Down to My Soul (Soul Series Book 2)(47)

“I know you don’t want us public right now, but Luke’s not public.” I brush my thumb over her lips. “We can trust him not to tell anyone.”

“Yeah, I know how close you guys are.” She closes her eyes briefly before opening them again, finding mine in the half light, reluctance all over her face. “He, um, well, he saw something earlier today that he may have misunderstood. I need to tell you about it.”

“What happened?” My hand falls away from her face.

“So he, uh, saw Dub kissing me backstage.” She grips my biceps right away, probably because she already knows I’ll find Dub and kick his ass all the way back to Ireland’s fields of green. “I didn’t kiss him back.”

Volcanic heat scalds my face and neck, lava red hazing my eyes. She’s still talking, but I couldn’t tell you what the hell she’s saying. I haven’t heard a word since she said Dub kissed her.

“What the f*ck, Pep?” I toss the sheet back and turn away from her, planting my feet on the floor, squeezing the edge of the mattress. Holding on to my control. My fingers rake through my hair as I struggle to check the rage pumping hot through my veins.

“I didn’t kiss him back.”

I glance back to see her sitting up against the headboard, eyes wide and lips still swollen from our kisses, from being wrapped around my cock.

“He kissed you? You let him?”

“No, as soon as he grabbed me—”

“Grabbed you?” I stand and face the bed, searching her arms for bruises I might have overlooked. “Did he hurt you?”

“No, not like that.” She tips her head back to study the ceiling like it might help her get me to understand before she looks at me again. “It happened so fast. One minute he was asking me to dinner and the next—”

“Asking you to dinner?”

Like on a date?

“He asked if I wanted to go out, which wasn’t a big deal. Then he said he knew I was still getting over you, but he thought we’d be good together if I would give him a chance.”

“What kind of chance?”

“You know what kind of chance, Rhys.” She pulls the sheet taut over her legs before looking at me. “He hasn’t said anything like that while we’ve been on tour, and he’s never tried anything before. Nothing’s been going on. He pulled me in for a kiss and I jerked back immediately, but Luke saw.”

I snatch my jeans from the floor, zipping and snapping them, long, swift steps taking me toward the bathroom.

“You’re not hearing me,” Kai says from the bed behind me. “Nothing really happened. I just didn’t want Luke to think something did and tell you and . . . you know.”

I look back to see her standing on her knees in the middle of the bed, sheet wrapped haphazardly, barely covering her breasts, dark hair spilling around her shoulders. She looks so damn delicious I want to bury my head between her legs and eat that sweet * ‘til the sun comes up. I still taste her, and the thought of Dub ever . . .

“Fuck!” Anger sets the expletive off in my mouth, and I walk into the bathroom. “I need a minute.”

“Rhys, just listen—”

“When you need space, I give it to you.” At the bathroom entrance I face her, arms overhead, gripping the doorframe. “So give me a damn minute.”

I close the door with more force than I intend, sitting on the edge of the tub, the insulated quiet of the luxurious bathroom denting my fury. There’s nothing to this. I’m sure that’s what she’s trying to tell me, but I can’t hear it right now. Dub kissed her? He grabbed her? He asked her out on a date? A tiny voice in the recesses of my mind warns me not to trust her, tells me there’s got to be more to this. That where there’s smoke, there’s gotta be fire. That voice can shut the hell up. What do I give a damn about smoke? Kai’s all I want, and I’m fooling myself if I think as soon as I’m on the other side of that door I’ll be able to resist her.

It’s not even the kiss. The actual kiss. I can’t help but remember those images of the two of them on Instagram having fun on this tour. Just because she loves me, doesn’t mean she doesn’t like him. They have a lot in common. I’ve seen them dance together, and their chemistry is undeniable. They’re friends. I shouldn’t begrudge her that connection.

But I do.

He likes her. He wants her, and for him to have taken a kiss . . . Every kiss is mine. That’s an intimacy he doesn’t get. Ever.

Damn thief.

The door cracks open, and Kai sticks her bed-rumpled head in, an unspoken plea loud in her eyes.

“Your minute’s up,” she whispers. “Can I come in?”

When are you ever out?

I nod, studying the cold tiles under my bare feet. She steps in wearing the wife beater I had under my sweatshirt, so big on her the collar slides off her shoulder, barely covering her breasts, and the hem hangs to mid-thigh. The sight of her in something that still smells like me, may even still hold the heat from my skin, softens the hard knot of rage in my chest.

She sits on the floor, back to the wall, knees pulled up to her chest, hands wrapped around her ankles

“You know I wouldn’t kiss Dub, right?” she asks softly. “And you can only blame him for so much because I didn’t tell him we’re together. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”