“Bad timing,” I snapped.

Rock finally got it. “Shit.”

“What do I do?” I asked him.

Rock sighed and shrugged. “Dude, I don’t know. I’ve never had to worry about Trisha thinking I wanted her for her money. Maybe this isn’t a permanent thing and it won’t be this much money in the future. When she’s making less money, would you feel better proposing then?”

“I hate waiting. I want my ring on her finger. It’s just the idea of her thinking I could want her for anything less than just her kills me. I worry that doubt would be in the back of her mind. I want to ask her to marry me, but when I do it, I want her to understand that she is my f**king universe. Being with her in a cardboard box would be fine as long as she’s curled up next to me. I just need her to be happy. Now all this f**king money . . .” I wanted to scream in frustration.

“Wait. Give it a week or so. Maybe a month. If you’re worried about the money. In all honesty, I don’t think Blythe will think you are proposing because she’s had success with this book. When she sees that diamond you got her, she’s gonna know you’ve been working for this for a while.”

“Or she’s gonna think I got it on credit, planning to pay it off once I’m married to a wealthy woman,” I grumbled.

Damn money. It had to make everything complicated. I just never thought it would make my life complicated.

My girl had written a novel—gone after her dream and achieved it. Instead of celebrating, I was bitching about it. How screwed up was that?

She deserved this. I needed to get over myself. The time would be right eventually. I just needed to wait for it.

Blythe

Krit’s strange reaction and quick departure today had bothered me so much I couldn’t focus. I closed my computer and cleaned the apartment, then went to get groceries to try to keep my mind off his odd behavior.

Around four Krit came walking in with his usual charming smile and pulled me into his arms to kiss me senseless. He managed to erase all my concerns with that one possessive lip-lock. We cleaned each other in the shower—several times—before getting ready for Jackdown’s gig tonight at Live Bay.

“Don’t forget you have to sing tonight,” Green called out as he walked in the back entrance, leaving me and Krit out here alone. It was a ritual now. Sometimes they all left us alone so we could make out. And other times we just kind of . . . did it. Depended on what Krit needed.

“Fuck off,” Krit yelled back at him, annoyed.

I grabbed his face and moved his attention to me. “Be a good boy.”

Krit gave me his wicked smile. “That’s no fun, love,” he said, slipping a hand between my legs. “Good boys don’t do this.”

His finger thrust up into me with ease. I was always wet when Krit was around me. His face and the way his mouth moved when he talked, not to mention his piercing, just . . . made me aroused most of the time.

“They don’t?” I panted, trying to play along as he found the spot inside me that always sent me spiraling into oblivion.

“Uh-uh. They don’t have a clue,” he whispered against my ear, then bit my lobe before licking my neck.

I held on to his shoulders while he brought me to my cl**ax.

When I came down, he pulled his finger out and moved it to his mouth to suck on it.

Giggling, I shook my head. “You are a very bad boy. I’m very lucky you’re my bad boy.”

He moved closer to me and cocked his head to the side as a crooked grin appeared on his face. “You like this bad boy, love?” he asked, running his damp finger, which I could smell myself on, down the side of my face.

“He’s okay,” I teased, knowing that what he really wanted was for me to tell him I loved him.

He pouted, and those full lips of his made my heart skip. “That ain’t nice. I’m obsessed with your sweet cunt, and God knows I love you. I better be more than okay.”

I reached up and rubbed my thumb over his pouty lips. “You know that I love you. I screamed how much I loved you earlier in the shower. So loudly our neighbors banged on the wall to shut me up.”

The wicked laugh that vibrated his chest was delicious. “When my head is between your legs, tongue-fucking you, it doesn’t count. Of course you love me then.”

I was getting better about not blushing when Krit talked dirty, but sometimes I still did. Like when he talked about how much I loved for him to kiss me there.

“I love you, Krit Corbin. So very much,” I assured him.

He closed his eyes, pulled my thumb into his mouth, and bit it gently. “That’s it. What I f**king need to hear,” he said, then opened his eyes and slipped his arm around my waist. “Let’s go do this.”

