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Looking up, I saw Zander Brockman approaching with his wife, Annabelle. They lived in Nashville, and Annabelle took care of Emmie’s and her East Coast clients. But they’d come out for Lucy’s baby shower and stayed for business reasons regarding OtherWorld, or so Zander had told me Sunday when we had the chance to talk.
The blonde smi
led at us as they drew closer to our group. “Mind if we join you?” she asked, her eyes meeting mine. “We just came from the hospital visiting with Lucy and thought we would stop by for a drink.”
“Was Jesse still there hovering?” Kassa asked her with a grin.
“Him and Dev both,” she said with a laugh. “Z tried to get Dev to go home and let the new parents relax, but he was too caught up in that new granddaughter—” She broke off, blinking. “Holy shit, Devlin Cutter is a grandfather.” She touched a hand to her chest. “Z, Harris has a baby. You realize that Mieke could make us grandparents at any time now, right?”
“Do you want me to kill someone tonight, Anna?” he groaned. “Let’s not talk about our baby girl and grandbabies for my sanity’s sake, yeah? I’d be just fine if we didn’t have grandkids until Jaco is old enough to provide them.”
I found another chair and pulled it over for the couple to sit. But while Annabelle sat, already pulled into conversation with the others, Zander asked me to help him bring over another round of beers for everyone. Shrugging, I followed him.
At the bar, Nate was busy as always, so there was a wait. Zander didn’t seem to mind as he leaned back against the bar, his eyes landing on me after people-watching for a moment. That was one of the things I liked about coming to First Bass. The VIP floor was flooded with celebrities, and for the most part, everyone left each other alone. From time to time, a few people who didn’t belong upstairs got through and pretended they were allowed there, but they were fairly easy to spot because they were the ones who didn’t have any understanding of other people’s privacy.
“Harris asked me to talk to you,” he surprised me by saying.
“What?” I blinked at him in confusion. “Why would he do that?”
Zander shrugged, his green and gold eyes going back to the corner of the room. He couldn’t see his wife from where we were standing, but I was sure he was imagining her in his mind. “That’s what I asked, but he just said he thought I could give you some advice. You and Kin are still broken up?”
“Not my choice,” I told him, my shoulders drooping under the weight of missing her. “I fucked up and kept something from her. Now she thinks I don’t love her enough. That I don’t put her first, ever. But I’m starting to see that she was right.”
“And you don’t know how to fix that?” the rock legend demanded, his brows lifted in surprise.
“Man, I don’t even know where to begin,” I admitted honestly.
He sighed, scrubbing an inked hand over his face. I caught sight of the tattoo of his wife’s name on his neck. When he shifted, on the wrist of the hand rubbing over his face, I saw the name Michelle scripted there.
“For seventeen years,” Zander spoke quietly, as if the memories were painful, “I put myself first over the woman I love and, unknowingly, our girls. It was only when I saw Anna again that I realized just how stupid I really was. I had the life I always wanted and dreamed of when we were kids. But I didn’t have her, and that made those dreams feel hollow.”
I stood there, quietly watching the emotion playing across his face. I understood his pain, that hollowness. It was what I felt every second of the day without Kin beside me.
“I can’t tell you what to do to show Kin you will put her first. It’s different for every relationship, dude. I mean, hell, I tried to quit the band to show Anna I was picking her this time, but she wouldn’t let me. If I didn’t have her, nothing else would matter in my life. The money, the fame, the fans? None of that compares to having the woman who fucking owns me lying beside me every night.”
“I almost quit the band once,” I confessed. “But I think that was more for my sake than hers.”
“Being selfish is part of a rocker’s DNA, it seems,” he said with a grimace. “We’re jaded and narcissistic at times. The only people who can stand us are the ones who really love us.”
“I still don’t know where to begin,” I muttered, leaning my forearms on the bar top.
“Start small and build from that. You kept something from her?” I nodded, remembering my mistakes. “Well then, begin there. Tell her everything. No matter how big or small, tell her everything. Even if it’s just about how much you hate the damn weather, talk to her about it. Communication is key to every relationship. Don’t hide anything, and for the love of Christ, don’t try to take on the world by yourself. When you love a woman and want her to spend her life with you, that makes you a team. Teams work together. Share the stress, the pain, or you are going to forfeit sharing the happiness.”
I took all of it in, soaking up the knowledge from a man I’d always respected and idolized. That I could call him a friend now blew my mind, that I’d been on the same stage as him and his band, still tripped me out.
Nate appeared, and Zander ordered enough beers for thirty people, making me think he planned on sticking around for a little while tonight. Producing two ice chests, Nate placed them on the bar top, and Z handed over a wad of bills. Lifting one of the chests, the rock legend thrust it into my arms. “Take that on over, kid.” He tipped his head in the direction of our group. “I thought I just saw your redhead come in.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. Just the mention of Kin was enough to have me almost sprinting back to the others, but I made myself walk at a calm pace, exuding a confidence I didn’t know I actually felt. Fuck, there was no use in kidding myself or anyone else. I was desperate for just a glance of my girl. If she was there to hang out, then that meant I might get to take her home.
Wherever the hell “home” was these days. I still didn’t know where she’d moved to, and I was on the verge of actually stalking her to find out.
Before I could reach the back corner, I saw the flash of Kin’s red hair. It flowed over her shoulders and down her back. She was wearing a white dress that was anything but virginal with how it molded over her curves. I wanted to rip it off her and mark every inch of her body as mine. The urge was strong and only grew when I saw the tool standing beside her, his hand at the small of her back.
Annabelle said something that had Kin grinning. Kin pushed her hair behind her ear as she dipped her head to hear what the older blonde was saying over the music. With a nod, she sat on the corner of the chair beside Annabelle.
I dropped the ice chest down at her feet, my shoulder bumping purposefully into the guy in the yellow shirt. What was his name? Derrick or something like that? As I met his gaze, my hate for him blazing out of my eyes, I saw a flash of irritation mixed with amusement, and I wanted to punch him in the mouth.
Kin glared up at me, brushing droplets of water off her leg from where the melting ice had splashed her. “Manners,” she growled at me. “You could at least say you’re sorry.”
