There was no help for it. I fuckin’ stared at Jason in shock. “Who the fuck are you, man? What have you done with Jason?”

With a slight grin, he replied, “I blame my woman. She leaves her magazines by the shitter, and that’s all I get to read when I have to take a dump.”

Chest easing up, I was feelin’ some hope through this fucked-up situation. Jason was right. Kenna deserved to be wooed. I’d never really given her that.

Challenge fuckin’ accepted.

Kenna

Life had become a living hell, and it all had begun and would end with Brigid Von Deitrich.

We’d just arrived in Jacksonville, Florida. The blazing sun was out, making me sweat. I was grimy and feeling lousy after my early morning talk with Phil. I was digging in the cargo hold of the bus, looking for Lewis’s mega mixer, the day after the whole lunch date had gone down.

Since she couldn’t convince Phil to come back to her, Brigid had taken it upon herself to unexpectedly pop up to verbally whittle me down. My ego bruised easily under her vindictiveness. I was so soul-weary already.

“Look, you should just do both of us a favor and bow out gracefully. You know he’s a million miles out of your league. Why not make a dignified exit back into the common world? You’re smart, and you’re not that unattractive. You’ll find someone who’s better suited to your lifestyle.”

Yeah.

She’d said that to me.

This was not something I needed to be subjected to, especially when she looked so adorably put together without any pores or sweat glands.

Lewis stepped off the bus just then and called out, “Did you find it?”

“Not yet,” I called back, dismissing Brigid Von Bitchiness.

“Hey! Lewis, right?” said Brigid in her slightly accented sweet voice. “You’re the fusion chef?”

“Yeah.”

“I love that show you’re on—”

“Get out of here, skank!” Lili shouted. “All the guys on this bus are spoken for! Take your Euro-trash ass back to the fool who doesn’t mind you spreading your legs for—”

“That’s enough, Pygmy.” Phil’s voice, accompanied by his steps, came off the bus.

I scurried farther into the hold.

“Eat shit, taint worm!” shouted Lili before scampering back onto the bus.

Phil sighed, his steps coming closer. “What are you doing here, Brigid?”

“Just thought I’d stop by and say hi to everyone. It’s been a long time. We were all friends.”

“Yeah, don’t think that’s too brilliant of an idea.”

“Why not?”

“I think if Sheri actually sees you sniffin’ around, she’s gonna go ballistic on you.”

“Sheri’s my friend.”

“Sheri ain’t your friend, Brigid. She don’t like you. Come to think of it, I don’t think she ever did. Now, if you could just go away, you’d be doin’ everyone else, plus yourself, a huge fuckin’ favor.”

“But—”

“Bye-bye.”

Holding my breath and straining to hear their conversation, I was frozen in the cargo hold.

“GianFranco’s parked right next to the fuckin’ crew bus,” Phil huffed to himself.

Maybe he didn’t know I was down here, and I kept quiet in the hopes that he’d just go back inside.

Crouching down, he poked his head into the hold. “You need some help?”

“No,” I snapped, resuming my search.

He climbed in.

“Damn it, Phil. Go away.”

“What are you lookin’ for?”

Witty comebacks that will stump a piece of pretty Euro-trash. “A mixer.”

Sifting through some boxes of kitchenware, I spotted the mixer and pulled it out. Phil reached out to help, and his hand closed over mine.

Time stopped.

Electricity zinged up my arm with his touch. By the sound of his sharp inhalation, he felt it, too.

“Baby Girrrl…” he purred.

Damn, his voice just melted all my insides.

Before I knew it, we were all over each other. His mouth was on mine, our tongues fencing violently. I clung to him in desperation, and he crushed me to his body, moaning deep when our chests collided. He tasted like heaven and felt like home, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl inside him and stay there forever. It would be so easy and so natural and so very, very wonderful to do so. I wanted him and he knew it. He could feel it in me.

“Stop,” I gasped, pulling back.

He made a noise halfway between frustration and pain. As he pressed his Third Eye to mine, I could feel all of that and so much more. He was scared, so scared, that he was losing me. He couldn’t bear the thought. It wasn’t as paralyzing as it had been when I was blown up, but it was close.

“You know that this isn’t how it’s going to get fixed, babe,” I told him.

He relaxed a little, hearing the endearment.

“I know,” he replied. His hand came up and pressed against my sweaty face. “I can’t lose you, Baby Girl.”

“My back is starting to cramp,” I said, hoping to avoid having to respond. The thought of not being with Phil filled me with the same terror he had shown was living in him.

Easing up on his death grip, he let me twist out of his embrace, and I shimmied back out into the fresh air. For a moment, Florida felt cool and clean as it caressed over my sweat-slicked body. Phil followed, dragging the mixer box with him.

“Did she say anythin’ to you?” he asked as he stood, holding the box to his chest like a shield.

“Nothing worth repeating. Why?”

“I don’t want you takin’ shit from her, Kenna.”

“I don’t want to take shit from her either.”

“No matter what, you’re the only one I want to be with. Ever. She can’t hold a fuckin’ candle to you.”

Keeping myself busy, I was able to stay focused. My besties and I went and checked out the two lesser stages, and I thought a couple of the bands were noteworthy.

On the way back to the bus, we ran into Brigid, and she sneered down—or, in my case, up—her Swiss nose at us. She wasn’t so keen to exchange pleasantries when I wasn’t on my own.

The bitch looked fabulous in her miniskirt and knee-high leather boots as she made her way to the security point. Devon wasn’t too far behind her, and he smiled at us.

“Lovely seeing you again, ladies,” he drawled.

The three of us chorused greetings in return.

Back on the bus, Lewis and I readied dinner—steak fajitas, one of Phil’s favorites. When it came time to eat, I took the seat next to Connor, who heartily slapped me on the back and dropped a kiss on top of my head.

“You doin’ good?” he asked.

“Mmm,” I replied.

Phil plopped down in the seat directly in front of me and stared at me throughout the whole fucking meal. He also brushed his bare feet over mine, grinning wickedly. Between scowling at him and trying my damnedest not to laugh, dinner was long and torturous.

We decided we’d all go to the set together, and Phil walked right beside me. I knew he wanted to hold my hand as much as I wanted him to, but he restrained himself. It sucked, being torn like this. On the one hand, I was determined to make my point while, on the other, I was disappointed for actually making it. In the end, I was more furious with myself than anything else.

With Lili off taking photos of the performance and Alys being called away on an errand, Viv and I were left to watch the show on a couple of crates on the sidelines. Out of nowhere, Brigid magically appeared, sliding up next to me. Her perfume was so heavy that I nearly choked on its pungent fumes.

“It’s been a while since I’ve watched them. I’ve forgotten how talented Phil is,” she said.

I jerked my head in a noncommittal sort of agreement.

“He used to love getting head right before going on stage. Used to relax him, so he’d get over his nervousness, you know? I guess he doesn’t really need it anymore.”