navel.

“I wanted you to be a surprise,” I explained, hoping Phil wouldn’t be hurt. “I want to see the look on his face when he sees you and X get out of the car. He does know your name though. Da told him I was dating a dude named Phil.”

“A
dude
named Phil?” he grumped.

“
Connor
!” I barked, doing a decent impression of my father’s accent. “Aur wee Kenna be shackin’ oop wi’ a duid named Phil!”

The dude snorted and busted out laughing.

I had told Connor last night that Alys and her boyfriend would also be coming.

“Alys is dating someone, too?” He sounded so strange, almost as if the thought of Alys dating someone had knocked the wind out of him.

“Yeah. She’s with my boyfriend’s best friend.”

“Is it serious?”

“Pretty serious. Why?”

“What? Can’t I be concerned that the two women I love the most in this world are dating dudes I don’t know? Fuck yeah, bring his ass, and if I don’t like him, I’ll fuckin’ kick him into next week.”

“Be nice, Connor. He’s a ginger, too.”

“Even better.”

I supposed it wasn’t strange for Connor to be overprotective. We were his sisters, and that was what brothers were for—beating up asshole boyfriends and making them treat us right. I’d give any girlfriend of his an ass-kicking if she’d hurt him in any way.