When she was finished, he sat up and said, “Maybe he needed to protect you, Maisy. Maybe he thought he was truly doing the right thing. His entire life, he’d been looking for that one thing to live for, to fight for, and you were it, but he was faced with a difficult decision when his dad came around and it might not have seemed like it, but he fought for you one last time, but this time, he fought himself. If you think you can bury the past and move forward, then you need to talk to him, give him a chance to explain. If you don’t think there is a chance in hell you could ever forgive him, then bury it and move on. Stop torturing yourself like this.”
Tears streamed down her face as she held onto the necklace she was wearing, the one Rook got her. Kaid got off the bed and quickly pulled her into his arms.
“From the look on your face, I can see that you’re going to listen to him.”
“I don’t think I have a choice. I need to at least listen. If I don’t, I don’t think I will ever move on. I’m just afraid of what everyone is going to say. People judge, you know? Everyone knows what happened to me, how Rook treated me, and they’ll judge me if I decide to take him back; they’ll say I’m not a strong woman, that I shouldn’t give in to a cheater.”
“They can go fuck themselves,” Kaid said earnestly. “No one has any right to judge another person’s life, and do you know why? Because they don’t have the full story; they don’t know what that person has been through in their lifetime to make rash decisions about them. What is life without forgiveness, without second chances, without being able to sit back and listen to someone’s story, to try to understand what they’re conveying? Life isn’t perfect, baby girl, you and I both know that. I would like to meet one person who’s had a perfect life, where everything has gone exactly as they expected. No one has that life; there is always something that has gone wrong, that has kicked them in the ass, whether it’s that they were cheated on, they had a miscarriage, they were beaten by their parents, or picked on at school. Everyone has demons, no matter how intense they are, they still matter, so for someone to judge you on your decision is their problem, not yours. They’re just living in a fantasy world; this is realty. Fighting for something that is so deeply ingrained in your heart is reality, whether you like to believe it or not.”
Kaid wiped away the tears that continued to stream down Maisy’s face while he talked.
“The easier thing would be to give up. The hard part is to forgive. You do what’s best for you, and if others don’t like it, then they are just a bunch of judgmental assholes living in a fantasy world, and you know what? Good luck to them, because this right here is real life.”
Maisy nodded and then wrapped her arms around Kaid. He pulled her in tight and put a kiss on the top of her head.
“Thank you,” she said into his chest.
“You’re welcome. I have to go, but I will see you a little later for dinner, okay?”
“Okay.”
Leaving her behind and pulling out his cell phone once he reached his room, he dialed a number he’d been wanting to call since he found out about his new dwellings.
“Hello?” that sweet British voice rang over the phone.
“Hey, it’s Kaid.”
“Yes, I can see that. There’s this amazing thing nowadays called caller ID,” Harper spoke into the phone.
“I see that you’ve taken your sarcastic pill today.”
“Daily dose,” she joked. “So, to what do I owe the fine pleasure of this call?”
“Did you hear about our new arrangements, all of them?”
“I did,” there was slight mirth in her voice.
“I can tell, you find this absolutely hysterical.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Oh, just by the way you’re holding back the snort that wants to escape from your nose. Go ahead, laugh it up.”
A little squeal escaped her lips as she laughed. The noise was rather delightful for Kaid to hear, and he hated the fact that he could actually see himself liking Harper, as more than a friend. He hadn’t really thought about a woman in that way in a very long time. He wasn’t necessarily attracted to a lot of women, on a soul to soul basis. Yes, he found women attractive, but to find a woman he could speak freely with, other than Willow and Maisy, was rare for him.
“I’m sorry,” she laugh-talked into the phone. “It’s just, God, I can’t wait to watch this special, to see all you deranged humans trying to get along under the same roof after all that went down. God, the label is pretty damn smart, because that’s going to make for some good TV.”
“Glad you’re taking such pleasure in this,” Kaid silently laughed. Harper would love the situation he was in. She found it quite humorous when individuals were stuck in awkward situations. Kaid was more likely to feel uncomfortable for the person when he saw someone in that position, but not Harper; she thrived while watching other people be embarrassed out of their minds.
“Don’t get all butt hurt now. You know I’m teasing, and if you need to talk, you can always come to me.”
“Well…”
“Ah, hell,” she laughed. “I was only kidding about the talking part.” When Kaid fell silent, Harper blew out an exasperated breath. “You’re exhausting today. You know I was kidding; tell me, what’s on your mind?”
“You,” Kaid said honestly, accidently letting that slip out of his mouth. A wave of heat flashed over his body at his confession.
“W-what?” Harper stuttered for a second.
Clearing his throat, which had instantly started to dry out from the predicament he put himself in, Kaid said, “Well, I just…damn. I just was thinking about how nice it would be to grab a cup of coffee or something, to talk, you know.”
“Oookay,” Harper drawled out. “We can talk here, on the phone.”
“It’s not the same. Can I see you outside the studio?”
There was a pregnant pause on the phone.
“Harper, are you still there?” Kaid asked nervously.
