With the Band

by Natasha Preston

  His chest shakes with the laughter. "Took a girl to the gents'."

  I turn my nose up. "That's disgusting."

  "You're not up for it?" Kitt asks. "Because I am."

  "You want to have sex in a dirty bathroom?"

  He shrugs and gives me a lopsided smile. "What can I say, Tex? I'm a rock star."

  "Well, no."

  Milo is such a classy bloke. But then, I had sex against a tour bus--and got caught. So, who am I to judge?

  Kitt laughs. "He's going to knock someone up before long. I think he has even had more sex than Cooper."

  "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Coop says, looking deeply hurt. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves there. I am the king."

  "And to think, for a second there, I considered sleeping with you again," Peyton muttered.

  Coop's head snaps back in her direction so fast that I hear his neck crack. "You've considered it for longer than a second. Pey, you can deny it until the day you die, but you know we're dynamite together."

  She crosses her arms. "Doesn't mean I have to repeat it."

  "You two are cute," I say.

  Coop flashes me his signature grin. "Thank you, Texas."

  "Hey, motherfuckers! We're taking the party to Whitney Blake's," Milo says, almost stumbling into the table.

  There are no questions because we all want to see inside Whitney Blake's house. She's a mega rich actress and model, like way richer than my dad. She could probably buy my dad.

  Kitt grabs my hand as we make our way outside. I wasn't prepared though. Cameras flash in our faces. Ted steps closer. The noise is deafening, and I wince.

  People scream questions at us that I can only just make out.

  "Kitt, did you know?"

  "Texas, how did you react to the allegations?"

  "Kitt, can we have an interview?"

  Kitt's arm tightens around me.

  What's that about?

  Kitt frowns but keeps us moving forward.

  "Keep walking. Almost there," Ted says. His voice is tight, and his eyes are everywhere. He doesn't like this.

  There are so many people that the short walk to the car seems like miles.

  Peyton, Milo, and Cooper are close behind. Hank and Lars surround them.

  The back door to the limo is wrenched open, and both Ted and Kitt are ushering me inside. Only when we're all in safely do my shoulders sag.

  I lay my head against Kitt's shoulder. "That was crazy."

  "I know, babe. I'm sorry."

  "It's not your fault."

  "You okay, Tex?" Peyton asks.

  She's sitting at the end with Cooper. His arm is around her, and she's leaning against him, like she trusts him to protect her. He might be a joker and a whore, but I trust him with my life, so she's right to do the same.

  Milo lets out a string of swearwords as we pull into Whitney's drive. I think it's too big to be classed as a drive. This is a car park. Her house is massive and made of thick dark stone that gives it a gothic look.

  I want to buy it.

  Ted is happier now that we're on private property. It makes his job a lot easier, and he'll be able to relax. Steel gates keep out unwanted attention.

  The car stops right in front of the door, and we pile out. The entrance is huge. A chunky double door opens as we approach, and two men dressed entirely in black welcome us with a smile. In silence, they both gesture with their hands toward a door.

  Coop walks ahead with Peyton on his arm.

  "Er, anyone else find this creepy?" I ask, gripping Kitt's hand. I'm still in heels, so I really can't be running if this is about to turn into a horror film.

  "Yep," Milo replies. "Awesome, right?"

  Oh, great. The door leads to stairs going down.

  My eyes flash to Kitt, and he smirks. He's not at all worried. Music and laughter is coming from down there. Do we really have to be in the cellar?

  My heels click on the limestone steps. I don't like this. The stairs curl around, and when we reach the bottom, I don't know why I was worried.

  The cellar is large, and the floor and walls are entirely stone. But that's where the creep factor ends. Carved solid oak has been used to create a bar and rustic seating areas. The DJ is at the far end, and staff is hurrying to lay food out on a long table at the side.

  "I'm so glad you made it," Whitney says, hugging Milo and basically pressing her boobs on him.

  She's old enough to be his bloody mother.

  "Wouldn't have missed it," Milo replies.

  "Texas, it's so good to see you. It's been a long time."

  She hugs me, and I dig around in my mind to remember when we've met.

  "Sorry, I don't remember."

