Heartbreaker (Unbreakable #1)(40)

“Yeah. My music. Thief.” I stood from the bed and pulled a CD from the lineup while scanning for more.

“My music,” she corrected. “Possession rules. And there’s a time limit on claiming your stuff.”

“Whatever you tell yourself to keep your loot and sleep at night.”

As I collected CDs, her head pressed into view under me. She folded her arms onto the desk, rested her chin on them, then glanced up at me. “What are you doing, anyway? Isn’t your DJ music at Loading Zone? I thought this was your personal stash.”

“Aha! So you admit it’s mine.”

“Ours.” She pulled the top CD from my hand, then flipped it over. “What. Are. You. Doooing?”

“Grabbing some music for Kiki.”

“A playlist?”

“No. Not a ‘playlist.’ It’s not a sappy romance thing.”

“Doesn’t have to be sappy or romance. And you’re doing it all wrong.”

I dropped her a deadpan look. “I’m doing it wrong.” The statement bordered on ridiculous.

“Yep. Put those back. We’ll burn a playlist.” When I hesitated, wondering how we’d do that without the source, she grabbed them from me and carefully filed them back in their open slots.

She sat in her chair and powered up her computer. “I’ve got all your songs in a database. Which ones do you want?”

Amazed at how she’d perked right up at the thought of helping me, I sat back on the edge of the bed behind her. “‘The Stroke’ by Billy Squier, ‘I Wish It Would Rain Down’ by Phil Collins, and ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ by Def Leppard.”

At the last, she glanced back, face contorted into an odd mix of revulsion and confusion. “You’re kidding.”

I arched my brows. “You helping or mocking?”

Her expression softened into mild amusement as she raised her hands in mock surrender. “Helping.”

“Then load songs, no questions.”

Halfway through the next ten minutes, as I gave her additional songs, Logan figured out what they had in common. She nixed one of my choices and added two others. Then she popped in a blank disk and began burning the playlist. “You sure she has a CD player?”

“No.” I hadn’t thought of that. I’m a DJ for f*ck’s sake. But apparently, my brain fuzzed when it came to all things Kiki.

“Give me your phone.” She held out her hand.

Before giving it to her, I glanced at the screen to see if Kiki had sent anything. Nope. Of course not.

Lo grabbed it impatiently, and I was left staring at my hand. Then she pulled out a cord from her top desk drawer and plugged my phone into her computer. “Just in case.”

“Thanks,” I said, amazed at how quick she was to figure out the playlist theme. Then I took a second look at the way she’d organized my music CD’s before my attention landed on her bass guitar leaning against the wall. “You’re really getting into music.”

“Yeah.” She handed my phone back to me. “You love it so much.”

“And?”

She’d been jamming with the band the past couple of months after I bought her the guitar for Christmas. She’d gotten a few private lessons from Nick. But every other time I’d asked about it, she’d been tight-lipped and shrugged.

But tonight, something had changed. Like enough time had passed, and we’d finally broken through the cloud of loss that had hung thick between us.

Her gaze grew unfocused for a second in thought. Then she smiled wide—the biggest smile I’d seen on her in way too long. “I love it too.” Her tone had lowered, reverent.

“Awesome.” Pride filled my chest. “Anytime you want help with it, let me know.”

“Thanks. But I want to do this on my own.”

I gave her an understanding nod. “Hey, you sure you’re gonna be okay alone tonight?” My thoughts flew to the despondent girl I’d seen on the bed not twenty minutes ago. No way in hell would I leave her on a high note only to have her spiral back down.

“Yeah, I’m good. Trevor’s coming over.”

“Trevor?”

“It’s cool. He’s been here before.”

“He has?” I ground out, unable to stop the shift in my tone.

“Relax. He’s helping me with the tighter riffs I’m trying to play.”

“Music. He’s coming over for music. Only.”

“Yes.”

“No…sappy romantic playlists…”

“No.” She gave me a stern look. “And no condoms either.”

I let out a relieved sigh. “Good.” I walked halfway out, then grabbed the doorframe, and glanced back. “No need for condoms with…Trevor? Or no need for condoms…ever?”

She burst out laughing as I struggled with the concept. “I will be having sex, D. Not yet, but sometime soon. And there will be condoms.”

“Okay. Good. I think…”

She threw a small green pillow at me when I hovered in uncertainty for too long. “Go! I promise not to do anything but music tonight.”



By the time I made it over to Kiki’s, I had it all worked out in my head. I’d already barged in and broken through with one of the silent women in my life; how hard could it be to do it again?