“Yes, I’m here. I just…Kaid, we have to get something straight; I don’t date people I work with, especially musicians. I like my job and plan on keeping it. I don’t want anything to get in the way of that.
Well, that just about settled everything that was on Kaid’s mind; Harper was a big fat no. He got it. He must have read her signals wrong the other day, what a fool.
“Alright, well, I guess I’ll see you at the studio; we can talk then.”
“Kaid…”
“Harper, it’s really okay. I get it. For what it’s worth, I just really wanted a friend, someone other than Maisy and Willow to talk to, to enjoy someone else’s company, but I get it, no worries. I’ll talk to you later.”
Kaid quickly hung up his phone and flopped on his bed, as disappointment ran through his veins. He was humiliated from the quick brush off Harper had given him. He thought that maybe there could have been something between them, like he was getting that kind of vibe from her, but after the conversation they just had, clearly the feelings were not mutual.
**Maisy**
After taking a long hot shower, Maisy styled her hair up in a tight bun on the top of her head, put on a pair of leggings, a white tank top, and sandals. She needed to find Rook.
She searched the house, starting with his room, but couldn’t find him anywhere. When she asked Cruz where Rook was, all Cruz did was lick his lips and pelvic thrust in her direction, so she gave up asking, thanks to the idiot who was too immature to even walk straight.
She was about to give up hope when she realized she hadn’t checked to see if his bike was in the garage or not. There was a long circular driveway that held the cars that belonged to the Shattered Souls members; no one from Twisted Perfection had yet bought a car, but the garage was where Rook parked his motorcycle.
When she approached the door, she heard some clanking and knew that he must be standing on the other side of the door, tinkering with his bike. Instantly, nerves flooded her as she prepared for a conversat
ion she wasn’t ready to have, but needed to have, or else she would lose all the bravado she mustered up while taking a shower.
With determination, she opened the door to find Rook in a pair of sweat pant shorts that rode extremely low on his narrow hips…and that was it. He stood up at the sound of the door being opened, and once he saw that it was Maisy behind him, he rested on the seat of his bike, folded his arms over his chest, just like every other time she’d seen him with his bike, and smiled brightly at her. His chest was slightly thinner than she remembered, but deeply corded with muscles. His hair was a bit of a mess from him working outside, and his beard was still very thick, which made his blue eyes pop even more. He was, by far, the sexiest man she had ever seen.
Without even missing a beat, Rook smiled, and said, “Hey, Boo.”
She melted, right then and there. How could she not? He was slowly wearing her down.
“You look so fresh and beautiful right now,” he admitted honestly, with a little bit of wariness in his voice, as if he wasn’t sure whether she was going to lash out at him or not.
“Thank you,” she accepted his compliment politely. “Can we talk for a second?”
Her hands twisted in front of her, as she barely made eye contact with the man. She could feel the silver of her necklace she wore around her neck burn her, as he nodded his head and eyed the necklace that she couldn’t seem to convince herself to take off. The only time she took it off was for the Grammys, and that was because Quinn would have wrung her neck if she wore that down the red carpet.
Grabbing a towel off of his bike, he wiped his hands and looked around the vastly empty space. “Uh, do you want to sit somewhere?”
Maisy looked outside the open garage, spotted a bench that overlooked the valley, and said, “We can sit on the bench.”
She led the way, as he followed closely behind. She could feel the heat pouring off of him, the blaze of his eyes on her back, and the all-encompassing energy of him being so close. It was almost difficult for her to breathe.
Once they sat down on the bench and turned toward each other, Maisy thought about how the bench might not have been the best idea, because they were awfully close, like their knees were millimeters from touching each other.
“Sorry for bothering you when you were…” Maisy looked back at his bike and crinkled her nose. What was he doing?
“I was changing the oil,” he answered her silent question. “And you’re never bothering me, ever, Maisy.”
Nodding, she continued. “I wanted to talk to you about our situation here in the house and set some ground rules.” That wasn’t really what she wanted to talk about, but she couldn’t just jump right into the conversation; she needed to warm up, and by the look on Rook’s face, the look of disappointment, that was not what he was expecting her to say either.
“Okay, lay it on me,” he said, trying to use a light tone, but she knew he was trying to reel himself back in from what she wanted to talk about.
“Umm…” she couldn’t think, and she instantly felt stupid as he just stared at her with those beautiful eyes. What would it be like to kiss him again? To nuzzle her head into his shoulder, to love on him?
“Maisy? Ground rules?” Rook reminded her, as she shook the thoughts out of her head.
“Honestly, that’s not why I wanted to talk to you.”
“It’s not?” he asked, hope now lingering in his eyes.
“No, I wanted to talk about what happened between us, but I don’t know if this is the best time, since your shirt is off and all.”
That comment garnered her a gorgeous smile from him.
“Is my manly chest distracting you from conversation, Boo?”
Standing up, she said, “You’re infuriating, but yes, so if you don’t mind, maybe we can talk about this another time.”
She started to walk away when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. “I can put a shirt on; I want to talk, Maisy. I don’t think I can wait another minute if you want to have this conversation. I’ve been waiting forever to have this conversation. Let me go take a shower, change, and maybe we can meet out by the pool? Lounge and maybe have some snacks or something?”
