Riff wraps his arm around my shoulders and leans into my ear. “Head on over to the bar while I take care of stuff at the desk. Order me a beer, would you?”

I nod and he lets go of my hand and we part ways.

The crowd in the small room is amazing. It’s hard to believe that many people are working behind the scenes of this tour. Nearly every seat in the place is taken, sometimes even double occupied. The dim lights and sheer amount of bodies make it difficult to make my way to the bar. I shoulder past a few, mumbling my apologies as I finally step up to the bar.

I run my fingers through my wind-blown hair as I wait for the stocky, male bartender to make his way down to me.

“Can I buy you a drink?” a man’s voice asks to my right.

My head snaps in his direction and my eyes land on an incredibly handsome man. Blonde shaggy hair drifts over his brow and he shoves it back as he grins at me. His blue eyes drink me in slowly as he waits for my answer.

I return his smile with a polite one of my own. “Thank you, but I’m with someone.”

He leans in closer and completely blows off my refusal. “I’m Donovan. You might’ve heard of me?” He pauses for a brief second, but when I give him a blank stare he continues, “I’m the guitarist for Embrace the Darkness.”

I nod. “I’ve heard of you. You’re the opening act for Black Falcon, right?”

Donovan smirks. “Not for long. They’ll be opening for us soon enough.”

He turns, practically pushing his chest against my arm and I take a step away. “Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

He shrugs. “Why not? I’m great at what I do and my band kicks ass. What’s so wrong in taking pride in something you know you’re good at?” Suddenly, I feel his hand on my ass. “Why don’t you do yourself a favor and come upstairs with me?”

I yank his hand off my ass and shoot him the death stare. “Like I said, I’m with someone.”

He makes a big show of looking around me. “Oh, yeah? Where? I don’t see anyone. Chicks don’t come around places like this alone unless they’re looking for a good time. So tell me, where’s this mystery guy you’re here with?”

I open my mouth to tell him off, but before I get the chance Riff’s voice cuts through the loud bar music. “Right fucking here.”

I don’t know who tenses more, me or Donovan.

RIFF

I stand back as long as I can. I want to see the way Kitten reacts when other men approach her. I want to know if her hard to get act is genuine or if she’s just another groupie ready to slut it up with any rock star that moves.

Donovan creeps up on her and uses the same fucking lines I see him do night after night on the fans during the after-parties.

Sheer delight envelopes me when Kitten yanks his hand off her ass and tells him to beat it. That doesn’t sit well with Donovan. His chest instantly puffs up and his face twists. He’s not used to rejection, and girls like Aubrey throw us resident man-whores off our game.

The moment he raises his voice at her, testing to see if she’s really alone like she claims, I step in. I can’t help it. I don’t want him to get the idea he can put the moves on her or force her into something she doesn’t want to do.

This urge to protect what’s mine surges through me and before I know it my hands ball into fists and I say, “Right fucking here.”

Donovan’s eyes widen. “Sorry, dude. I didn’t know she was one of your hoes.”

Aubrey flinches beside him the moment the insult leaves his mouth. For some reason him referring to her as a piece of sexual garbage pisses me off. “Don’t ever fucking call her that.”

He raises his hands in surrender. “Easy, man. No need to get all swollen up in the chest. There’s plenty of tail to go around.”

My eyes narrow. “Then you better go find some elsewhere.”

We stare each other down for a long moment. My shoulders tense more each second we stand here. I haven’t had much problem with Donovan in the past, but the front man of his band, Striker has tried to get at Noel every chance he gets. It’s always some sort of pissing contest to see who has the bigger balls and the most fame. I think those two would fight over a penny if it came down to it.

Embrace the Darkness is a label built band, and all those douchebags care about is climbing their way to the top. They have no sense of camaraderie or brotherhood like we feel. Well, like we used to feel. Noel did a good job fucking that up for us.

Donovan smirks after he sees I’m not backing down. “This one’s too uptight anyhow. Enjoy your blue balls.”

I grit my teeth and fight back the urge to crush his face with my fist. The label’s already warned us about fighting, so I inhale deeply through my nose as Donovan shoulders past me. Noel and Striker threw down after our first couple shows together and the label threatened to disband the tour. We all knew those were idle threats because let’s face it, our shows make too much money for that shit.

Aubrey hands me a beer. “You didn’t have to do that, you know. I’m perfectly capable of handling myself when it comes to assholes.”

A small grin plays across my lips. “I don’t remember you fighting against me too hard when we first met.”

She shrugs and takes a sip of her drink. “You really didn’t give me much time to react, let alone launch a full-on war against you.”

I eye her over my bottle as I down half the beer. A blush creeps up her cheeks. The wall in her confident façade cracks a hair. I figured a girl like her wasn’t used to being a booty call, but she’s doing her best to fool me into thinking she’s been down this road before. I can see right through it. “It’s okay to admit the idea of fucking me turned you on. We both know you wouldn’t be here right now if it didn’t.”