  Pulling away, she laughs and blushes lightly. "You were four, so you probably wouldn't. How is your dad?"

  Oh my fucking God, she had sex with my dad! I swallow bile. Do not throw up on her. "He's great. Thank you."

  "I see the tour is going well. Think you can sneak me into the O2?"

  Kitt nods. "I'll make sure it's done."

  "That would be fabulous."

  You are not shagging my dad again.

  "Anyway, please enjoy. Texas, we have to catch up soon."

  I smile. "Definitely."

  Whitney floats away to the next group who've arrived. Jesus, she's so elegant that she doesn't even walk.

  "I'm disturbed," I murmur.

  Milo's mouth is open.

  Kitt kisses my temple. "Sorry, baby, but your dad is a legend!"

  "I need a drink."

  "I need to work on someone else. I'm not fucking someone your dad's had," Milo says before walking off.

  Kitt's eyes follow him, and I'm starting to get suspicious of that. It's like he knows something that the rest of us don't. What's up with Milo?

  Coop finds a table, and we're offered drinks. Whitney has everything--literally. Cooper spent five minutes listing every alcoholic beverage he could, and they have it all.

  "What the..." My jaw hits the table.

  Kitt's eyes follow mine. In the centre of the makeshift dance floor are five people dancing with costume deer heads and what I hope are fake daggers.

  No, I'm not high.

  Seriously, if I were a total bitch and wanted to be ostracised forever, I'd get pics of this and upload them to Facebook. I'm pretty sure Milo is one of the deer. I recognise his arms, but with no tattoos, it's hard to tell.

  Kitt laughs. "Hands down, the best party."

  Kitt and I have done far too many shots, and I can barely see straight. I don't know how he does it, but he never gets as drunk as the rest of us even though he drinks more.

  "Where did Coop and Pey go now?" I ask.

  They were on the dance floor--with their normal heads--a few minutes ago. I'm supposed to stop her from giving in and sleeping with him again.

  Kitt laughs. "They went into one of those rooms upstairs."

  "Oh, great. The one job I had tonight..."

  "That's not the one job you had," he whispers in my ear, dragging his hand along my thigh.

  The feel of his skin on mine steals my breath.

  Yeah, screw Peyton. If you can't stop yourself from sleeping with someone, then you obviously don't want to resist them.

  My phone vibrates on the table, and Kitt sighs. "All night, that's been going off."

  I shrug. "It's your fault, rock star."

  "Ah, here they are," he says, nodding to a rumpled-looking Peyton and pristine Cooper.

  What did he do to her?

  He's overjoyed and cocky, and she's frowning because she was supposed to resist.

  I get up, grab my phone, and head over to her. "Drink, Pey?"

  She glares. "No talking. I want a double."

  "Whatever would we talk about anyway?"

  "You're not cute when you do that." She links my arm, and I laugh.

  My phone vibrates again. I need to look at it, or catching up tomorrow is going to be impossible. Peyton grabs it out of my hand and slips it into her
bag.

  Okay. "What the hell?"

  She frowns. "Well, you're enjoying yourself. No need to check this."

  "It's blowing up, Pey. I want to make sure everything's okay."

  "Everything is fine," she says far too fast.

  Something is wrong. Her pale eyes are shifty, and she can't look directly at me.

  "Peyton Esmeralda Best!"

  Coop's head flies in her direction. He's sitting with Kitt now at our table. "Your middle name is Esmeralda?"

  "Fuck off," she snaps at him. "Enjoy yourself, Tex. Worry about this tomorrow."

  Kitt gets up and holds his hand out. With a sigh, she hands it over. My heart is in my throat as I watch him unlock my phone. Peyton is being weird for a reason, and it has Kitt concerned. That means, I'm worried.

  What's going on?

  "What?" I ask, feeling ice settle in my stomach.

  "Fuck's sake!" Kitt spits through gritted teeth. His jaw twitches where he's clenching it so hard.

  "Show me," I demand.

  Taking a breath, he hands me the phone.

  "What the hell is this?" I whisper, shaking my head.

  Kitt cups my cheek. "It's not true, baby. I swear to you."

  "Yeah, I know that. Why can't people leave us alone?"