We walked into the back entrance, and Green shook his head at us like we were naughty children. It wasn’t like Green didn’t mess around with girls backstage. Just last week I’d walked in on him nailing a girl against the wall in the greenroom. I saw a flash of his butt and her br**sts before I slammed the door in horror.

Krit had been more than pissed that I had seen Green’s ass, and he had lost it on everyone, yelling about not f**king backstage. They pointed out that we messed around backstage, so he amended it to “lock the f**king door.”

I had stopped thinking that Krit would want me out in the audience with everyone eventually. He never wanted me anywhere but back here so he could get to me and see me. Because if he saw a guy in the audience get close to me, he’d lose it and jump off the stage and end up in jail.

So to help my man and his temper, I stayed back here with him. He sang and looked at me most of the time, but no one seemed to notice or care. Girls still threw their panties and bras at him. They screamed that they wanted to have his babies and needed f**king. I could hear it all up here, but I no longer cringed.

He didn’t care what they said. Not once had he seemed tempted by them.

When I first met Krit, he had shared the apartment above mine with Green. Now I shared that apartment with him, and Green lived in my old apartment underneath. The band had become my family. So had Trisha, Rock, and their kids. I hadn’t had a real family before, so having people in my life who loved me was the most wonderful thing in the world.

I took my special corner and sat down on the seat Krit always had for me. He winked at me as he tugged off his shirt, showing his pierced ni**les and tattooed chest. His sexy ripples of muscle made me squirm in my seat. Soon he would be all sweaty onstage, and his hair would be even messier than it already was.

It was no wonder I let him take me out back or to the greenroom during intermission and have his way with me. Just listening to him was already a turn-on as it was, but seeing his sweaty, na**d chest and the way he moved onstage made me a puddle. I was always ready to get my hands on his slick body.

“Are you Krit’s girlfriend?”

I glanced over to see a blonde who reminded me of the angel on the top of the Christmas tree every year at the church. Her hair was long and golden and curled at the ends. She didn’t have on makeup, which was odd for groupies. They were normally all lacquered up. Granted, this girl didn’t need makeup. She had the kind of features that were timeless. I started imagining her as a heroine in my novel.

“Blythe, right?” she said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Uh, yeah.” I nodded, confused as to how she had gotten back here.

She grinned at me. It was a real smile. Genuine. “I’m Trinity, Matty’s cousin. I’m visiting him because my mom wants me to move close to Matty and go to South Alabama for college. I don’t think he’s real thrilled about it, though,” she finished, biting her lip nervously. “But he said that you’d be back here and that you were nice.”

Matty was the drummer for Jackdown. He also looked nothing like this girl, who was younger than me by a year or two maybe. Her accent was different. It had a twang to it that I didn’t recognize.

“Where do you live?” I asked as she pulled up a chair beside me.

“A little town in Texas you’ve never heard of.” She grinned again. Two dimples appeared. She reminded me of a doll. That was it. She had the face, hair, and dimples of a doll. “It’s called Berryville. If I leave, the population will go from 999 to 998. I don’t know how they’ll make it.” There was teasing in her tone. I liked her.

“Wow. Yeah, you might want to rethink that,” I replied.

She giggled, then pulled her legs up in the seat. “So, Matty says you live with Krit and are very important. I’m not to do or say anything that would offend you. I will admit I’m a little nervous about that. Krit seems scary.”

I glanced out to see Krit frowning as he looked over at us. He’d be over here in a minute. This was going to bug him.

“He’s scowling at me. Should I move?” she asked in a quiet voice.

I shook my head. “No. You’re fine. I swear. Krit is just intense. When he finds out you’re Matty’s cousin and not some groupie back here trying to upset me, he’ll chill out.

About that time Matty walked up to Krit, grabbed his shoulder, and said something in his ear. Krit nodded, then looked at me for reassurance.

I gave him a thumbs-up.

