“Thank you!” Squeal. Foot stomp. Deep, cleansing breath. “You’re the best!”
I chuckled. “Way to play it cool, sis. “Do us both a favour, huh? No squealing or foot stomping when you meet Dade, okay?”
“Oh, shut up! And you do me a favor, okay?”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t be so quick to write Knox off. Mama says he has a thing for you, and the crazy lady’s usually right about these things.”
I laughed, trying to quash the flutter in my tummy. “Whatever you say.”
* * *
Knox
“Hey, I heard you got rid of Leo,” Auden said, grinning. “Smart move, man.”
Yeah, too bad it’s not so easy to get rid of you.“It was time. He was pissin’ me off, hassling Cece. I’d had enough of his bullshit.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re pretty protective of her, huh?”
“We go way back.”In other words, I’ll be a part of her life long after you’re gone.“You know how it is. You got anyone like that in your life, a girlfriend?”
He raised an eyebrow at my choice of words, but they’d been pretty deliberate, intended to send the right message.
“Uh no, can’t say that I do.”
I grinned. “Then you’re missin’ out.” I chuckled. “Cece’s the one person in my life I can always count on to give it to me straight.”
“Does it ever get weird?” he asked, leaning on the edge of the stage as he tuned his guitar. “You know, her being with other dudes, you being with other girls?”
“Are you askin’ if we’ve ever crossed that line?” I’d be happy to tell him we had. Just a couple of days ago, in fact.Afterhe was itching to get Cece back in his bed. “Sure. I guess that’s just the way it is when you’ve been friends as long as we have. Things happen.”
His eyes widened as the grip on his guitar tightened.
Good. Let him be pissed. If I had my way he’d be the next obstacle I got out of my way. “Problem?” I knew he had questions, I just wanted to know if he had the kahunas to ask them.
“I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do with that.”
“What?” Like I didn’t know.
“You’re my boss. Cece’s—”
“What?” I crossed my arms over my chest and his gaze drifted over the ink decorating my arms. I had interlinked C’s on my bicep and I could tell he was dying to ask whether they were for her. They were. A tribute to the one girl who’d always had my back. “Cece’s what to you? Nothing, that’s what she is.”
He may not have deserved my bad attitude, but he was getting it anyways. I wasn’t even mad at him. I was frustrated with myself for not storming Cece’s bus and taking her the way I wanted to. I wasn’t the kind of guy who held back or second guessed myself. When I saw something I wanted I went for it. But the voice inside my head kept warning me that taking a risk with Cece could be the biggest mistake I’d ever made because it could cost me one of the most important people in my life.
So I stuck in the land of indecision. Firmly planted between tearing her clothes off and hooking up with a groupie tonight to try and forget her.
“We had a good time together.” His gaze was harder, challenging me. “I thought she was into me. But she’s been acting weird lately. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
I didn’t owe him an explanation and neither did Cece. Sure, she might have slept with the guy, but a roll in the sheets didn’t warrant a Q&A in my world. “You’re gonna have to talk to the lady about that.”
“I just get the feeling there’s something goin’ on between you two and she’s afraid to tell me.”
“Why the hell would she be afraid to tell you anything?” I clenched my teeth. “You’re nothin’ to her. You got me? Nothin’.”
“What’s your problem, Knox? You want Cece? Be man enough to say it.”