  "What's going on?" Cooper peers over my shoulder.

  "Some girl is claiming she's pregnant with Kitt's baby," I explain. "Apparently, it happened after that concert in February." That explains the weird questions when we left the premiere.

  I look at the woman in question and gulp. She looks familiar. Kitt did sleep with her that night. Well, he went home with her, so I assume they didn't drink tea and play Monopoly.

  "I know what you're thinking, Texas, so don't go there. I'm always careful. No exceptions. Right from the start, Mark warned us what could happen, so I've always checked condoms afterward, too. Her baby isn't mine."

  "He's right, Texy," Coop says. "None of us would risk this shit. The woman clearly wants her fifteen minutes."

  Kitt's eyes are wild. He's petrified that I won't believe him, but I do. This sort of thing happens too often. I've been through it with Will and my dad, too. Kitt would never risk getting someone pregnant. Dad definitely would've scared them half to death and made sure they knew to be overly cautious.

  "Okay." I hand my phone back to Peyton and pull Kitt toward me. "This is no surprise. Some women do this. Next week, I'll be having an affair or something equally ridiculous."

  He slides his hands around my back. "So, you're okay? We're okay?"

  "We're better than okay. Neither of us can control what people say, but we can control what we believe. I trust you over anyone else, and I don't care what anyone says about all this."

  "You mean, your dad?"

  "He'll know she's lying, too."

  He bends his head and kisses me. He's tense still, and I know it's because he hates things being written about him. He stresses so much, worrying that I'll eventually believe a rumour. I used to care what was written about me, but over time, it has become the norm. People will always have an opinion, and they will always say things to get attention or make themselves feel better. What I won't do is ever lower myself to a point where I believe lying strangers over the people I love and trust.

  "Can we get out of here? I want you to myself," he murmurs against my lips.

  "Definitely. I have some making up to do, remember?"

  He smirks. "As if I'd forget."

  KITT

  WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24

  NEW YORK

  The last ten days have been hell. Half the world is behind me, and the other half thinks I'm a bastard for denying my child. People who don't know me or the women hell-bent on destroying my life are judging and picking sides.

  Lindsay, my publicist, has released a statement, denying that I'm the father, and she's advised me not to mention it at all. She's also made it very clear that I'm not to be questioned on it during interviews or any other appearances. The woman is a legend, and as hard as this is, she's been making it a lot easier.

  Texas has been hounded with messages of support, sympathy, or abuse. She is the true innocent person and the only one I give a fuck about. When someone says something about her, I feel like going fucking postal.

  I hold her close as we walk out of the airport. Cameras click, and the flashes coming from so many make me wince. Texas looks up, and her eyes are wide. She's scared. There are more people here than what we were exposed to in England.

  Ted and Hank pull closer, and Lars steps behind us. We have four other guys here, too, and they closely shadow Enigma, Milo, and Coop.

  I'm bumped to the side as security fights to keep the crowd at bay. I clamp my arm around Texas and pull her in front of me.

  Her name is being screamed almost as loudly as mine. It would seem that not everyone is here to shout shit though. There's a lot of, "I love you," in there as well.

  But it's too much. I'm not naive. I know how things can get, but this is insanity. I step in line with her.

  Texas smiles as she wraps her arm around me. She doesn't care what they say. I don't care.

  You do care. You care that they're saying shit about the woman you love.

  "Kitt, can I have an autograph?"

  "Can we get a picture?"

  "We love you!"

  "You're a disgrace."

  "How does it feel to know your boy fucks other women?"

  I tighten my grip on Tex. She heard that, but it doesn't show. Her smile never falters as we push our way through the suffocating crowd. Ted's arms come out as a group beside us lunges forward. I'm jolted to the side, and Texas slips through my arm, crashing to the floor.

  Fuck.

  I taste bitter anger on my tongue as I bend down to get her. Ted is already there, and Tex is pushing herself up. Laughing, she shakes her head.

  How can she laugh?

  Ted practically elbows everyone else in our way. Mark takes charge of Tex and hauls her into the car. I'm left a few steps behind, feeling like shit. I stumble forward with ice in my stomach. Milo claps my back as I get in the limo.