He relaxed and went back to warming up and checking the sound.

“Does that mean I get to stay?” she asked.

Laughing, I nodded.

Krit

The girl beside Blythe looked young and innocent. Matty said it was his cousin visiting from Texas. He swore she was nothing like him and that she and Blythe would get along great.

So far Blythe had been fine. Though the girl had kept talking to her and kept Blythe’s attention off me. I didn’t like that. I wanted all her attention. Yes, it was selfish, but f**k that.

During our first break I was at Blythe’s side before she could stand up. “Come here, love,” I said, pulling her up and into my arms. I was sweating, but she never recoiled or acted like it bothered her. She came to me willingly. I loved that.

“Krit, this is Trinity. Trinity, this is Krit,” Blythe said, introducing us.

“Nice to meet you, Trinity. But I’ve got to take my girl away for a bit, yeah?” I hooked my arm around her neck and led her backstage, away from Trinity and her chatty mouth.

“What was that about?” Blythe asked, staring up at me.

I didn’t meet her gaze. I was hiding my selfish behavior the best I could. She was damn near perfect and she loved me, this f**ked-up ass**le. I had to hide my worst traits the best I could.

“Krit Corbin, are you jealous of . . . a girl?” Blythe’s amusement was obvious.

I didn’t respond.

“Ohmygod, you are. Krit, seriously? I don’t swing that way at all. Granted, she’s a very beautiful girl, but I’m in love with you.”

I bent my head and kissed her temple. “Yeah, you are.”

She giggled and laid her head on my sweaty chest. “What am I going to do with you? You’re just getting worse.”

“Keep me. That’s what you’re going to do with me.”

She slid a hand up my chest and left it over my heart. “Yes, I am in fact going to keep you.”

That made me feel better.

“I wasn’t jealous of her. I just didn’t like that she was talking so damn much. I like seeing your eyes on me.”

Blythe nodded. “Got it. And I know, but I was trying not to be rude.”

Figures. Blythe didn’t want to be mean to anyone. She was sweet and kind and mine.

“We can go out and see Trisha. I saw her walk in with Amanda a few minutes ago. Or we can go to the greenroom and f**k.”

She laughed out loud, and my chest squeezed at the sound. “I don’t know, Krit. . . . What do you want to do?”

I turned her toward the greenroom. “With you, love, that answer will always be f**k. I’m obsessed with your cunt, remember?”

She shivered in my arms, and I opened the greenroom and barked at the stage guys to get out before closing the door and locking it behind them.

“Pull that skirt up,” I growled as I stalked her until she was pressed up against the wall.

Of course that’s exactly what she did.

Blythe

“Do you know Green very well?” Trinity asked me.

I kept my eyes on Krit so he’d be happy. He was like a spoiled little boy. It cracked me up. “Yes, I know him pretty well. He’s Krit’s best friend.”

Trinity didn’t say anything for a few minutes, and I was tempted to glance at her. She had asked a random question and then ended the conversation.

“He’s very talented. I wasn’t really expecting that, given what I had seen of him so far. I mean, I didn’t mean to say he was dumb or anything. . . . It’s just that I noticed him . . . or, well, I had to notice him because he came over to Matty’s with some girls, and he wasn’t sober, I don’t think. Matty sent me to my room and argued with Green, and finally the girls left. I came out of the room thinking Green was gone too, but he wasn’t. He was there, drinking a beer. He apologized for the almost na**d girls he had brought with him, then went on to call me a c**k blocker. Matty slapped him on the back of the head, and, well, I was nervous so I went back to my room again. So . . . he seemed not so smart, or maybe he seemed not so dedicated to serious things like being a musician. But he’s really good and he’s very nice tonight. He hasn’t spoken to me, but I’ve seen him with everyone else. He appears a lot smarter . . . than I originally thought. That didn’t sound right either. What I meant to say is that he’s really pretty and I’m glad he’s got brains in his head. It’s a shame when boys are pretty like him and dumb. I’ll shut up now.”