With trepidation, I looked around for Griffin. I found him tongue deep in some blonde. I immediately stiffened as pure venom seeped through my veins. Anna pours her heart out and this is how he repays her? What a prick! Kellan and I stopped dancing as I stared at Griffin cupping the girl's ass in front of him, while two more women hung off his arms. A vibrant redhead had her hands inside his pants. I was so pissed I could hardly see straight. I broke away from Kellan to give Griffin a piece of my mind, but Kellan yanked me back into his arms. My eyes bored holes into Griffin as Kellan's lips touched my ear.
"Making a scene with him isn't going to help anything. I'll talk to him later."
I pushed Kellan back, my mood frosty. "Later? What, after he's screwed them?"
Kellan shook his head at me and was about to respond when Sienna joined our group of gyrating bodies. Slinking up to Kellan's side, a beautiful man on each arm, she asked him, "Problem?" One of her guys was blatantly staring at her chest; the other was blatantly staring at Kellan. Of course. Everybody loved Kellan. Except me at the moment.
Kellan gave her a brief smile. "Everything's fine."
I was about to wholeheartedly object when Griffin walked through my peripheral vision. He had one arm around the blonde, the other around the redhead. He was striding them purposefully toward the VIP bathrooms, and I was absolutely certain that it wasn't because he had to pee.
"That son of a bitch!" I muttered, taking a step toward the restrooms. Damn if I was just going to sit back and watch him cheat on my sister. Kellan had a firm grip on my hand, though. I looked back at him when I was stretched to capacity. "Let me go, Kellan."
Shaking his head, he pulled me toward him. "You can't make him change, Kiera. He has to want to. And he's not going to stop . . . whatever he's doing in there just because you barge in yelling and screaming. Trust me. You'll just end up seeing way more than you want to."
Yanking my hand free, I pushed against his chest. "Then you go stop him. Drag him out of there like you dragged him away from those two girl-looking guys in New Jersey!" I was so irritated and hurt for my sister that tears were pricking the corners of my eyes.
Stepping into me, Kellan cupped my cheeks. "He has to make the choice, Kiera. It means nothing if I force him."
His eyes were soft with compassion. I knew he was right. Kellan and I couldn't watchdog Griffin every time he went out, but it hurt so bad to stand aside and let it happen. "He won't get away with it, Kellan. I'm not going to lie for him." I had a sudden, painful respect for Jenny in that moment. I felt sick for doing nothing while Griffin screwed around on my sister. She must have felt the exact same way when she'd done nothing while I'd been fooling around on Denny. I owed her a much bigger apology than I'd ever given her.
Kellan caressed my cheek. "Anna knows what he's like, Kiera. You don't have to lie."
Fighting back nausea and tears, I warbled, "I want to leave now."
Kellan nodded and held me close. I clutched him tight as he asked one of the waitresses to call a cab. After hasty goodbyes to Sienna and the D-Bags I liked, Kellan and I ducked out the rear exit. A yellow and black taxi was waiting for us, and holding hands, we darted inside. Kellan told the cab driver where to go, then twisted to face me. His expression was worried and apologetic. I searched his features as hot tears leaked out of my eyes. "I hate him," I seethed. And just when I'd actually been starting to like Griffin too. As irrational as it sounded, I felt like he'd just cheated on me as well as my sister.
Kellan grabbed my cheeks, giving me a soft, tender kiss. It took a moment, but as the cab started pulling away, his gentle touch finally eased my hardening heart. Not all men sucked.
I fumed as I lay in my spacious king-sized bed next to my sleeping husband. I wasn't even enjoying the fifteen hundred thread-count sheets or the ultra-warm down comforter. The silky silver tassels attached to the corners of my pillow were nothing more than stress-relievers as I repeatedly ran my fingers through them. Griffin was a certified, Grade-A a**hole. If my father didn't first, I may put a hit out on him. I was sure I could talk Kellan into helping me hide the body.
Every sense I had was focused on the hallway, because the moment I heard Griffin's arrival at the hotel, I was going to pounce on him. And Kellan wasn't going to be able to stop me this time. Nothing would stop me this time. Even hotel security would have trouble containing me. Griffin had gone too far.
I knew Kellan was right. I knew the choice to be a decent human being was Griffin's alone, but Jesus Christ, Anna was about to pop out his child any day now. The least he could do was wait until after his son was born to resume banging random babes. And he wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box. Did he use condoms? What if he knocked one of the bimbos up? What if he caught something and spread it to my sister? It was all so disgustingly horrifying. It jacked up my already revving temper.
My feet were twitchy and restless as I waited. Kellan was peacefully sleeping beside me, which didn't help my anger any. How could he be so calm about the whole thing? Guys were weird. But, then again, Griffin and Anna were weird. They'd never really been committed to each other. I just thought . . . with the pregnancy, and Griffin's streak of monogamy . . . I had just hoped things were different. Maybe the only anger I should be feeling was toward myself, for assuming he'd matured.
No. Griffin was an a**hole.
I leapt out of bed when I finally heard voices in the hallway. So help me God, Griffin was going to pay for this. Not even sure if it was him I was hearing, I yanked open the heavy outer door. Head down and hands in his pockets, Griffin was right in front of me as I stomped into the hallway. Smiling that fate wanted me to kick his ass, I pushed him into the far wall. Showing up out of nowhere and flinging myself at him got Griffin's attention. His face was pale white as he bumped into the hotel room door opposite mine.
Seeing the confusion on his face made my vision streak with red. Grade-A Asshole was going to get an earful, along with every other person on this floor who was trying to sleep. But I didn't care. My sister's honor was at stake. A small part of me noted the hypocrisy in my actions, but the inferno in me drowned that part out. "You are the biggest son of a bitch I have ever met!"