  What the fuck am I going to do?

  Closing my eyes, I rub my hand over my face, trying to formulate a plan. It'd be nearly impossible to get everyone to believe that I'm telling the truth and to respect our personal fucking space. I'm public property now.

  Texas scoots over and pulls my arm down.

  "I'm so sorry, Tex."

  "I fell over myself, Kitt. I've fallen over nothing at all plenty of times. That's no one's fault but Dad's and Jennifer's dodgy genes."

  Mark looks over but doesn't bite. I can't tell if he's pissed or not. He's always watching, always judging whether I stack up or not. I usually think I do all right, but today, I failed.

  I fucking let her fall!

  "Kitt, please, don't beat yourself up over this."

  Her hand reaches out, and I grip her wrist.

  "You're bleeding."

  And it's all your fault.

  "Oh." She looks down at her grazed palm and winces. "Damn, I didn't even feel it."

  "There a first aid box in here, mate?" Ted asks the driver.

  "Kitt, there's barely even cut. You look like I've just sliced my head down to the skull."

  All I can see is a thin string of red trickling from the graze. The blood sitting in the open skin has already started to clot, and it's not seeped out past a few millimetres, but I'm the reason it happened. She's right. It's a small cut that probably doesn't even hurt, but she's my girl, I love her, and it kills me that I've caused her to bleed. No one wants to see someone they love even have a headache.

  I feel everyone's eyes on me, waiting for a reaction, trying to work out why this is so hard for me. Even Mark is dealing fine, and she's his daughter. But this isn't his fault.

  "You're okay?" I ask.

  "I'm fine. I've had worse."

  That's not the point. This shouldn't have happened at all. It wouldn't have if there
weren't so many people.

  That fucking lying whore and her rumours.

  She's going to ruin your relationship.

  She's not. I won't let Tex go.

  I've never felt anything so strong as what I feel for her. Texas changed the game for me, and I don't ever want to go back to the person I was before her. She's made me into the person I was always supposed to be. She was made to be mine. We're two halves of a whole, and the thought of living my life without her by my side makes my skin burn in rage. I'm fucking terrified that she'll decide she's enough. She's done this public property thing longer, since birth, but I've changed things for her, too.

  Everything about Filthy Sound is hot news right now. We've exploded onto the scene. Last week, Cooper coughing on-screen for a morning show sparked a Twitter meltdown of fucking well-wishing and swooning. I've turned Texas from daughter of a rock star to girlfriend of one, and that is a lot juicer.

  "Can we just get to the hotel, please?" I snap as I tug her closer.

  Get ahold of yourself.

  Texas sighs into my chest and holds out her hand, so Ted can tend to the cut that rips through my heart.

  It's a fucking graze, you moron. She. Is. Fine.

  We ride the rest of the way in silence. It isn't uncomfortable, but no one feels particularly chatty, not even Cooper.

  Thankfully, the hotel is free of any gatherings outside, and we head straight inside and up to our rooms.

  I had Texas's rooms cancelled for the rest of the tour, as we'll be sharing. Mark wasn't happy, but Texas is very good at getting around him. Once the door is closed behind us, I finally feel the tension evaporate.

  "Are we going to talk about what happened, Kitt? You completely overreacted back there. Accidents happen, especially when I'm not looking where I'm going!"

  "We were pushed, Tex. That's why you fell."

  "I'd already corrected myself by then. I tripped a second later."

  "And you wouldn't have done that if it wasn't for me."

  She rolls her pretty hazel eyes that I love so much. "And it wouldn't have happened if I'd taken Milo's offer of a piggyback or been born to different people. Don't be ridiculous, Kitt. I'm supposed to be the mindfuck one, remember?"

  I smirk. "Oh, you still are. And you know what fucks me up even more?"

  "Go on..."

  "These goddamn shorts." I trace the line where leather meets skin.

  Laughing, she wraps her arms around my neck. "I don't even like them. I like the effect they have on you."

  She smiles, and her eyes sparkle in a flirtatious way that makes my dick harden.

  "All of you has that effect on me. It only takes a look. Fuck, waking up and smelling your scent before I even see you makes me rock solid."