“Snacks?” she laughed a little. “This isn’t a tea party.”
“Just trying to make things comfortable, that’s all,” he hung his head slightly, as he looked at her through his lashes.
“Is that because you realize this will be one of the most uncomfortable conversations you will ever have?”
“Pretty much,” he said with a slight smile.
“Well, bring on the snacks then.”
**Grey**
There was a knock at Grey’s door that pulled him from his computer, where he was watching mindless YouTube videos, a key element to a good procrastination.
“Come in,” Grey called out.
Quinn stepped through a small crack she opened, and then shut the door immediately behind her. Grey hadn’t seen or heard from her since they got off the tour bus, and he had to admit, she looked good. Her hair was still brown, but it was a little longer than the pixie cut she’d had. It was still stylish, but not as short. Her body had filled out a little bit more, which, even though he didn’t want to care, the image of her with a little weight put some relief in his heart. No matter what, he would always care and worry about Quinn. They had been through a lot together.
“Hey,” she said quietly. “Can we talk?”
Eyeing her, he curtly nodded his head, and then shut the top of his laptop to give her his full attention.
“Thanks.”
“Grab a seat,” Grey said, as he pointed to one of the chairs that was in his room by the window. He decided to stay on the bed…to keep some distance between them. Not because he was interested in her, but more because he still had a heavy resentment toward her.
“We need to talk, Grey.”
“Well, talk,” he said, acting like a little bitch. He could tell he was being one, but it was hard not to when he still felt so sour toward her and Landon.
Unease washed over her as she fidgeted in her seat. He studied her carefully and, all of a sudden, it hit him like a ton of bricks; from the moment she’d walked into his room and started talking, he realized there was not one ounce of feeling coming out of him for her. He didn’t feel for her at all, actually. He cared about her, as a friend, but as a girlfriend, as a lover, there was nothing there. It was rather freeing.
“I don’t want you to be mad at Landon anymore. You guys were so close…”
“Yeah, well, he ruined that when he started fucking my girlfriend,” Grey said, while he shifted on the bed. He might not feel anything for Quinn, but he still had a bitter taste in his mouth for how everything went down.
“I wasn’t your girlfriend when he touched me; we were broken up,” Quinn defended.
“And you had a jolly fucking time mourning our long relationship in Landon’s arms.”
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Quinn calmed herself before she spoke. Grey could see by the look in her eyes that he was about to get a piece of her mind, something he didn’t want to hear.
“Tell me this, Grey, did you ever touch Willow while we were dating…and don’t fucking lie to me.”
Biting on his lip, he thought back to one of the first times he interacted with Willow in a room where all their clothes were held. They dry humped each other, fucking dry humped, who did that? He never kissed her, but he most certainly got off. Then there was the time in the hot tub, he didn’t kiss her then either, but he sure as hell felt her up, just the thought of the memory had him growing uncomfortably hard.
“I did,” he admitted honestly.
Her eyes shut, as if she was trying to hide from the pain of his confession.
“Not that it matters, but we never kissed, and we never really did anything, but I did touch her, and I had thoughts of her on multiple occasions.”
Nodding her head, she opened her eyes and said, “I loved you, Grey; I really did, bu
t I saw us drifting apart slowly, especially through that last tour. I don’t know if it was because of the pressure of you being the pretty boy in the band and my insecurities, but we drifted apart. The moment Willow came along, it was the beginning of the end for our relationship. I saw the way you looked at her, the way you talked to her, interacted with her. Your body language showed interest every time she walked in the room. It was an unhealthy situation for me, and I knew you loved me, but you weren’t in love with me. Your lust for Willow outweighed your love for me, and I accept that now.”
Grey raked his hands over his face. He wasn’t ready to have this kind of mature conversation just yet, especially with such a cool and composed Quinn. Why wasn’t she yelling at him, telling him to go fuck himself for admitting his faults? Was she in a happy place now? Because Grey sure as hell wasn’t. He felt like he was living in the pits of hell, now that he had to once again be in close proximity to Willow, who had an exponential hate for him. He’d had to close his blinds earlier because she decided to do some topless tanning out by the pool.
“I hate that you’re so calm,” he admitted. “I need you to yell at me, take out your anger on me.”
She shook her head. “I’ve had some time to think about this, Grey, and I’ve been seeing my therapist regularly, which has helped. I thought, at first, you were attracted to Willow because I wasn’t doing enough for you, I wasn’t perfect enough for you, but that wasn’t the case; it was because we weren’t perfect for each other. We were holding onto the past and were too damn scared to let go of it. We are all we’ve ever known, Grey. We are each other’s firsts; it’s hard to let go of that, especially when I was also working with you. What happened between us is no one’s fault.”
The fact that she made sense, that she was hitting the nail on the head, was annoying, and also held a bit of relief for Grey. The tightness in his chest started to ease, but only slightly.
“Why my brother, though?” he asked, wondering if it was Quinn or Landon who made the move…that would be the true telling of how loyal Landon was.