Page 62 of Anthem of Love and Loathing

That’s what I have to focus on.

22

Riot

The guys are up when I get back to the suite after a session in the gym. We drink hard, we play hard, and we perform hard, which means it’s imperative that we keep in peak physical condition.

And I woke up early, so I hit the pool, then the treadmill for a run, followed by an hour of weights in an effort to burn through the energy that had me wanting to wake Kelsey up with my cock in her mouth.

After that stunt she pulled with Kodiak...

I rub a fist over the burning sensation in my chest. She’s trying to get under my skin and it’s fucking working. I wanted to take her mouth with mine. Own it. Make her needy with a simple kiss and a few well-chosen words. Make sure Kodiak understood that she could never be his.

Not when she was mine.

But then we’d got into that screaming match. It always comes back to the same things. She didn’t trust me then.

Well, I don’t trust her now. That makes us even.

“Bro.” Bronx looks up from the game he’s playing on his phone while Golden peruses the room service menu. Kodiak acknowledges me but doesn’t say anything. I don’t want to hear a word that fucker might want to say anyway.

Kelsey is absent. Possibly still tucked up in bed. Or avoiding me like she has been since our fight. I glare at her closed door. The urge to march in there and put her over my knee, pull down her panties, and spank her ass is almost impossible to ignore. “Did Rook bring my shit up?”

“He brought in a box,” he says without looking up.

“Great.” That will be Kelsey’s box. I asked him to retrieve it as well as my weed. For the last couple days, I’ve been desperate to get a look at the contents. If I’m going to take things further with the Little Vandal, I want information I can use against her. I finally have that chance.

“We’re leaving in about forty,” Bronx warns me.

“Got it.” I need a shower before we hit the promo circuit.

The box is on my bed when I enter the room. On top is a bag with a couple of joints in it. I ignore the itch to go through the contents instead of showering. I’ve waited days to have a private moment to go through her secrets. I can wait a little while longer.

Once I’ve showered and dressed, time runs out for Kelsey. I pocket the joints. I’ll find a quiet spot and smoke one later.

Moment of truth.

Removing the box’s lid, I set it aside. Her vibrator still sits on top of my origami letters to her. Placing the vibrator aside, I scoop them up and into the backpack I carry my notebooks, extra picks, and other things I might need anywhere we go.

She used to keep a notebook too. A journal that she would write in while I was writing songs. She was always secretive about what she was putting in there. Sometimes she would blush and catch the giggles.

I don’t want to reminisce about the ways I found her cute and sexy. Or the way that used to make me smile. Those days are far in the rearview. I want anything I can use against her. I want her written confession and her reason for stealing from me.

Picking up the box, I upend the contents onto the comforter. I sift through the photos, concert ticket stubs, and set lists.

She kept the napkin with oowee chula chula written on it.

I chuckle. That was an epic night. A nonsensical night that no one has been able to find a way to articulate. And yet, we still can’t help but smile when thinking about it.

Dropping the napkin back in the pile, I move onto the next item.

A pregnancy test? I pick up the sandwich bag with the pregnancy test inside it and hold it at eye level.

The little window says ‘pregnant’.

Pregnant?

At some point after we broke up Kelsey was pregnant. Keeping this... Did she fall in love after us? Did she move on? How long did it take for her to fall for someone else? Get pregnant? Have a baby? No time at all?