Play Fair (The Devil's Share Book 3)(35)

Smith held his hands up. “No way, Dylan hates secrets, man. If she found out I knew and never said anything? She’d shoot me. For real.”

“Look, all you know for sure is that you saw us kiss and that I like her. I’m sure Dylan has already figured that out by now. And one kiss isn’t that big of a deal.” Even if it was the best kiss of my entire life. I scrubbed my hands down my face. “I feel like a chick. I’m the one who started calling her every night, I’m the one who begged her to come here. I’m the one who basically put my heart on the line last night. I don’t know what the f*ck happened. It’s like one minute my life was all groupies and drugs and then the next I’ve got a girl and a kid.”

“Do you actually want Bryan? Or are you just getting caught up in all this because of Landry? Because if you’re just looking for a mother for your daughter, that’s not fair. To any of you.” Dash stood, stretching his back.

“I think I fell for Bryan back in New Orleans. I don’t know what it is about that girl, I can’t get enough.” I rose and stepped around the drums. “We spent weeks talking and texting, and then when Landry showed up, all I could think about was how I needed Bryan here with me for this.” I threw my arms out. “To be honest, she’s the best friend I’ve ever had. She makes me laugh; she makes me happy; she gets me. You know? And she makes me feel so…capable. It all happened so damn fast! My life is unrecognizable.”

Smith stood and clapped me on the back. “Welcome to the club, bro.”

I collapsed on the couch, my head in my hands. “I have a daughter.” I looked up, near hysterics. “I have a kid, and she’s had a horrible shitty life. Because of me. Because I can’t be bothered to learn chicks’ names, or to make sure they are okay after I leave. I use them, and then I throw them away.”

Smith wore a understanding smile, “Jacks, bud, you—”

“I don’t deserve Bryan’s love, and I sure as hell don’t deserve Landry’s.” I nodded slowly. “But I want to.” Dash threw his arm around me and pulled me in for a hug.





Chapter Sixteen


Bryan


“Well, all the testosterone sure as hell isn’t down here.” The guys broke apart at the sound of Lexi’s voice. Dash walked to the base of the stairs, his hand out to help his pregnant girlfriend down. I followed, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off Jacks. What was it about him down here in the studio? Seeing him in his element always turned me on. Was the lust just the buildup from not being together yet? Or would it always be this way between us? I hoped it would, I prayed that it would. I never wanted to tire of this man.

He smiled when he saw me, looking over my shoulder. “Where’s Dylan?”

Lexi snorted. “The coast is clear, you horny bastard. Dylan is teaching Landry how to play chess.”

He sat down on the leather couch and pulled me down onto his lap. When I stiffened at his touch he whispered in my ear, “It’s okay, B. They know.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Really? I thought we were just keeping things between us for a few days.”

Sheepish. I finally understood that facial description, but he wore it well. “They knew how I felt about you, baby doll.”

I couldn’t help but giggle. “And how do you feel about me? Come on, let me hear some poetry.”

He tugged on my hair, pulling my mouth to his for a brief kiss. “Oh, I’ll give you poetry, doll.”

“Oh yeah?”

He smirked. “How do I want to nail thee, let me count the ways.”

Smith shook his head. “Actually, while you guys are down here do you want to hear what we’ve been working on? I let Dylan hear it last night.”

Lexi clapped her hands together and attempted to jump up and down. She made it halfway up and then frowned at her belly and sat in a chair. “Yeah! Let us hear it.”

Smith picked up his bass, Luke twirled the sticks in his fingers and sat at his drums, Dash palmed a mic, and Jacks grabbed his guitar. All of them with instruments in hand looked so at ease, so natural. It was obvious that they were all born to do this. I’d heard all of The Devil’s Share songs…I liked them before I met them, but after Jacks and I became friends I went back and listened to everything they ever put out. They were the bad boys of rock and roll. But this, the sound coming from them now, was all things good. It was slow and sweet and tantalizing. The words were full of heart and emotion. The lyrics talked about how love changes you, changes everything. Lexi had tears in her eyes and I was finding it hard to breathe. When the final note came out of Jacks’s guitar and the song was over, no one said a word. We all just stood there in silence, not wanting to break the spell the song had put us under.

Luke scratched his head with a drumstick. “Uh…so, what did y’all think?”

Lexi shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. “That was the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard. Who wrote that?”

“All of us, we all kind of had a hand in it.” Smith sat down his bass.

I could feel Jacks’s eyes on me; I turned and met his stare. “It was perfect.”

He smiled. “Glad you liked it, because we sent that demo to the label yesterday.”

Lexi’s eyes cut to Dash. “What did they say? It’s not at all what you guys have done in the past.”