Grip Trilogy Box Set - Kennedy Ryan Page 0,257

us. “She’s one step removed from being my student, and I don’t fuck my students.”

“Well, speaking as one of your students, I’m glad to hear it.” The grin he concedes breaks the scowl on his face.

“I just wanna go on record as saying if you ever change your mind about fucking your students”—I knock back the rest of my Ting—“she’d be a great place to start.”

Chapter 13

Grip

“KAI’S ON IN FIVE.”

The production assistant hands me a lapel mic and checks something off on her clipboard. “If you can have her put this on, we’ll make sure it’s properly positioned when she comes out.”

“Uh, yeah.” Leaned against Kai’s dressing room door, I glance up from my iPad. “She’ll be ready. Thank you.”

Five minutes. The countdown on Angie Black’s YouTube channel says the live feed starts in five minutes, too. I know Grip’s been looking forward to this Artists as Activists panel, but I’m not as excited. Seeing him with Qwest might only further water the seeds of insecurity Jade planted and I allowed to take root, at least a little. I’ll check back in a few minutes, but now I need to get Kai onstage for her performance.

“You ready?” I ask once inside her dressing room.

Kai raises wide eyes, pressing a silencing finger to her lips. Aria has fallen asleep at her breast. I’ve seen Kai feed my niece too many times to count, but never wearing a beaded halter top, leather pants, and full face of makeup. Her dark hair is flat-ironed and falling nearly to her waist. She carefully extracts her breast from Aria’s little rosebud mouth and gently places her in a travel playpen. She literally hasn’t missed a beat, dropping all her baby weight and her first solo album to rule the charts.

She picks up her phone and turns a pout in my direction.

“No messages from Rhyson.” She sighs and faces the mirror to check her makeup.

“He hasn’t landed in Prague yet. He’ll call when he gets there.” I consider her reflection and dig into the bag her stylist left behind. “Try these earrings instead.”

“I’m exhausted. Aria was up all night teething.” She changes out the earrings, closes her eyes. “And I miss my husband.”

Her eyes pop open to meet mine in the mirror, and her smile teases me.

“I guess you miss Grip, too, huh?”

“Yeah.” I check the iPad once more—three minutes. “He has this panel airing in a few minutes that I need to watch. Qwest is on it, too.”

I try to keep my voice neutral, but something must tip Kai off because she offers a reassuring smile I don’t want her to know I need.

“You know you have nothing to worry about, right?” She turns and perches on the edge of the dressing room table. “Grip has been in love with you as long as I’ve known him, and he’s ecstatic to finally have you.”

“I know.” I force the words, blowing my nervous energy out in a sigh. “But he was with her, and I can’t help but think she still has feelings for him. I trust him.”

“Good, because he’ll never give you reason not to.”

A text message lights Kai’s phone on the dressing room table. She grabs it, smiling and responding.

“Rhyson?” I guess.

“No, my sister.” Kai grimaces. “Half-sister. She lives in Vegas with my dad and . . . his wife.”

I notice she doesn’t say stepmother. Kai and I haven’t talked much about her complicated history with her father, but I know they’ve been working on their relationship.

“She’s wishing me luck.” Kai sets the phone down and meets my eyes with a soft smile. “She’s a great kid.”

“You guys are close?”

“Getting there. We talk more than . . . well, more than I talk to my father.”

“Thank you for encouraging Rhyson to work on things with our parents,” I say. “Seeing you do it has helped him a lot.”

“I try, but it’s not easy. My father ruined my mom’s life for a while.” Pain etches lines between her brows. “He hurt a lot of people—the church he abandoned, his community.”

“You?” I venture quietly.

Kai looks up, blinking a few times and drawing a shallow breath.

“Yeah, me.” She glances at Aria, a tender smile tugging at her lips. “He was my world. I think sometimes we don’t realize that for our kids, we’re everything. I mean, friends and family, of course, and as they get older, maybe their peers have more influence, but we’re what they see most. I was a daddy’s girl, through and through.”

“And he