Being screeched at this early in the morning knocked the surprise off of Griffin's face. Scowling, he yelled back, "What the fuck's wrong with you?"
Matt had been walking in front of Griffin, Evan behind him. They both took a step toward me when I lunged for Griffin. Maybe seeing that I was going to throttle the bassist, Evan held me in his arms. "My sister is going to have your baby any second, and you're out screwing whores in bathrooms! I hope Anna finally wises up and kicks your ass to the curb!"
Griffin's face clouded over. "Yeah, like Denny kicked yours?" he snarled.
"Griffin!" Kellan was standing bare-chested in our doorway. My screaming may have woken him up, but it was Griffin's comment that had his blood pumping. His eyes were narrowed to icy pinpoints.
Griffin cast Kellan an annoyed, but cautious, glance. I took his moment of silence to shout back, "Minutes after Anna admits that she loves you, you find some cheap floozies to go down on you? What the hell's wrong with you?"
I could feel Evan's hands on my arms being replaced by Kellan's, but I didn't care. Kellan would have to gag me to shut me up at that point. Griffin stepped toward me, and the mood in the air shifted. Evan and Matt simultaneously put a hand on each of his arms, warning him to keep it together. Leaning into my face, Griffin yelled, "I didn't do anything with either of those girls, okay? So back the f**k off!"
Glaring, I spit out, "Right. And I'm supposed to believe that. I saw you."
His mood changing again, Griffin sighed. Voice still agitated, but quieter than before, he told me, "Yeah, we started going at it. I had both girls primed, panties on the floor, dying to jump me, but all I could think about was Anna." Raising his hands in the air, his voice picked up strength and volume. "I didn't want to f**k either of those girls because I'm in love with your f**king sister! Are you happy now, bitch! I'm f**king whipped . . . just like these other pussies." He indicated his band mates.
My jaw dropped. I couldn't even respond to that.
Someone else did respond, though. "You're in love with me?"
Every head shifted to the open hotel room door that Anna was leaning against. The energy in the air shifted again as Griffin locked eyes with her. Matt and Evan released him as he whispered, "Yes." Looking a little dejected, like he was admitting defeat, he muttered, "I'm in love with you, and I don't want anybody else." His brow furrowed, like he didn't understand how random hookups had suddenly lost their appeal.
Smiling, Anna strode out into the hallway to stand in front of him. "I love you too, and I don't want anybody else either." Cupping his cheek, she added, "You're enough for me."
That seemed to make sense to Griffin, and he finally smiled like he was happy. "You're enough for me too."
Grabbing his hand, Anna started backing toward her room. "Good, then come be enough for me right now. I'm horny as hell."
Griffin rushed up to her, grabbing her backside. "God, me too," he murmured before their mouths met.
My stomach twisting for a completely different reason, I turned around to flee back inside my room. Kellan was still blocking my path, though. Regardless of the sort of romantic moment we'd just witnessed, his expression was irritated. "Hey, Griffin!" I looked over to see Griffin reluctantly pulling his mouth from Anna's. Kellan's arm wrapped around my waist as he told Griffin, "Don't call my wife a bitch again."
Griffin smirked at him, then turned back to Anna.
Kellan and I went back to bed after the happy couple's breakthrough moment. Our slumber didn't last long, though. Kellan had a series of radio interviews that he had to call in for, which Tory reminded him about by mercilessly banging on our door. "Phone calls in ten minutes, Kyle."
Groggy and tired, Kellan sat up in our bed with slothlike speed. Scratching his chest, he kissed my cheek then nuzzled my neck. Giggling, I reached up and tangled my fingers through his hair. I'd been too upset to be intimate with him earlier, but I felt content and peaceful right then, and it was a shame to let this luxurious bed go to waste. Ten minutes wasn't a lot of time, but surely it was enough for a quickie.
As his lips worked their way up to my ear, I pulled his body down on top of mine. "Mornin'," he husked.
Wrapping my legs around his legs, I ground my h*ps against him, determined to wake him all the way up; it didn't take long. "Good morning," I whispered as I closed my eyes. God, he felt good.
Kellan didn't waste a second of his precious time; he pulled off my clothes while I pulled off his. When we were bare in each other's arms, I figured we still had over nine minutes left. Kellan's body was warm and soft, yet hard as steel as I clutched him to me. Enjoying our moment of freedom in our private suite, I held nothing back as his body sank inside of mine. The novelty of being completely alone with him had me cli**xing at a minute and a half in. When Tory banged on his door at the five minute reminder, telling him she'd texted his interview itinerary to him, I cried out with my second release. When she came back around with her sixty second reminder, I experienced my third and Kellan finally allowed himself to join me.
We were panting, both well spent, when he slunk off of the bed, cell phone in hand to go make his round of appointed calls. With a satisfied smile, I wondered if he had anymore ten minute breaks in his lineup.
Deciding to be a little lazy, since today wasn't a traveling day, I ordered up some room and laundry service. Sienna's manager had booked the hotels for the tour, and Sienna had extravagant tastes-anything under five stars simply wouldn't do. Most of the hotels we'd stayed at would wash all of our clothes for us if we called and asked. This was a huge bonus for me, since laundry wasn't my favorite thing in the world. Life on the road with Sienna did have a couple of perks; I felt spoiled.
After throwing all of our clothes into a bag, including what we'd been wearing this morning, I grabbed a couple of plush robes from the bathroom. The long, white robe smelled of lavender and was softer than any robe I'd ever worn before. It made me feel like I was wrapped in a gigantic powder puff. I briefly considered stealing it.