his club back in L.A. We’d all known that taking this job would get us the attention the band deserved. Harris Cutter had connections in the music world that none of us could ever hope to have. I had been torn, though. I wanted to take the offer but at the same time I wanted to walk away from it all. If I left, what would happen to me and Kin? She needed me and I wanted to be there for her.
But this chance was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. So I had to make a hard choice and in the end I’d picked the band. It was Gray who had pointed out to me that Kin was still young. She would get over me if I left her right then. She could move on and I would be just a memory. While that had been a bitter pill to swallow, I’d known he was right. Kin was only seventeen. I was her first, and while I’d wanted to be her last, I knew that the chances of us lasting were against us.
I broke up with her the day before I left Bristol for California. It was the hardest thing I had ever done and most nights I fell asleep thinking about how she’d looked with tears flowing down her cheeks and her eyes so full of pain that I felt gutted.
I’d been such a dick, but I wouldn’t take the time I’d been in California back. Tainted Knights was my life and I wanted to be front and center for the ride I knew we would all be taking now that we had a contract waiting on us with the most sought after manager in the music world. Emmie Armstrong was going to take us places. So even though I’d been a mess mentally without Kin, I knew I was where I needed to be.
Yet seeing her now, three thousand miles from her home, told me that Kin was supposed to be a part of my life too. I could have them both.
Forcing myself to stop looking at the picture on my phone, I pulled up my contacts list and found Kin’s number. I should have deleted it when I moved, but I was glad I hadn’t. I hit connect and put the phone to my ear. It rang and rang until I was eventually sent to voicemail. I hung up and tried again.
Three more times and with each one of them I was sent straight to that damn voicemail. Fuck. She was probably still pissed. Grimacing, I waited for her voice to fade on the greeting and left a message. “Kin…” I cleared my throat. “We need to talk, baby. Call me back. Fuck, I’ve missed you.”
Lowering my phone, I hit end and sent her a text. The message quickly showed that she had gotten it, but she didn’t text me back. I wasn’t expecting her to, but it didn’t keep me from hoping. Kin was stubborn as hell and while most of the time I thought that was cute, it annoyed me right then.
I must have dozed off, because the next thing I remembered, early morning light was shining through my window and my phone was buzzing. Hoping it was Kin, I reached for it blindly and lifted it to my ear. “Kin?”
There was a long pause before I heard a harsh exhale. “Nope, sorry, dude.”
Harris. Disappointment washed over me and I clenched my jaw before forcing my eyes open and glaring at the ceiling. “What’s up, man?”
“You bailed on me last night,” Harris grumbled.
“You didn’t seem to know I was there, bro. Who was the hot chick?” I remembered the brunette with all the curves and big brown eyes that I’d thought had been full of pain and maybe a little regret when she’d looked at my friend. “Lucy, right?”
“Lucy.” Harris blew out a tired sigh before chuckling with little humor. “She’s my best friend in the world, man. Or she was a million years ago. I’m heading over to her house after I pick Trinity up. Figure I need reinforcements to get me through her door. I have to talk to her about Jenna.”
Picturing Harris’s baby sister, I figured she could get him in to Fort Knox with those damn cute dimples that popped out every time the six-year-old smiled. Trinity looked just like her brother and father, with the exception of her blue-gray eyes that she’d gotten from her mother. “Yeah. Pretty sure she