of her face as she moved a few steps closer. “See you in an hour.”
Chapter 4
Jace
The smell of coffee filled my nose and woke up all my other senses. Groaning, I turned over in bed, grinning when I found a warm body spread out beside me. My heart lifted as I sucked in a deep breath, only to frown when I inhaled a scent I wasn’t expecting. The perfume was different.
Fuck.
Lifting my head, I found the blonde—not the redhead I was hoping for—that I’d brought home with me the night before curled around one of my pillows like she was taking root in my bed. My gaze skimmed over what I could see of her. Nice face, I guessed. Or it would have been if she hadn’t caked on all that makeup that was now smeared across it. Her hair was long, which was probably what had attracted me in the first place. I was a sucker for long hair.
Long red hair...
Shaking back the thought of the girl I’d left behind, I continued my appraisal of the chick I’d hooked up with after the show the night before at First Bass. The covers were tucked under her arms, but I could still see the hint of cleavage, telling me that her hair hadn’t been the first thing to catch my attention. I’ll admit that I’m a breasts man. Always had been, always would be.
Hook-up Girl was also fair-skinned.
Other than the color of her hair she was a dead ringer for the one girl I wanted to forget, but couldn’t seem to push far enough from my mind. But unlike my feelings for the redhead on my mind, whatever I’d felt the night before concerning Hook-up Girl was long gone. I’d gotten what I wanted and now I had to get rid of this chick before she decided to stick around.
My phone buzzing with an incoming text pulled my gaze away from the blonde’s face. Grabbing it before it could wake my now unwanted guest, I saw that it was Grayson letting me know that he’d made coffee and was headed to the gym. The thought of coffee along with the lingering scent of it in the air helped set me in gear and I was able to force myself out of bed.
I’d figure out how to get rid of Hook-up Girl after I had a cup or two of strong brewed coffee in my veins. I didn’t want to be a dick about it, but I would be if it came down to it. Right then I just wanted her gone and as far away as possible. Regret was choking me. I felt like I’d just committed adultery, even though I didn’t have a girlfriend anymore.
Clenching my jaw, I grabbed the pair of boxers I’d tossed aside the night before. I pulled them on and grabbed the first T-shirt I came to on my way out of my room.
The three-bedroom apartment I shared with Gray was bigger than the two of us needed, yet not nearly big enough at the same time. Maybe it was just that I was sharing it with Gray. I respected the rocker who was Tainted Knights’ founder and guitarist. He had mad skills and I knew he was the reason we had gotten noticed.
Grayson Knight, the actual man, I couldn’t stand.
I’d grown up with Gray. For almost half of my life I’d lived under the same roof as him, was raised by the same woman. My parents had split when I was ten, leaving me and my sister, Kassa, to fend for ourselves.
I barely remembered the man and woman who had given life to me and Kassa, but I did know they hadn’t been the kind of parents to brag about. The scent still lingered in my nose from how bad the house would smell after they would go on one of their all-night binges. Could still hear the laughter that echoed off the inside of my skull from the raging parties that brought strangers into our house while Kassa and I slept each weekend.
Kassa had slept, at least. I’d been too worried for my sister to shut my eyes on those nights. What if one of the drunk, high strangers went into her room? She was just a little girl, but I’d seen a few strangers looking at my beautiful little sister with a glazed look in their eyes and knew instinctively that this person could and would hurt Kassa if given the chance.
We’d