Misbehaving (Sea Breeze #6)(42)

Trisha reached over and squeezed my arm. “And you’re sure you don’t want to see if this thing with Jason deserves a chance?”

Jason wasn’t here to give anything another chance. He just happened to be in town with friends and saw me. He hadn’t come looking for me. “I’m sure,” I replied.

Trisha nodded. “Okay.”

She turned and walked back out the door. I thought about sneaking outside to be alone, but if Krit looked back and didn’t see me, he would leave the stage again. So I leaned up against the wall and waited.

Fifteen minutes later Krit announced a break and left the stage without talking to the girls hanging around for his attention. He came directly to me and grabbed my hand. “To the back. Now.”

I knew what this meant, but could I do it after seeing Jason again made me so raw? I started to follow him and stopped. “Wait,” I said.

Krit stopped and looked back at me. I could see the fear flash in his eyes, and I hated it. I couldn’t let him think this was because of Jason.

“I’m . . . vulnerable right now. My emotions are all over the place. I’m not in the right mind-set to go have a quickie.”

Krit let out a defeated sigh. “I can make you forget him. Just give me five seconds, love.”

“That’s not the problem. I just need more than a quickie.”

Krit walked back over to me and pulled me into his arms. His chest was damp from sweat. “Fuck, yeah. Okay. I get that.”

He didn’t get it, but he thought he did. I was just glad to get a reprieve.

“I’m gonna need a drink, then,” he said. “You good to go out there with me?”

I nodded. If I had him beside me, I could deal with it. Jason was probably gone by now anyway.

“The douche is still out there,” Krit said, opening the door and putting his arm around my shoulders as we walked into the crowd. I knew it was his form of showing ownership, and any other night I would have shoved it off. Tonight I needed the protection. My heart needed protection. Krit was supplying that.

We walked over to Rock’s table, and Dewayne was grinning at me as I approached. “If it ain’t the heartbreaker. Got all them boys lining up tonight, don’t you, Mess?”

Dewayne had been calling me Mess instead of Jess for as long as I could remember. He and Rock had been friends since elementary school, so there wasn’t a time in my life Dewayne wasn’t in it. That went for Marcus Hardy and Preston Drake, as well.

“Shut it,” I snapped at him, shooting him the bird as Krit pulled out a stool for me.

“Sit, love. I’ll go get you a whiskey,” Krit said before laying one of his claiming kisses on me. They weren’t meant for me. They were meant for everyone else in the club. When I had first agreed to him kissing me to keep other guys away while I nursed a broken heart, I hadn’t expected things between Krit and me to progress the way they had.

“Thanks,” I said when he pulled back, and he sauntered over to the bar. Krit had cornered the market on walking to draw attention. Girls stopped in midsentence to watch him. Something about his bad-boy charm and ego did it for the females. Then there was the fact that he could sing.

“We were wondering if Krit had chained you up backstage when he did that disappearing act in the middle of the song,” Dewayne said, leaning back with a taunting grin on his face.

“Leave it,” Rock warned him, but Dewayne just laughed.

“Amanda wanted to stay and check on you,” Trisha said, “but Preston was having a hard time keeping his hands off her. Their classes are keeping them apart this year, more so than before, and he’s not dealing with it well.”

“Dumbass needs to go ahead and marry her. They can move in together, and that will fix that shit,” Dewayne drawled.

“Oh, hell, Jess. Stone’s coming this way,” Rock muttered.

I knew looking was a bad idea, but I couldn’t help it. Surely he wasn’t stupid enough to walk over here. But then, he had no idea how badly I had been hurt. It had been a fling to him.

“It’s fine. He’s probably coming to say hello to everyone,” I said under my breath.

“Would have been smarter had he done that when you weren’t here,” Rock replied, shooting an annoyed glare Jason’s way.

“But it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun,” Dewayne added.

Trisha slapped his arm and scolded him.

“Krit’s gonna go apeshit,” Dewayne said in a singsong voice.

“Shut him up,” I whispered to Rock.

Jason approached the table, and I did my best not to stare at him. I smiled. “Hey again.”

He didn’t look as easygoing as before. “Hey.” He turned his attention to the others at the table. “Rock, Trisha, Dewayne, good to see you,” he said, then looked back at me. “I was hoping we could talk.”

“Bad idea. Her man won’t deal well with it. Just let it go and save me the hassle,” Rock answered for me.

Krit’s arm settled around my shoulders again, and he set my drink down in front of me. His gaze was locked on Jason, but he lowered his head to kiss the side of my face. “Company?” he asked in a bored drawl, even though he knew exactly who Jason was.

“Krit, Jason Stone. Jason, Krit,” I said, unable to look at either of them. I glanced to Rock for rescuing.