Make Me Stay (5 page)

Wiggling his eyebrows at me, Kane took his guitar off its stand and slung the strap around his neck, blowing a kiss in my direction. I swear I heard a girl swoon behind me. I sat down, crossed my legs and arms, and then gave him the finger.

Walking up to the microphone, he held it with one hand, the other rested over the neck of his red guitar. He was still in his cut-off shirt, and I had to laugh as I thought back to how I imagined it would be to watch him play that beautiful guitar.

I was right. It wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever had to watch.
Fine, whatever, it was sexy as hell to watch him up on stage--there I admitted it.
People behind me had cleared the tables and chairs to make a dance floor. He was really good--his voice was amazing, he didn’t miss a note, and never fell off key. The rest of the guys were flawless too. They were really good. If they hadn’t been discovered yet, I was sure it was right around the corner.

After a few songs, they took a break. “How’s everyone doing out there tonight?” Kane asked. He commanded the crowd and knew exactly where to move and how to make the women swoon. It was no wonder he had groupies. “We have a special guest here tonight,” he said, looking directly down at me.

My heart sank to my stomach, the same time his lips curled up. I put a stern look on my face.
He had better not do what I think.

“Tonight we finally get to meet the one and only--”

Don’t you fucking call me Kitty, you bitch, ass--

“--Caroline, the daughter of the man who kept this fine establishment alive and well.”

A chorus of hoots, hollers, whistles and claps erupted around me.

“Come on, Caroline, don’t be shy,” he said, as he knelt down on the edge of the stage and held the microphone in my face.

I ground my jaw and clenched my fists.
I swear, if those people weren’t here, I would slap that smug smile off his face.

“Aww, she’s still a little shy, but don’t worry, she’ll be here all summer, helping B out.”

Yup, if he leans down again, I’m going to slap him, I don’t care who’s looking
.

Luckily for him, he kept to entertaining the crowd. I needed a drink. I made my way over to the bar and, thanks to Kane’s warm welcome, I was stopped at every other table. Once I made it safely to the bar, I saw my dad, Kara, and two other girls working frantically to serve drinks.

Catching my eye my father walked over and slapped his hand on the bar. “Hey, honey, what do you want?”

“Something strong,” I replied.

My father reached under the counter, pulled a shot glass out, and placed it on the worn bar top. “He’s not that bad, Caroline. Try to enjoy tonight, meet some people,” he said, as he filled up the shot glass with straight bourbon. Holding up my shot, I tapped it on the bar and drank it. “Another one?” he asked. I nodded for more, and he filled it up again. “At least I don’t have to worry about you driving home. Remember that time I had to come get you at that party. Your mom was so mad at me for covering for you.”

The memory of my mother sitting on the front porch when my dad and I got home still made me anxious. I didn’t let myself finish out the memory. It was always too much. Taking the second shot, I simply smiled at my dad.

“You know, you can talk about her. It’s okay,” he said, filling the drink again.

“Thanks, Dad,” I said, after downing the third shot. “I think I’ll take a beer now.”

My father did as asked and soon there was a tall beer resting on the bar. I took my beer and tried to make good on what my father had suggested. I was going to be here, I might as well meet some new people. I struggled to navigate the crowed room with my filled to the rim beer. I was in search of a table in the back, the way, way back. I wanted to be as far away from the eager fans, and wanna-be rock stars looking to get laid, as I possibly could.

CHAPTER 8

Kane

Why did her hand have to feel so fucking good in mine?
I was clearly off my game, but thankfully the crowd didn’t seem to notice. I kept finding myself looking for her in the crowd of people.

When I stopped her in the hallway, I had all intentions of leaving her there, to greet the fans. My hand was flush with the wall, and a little above her head, I had her pinned, with nowhere to go but through me, and I couldn’t fight the urge to get even closer.

That was my first mistake. I wanted to grab her, shove her up against that wall, have her legs wrap around me, fist my hand in her hair, and finally taste her. I settled for whispering in her ear. It might have had something to do with the fact, I wasn’t sure if she would knee me in the balls, and I liked my balls, so I held back.

My second mistake was coming back and taking her hand in mine. I expected her to pull away, possibly even smack me, but she didn’t, which totally discombobulated me. In the six hours that I had gotten to know this girl, I did not take her for the dutifully following type. When the people around us started getting closer and the women tried to grab onto me and push her away, I made my third mistake of the night.

I pulled her up next to me and let go of her hand. I draped my arm around her, pulling her close to my body. The women seemed to back off enough for us to make our way to the stage. I squeezed her shoulder farther into my side, and talked closely in her ear again.

“Stay close. Wouldn’t want you to get trampled by my groupies on your first night here.” It wasn’t that bad, but I couldn’t resist messing with her or having my lips centimeters from her skin again.

Her now-familiar punch to my side was delightfully welcome, even though I knew there was a good chance I’d have a bruise tomorrow. I led her to the table that I had lied about earlier. Her father didn’t reserve a table, but the guys and I had. She wasn’t quick enough to hit me after reading the reserved paper that sat neatly on it. She made sure to let us know she hated the name Kitty earlier, rookie mistake.
Doesn’t she know that’s what I’m going to call her from now on, just because she despises it so much?
So now, I was trying my best to engage with the audience, when the only thing I wanted do, was watch her. In between two songs, I went back to the drums to grab my beer. Taking a huge swig, I leaned over to place it back.

“Kane, you all right? That girl got you pussy whipped after one afternoon?” Reece asked, still keeping the beat to the next song going.
Pussy whipped me? Hell no!

“Not a chance, Reece!” I yelled back over the drums.

“Prove it! See that red head?” he asked, pointing to her with one of his drumsticks. “I want to see her in the morning, doing the walk of shame. I want to know if the carpet matches the curtains.” He grinned, wiggling his eye brows.

Taking another sip of beer, I leaned over the drums, “Done,” I said before heading back to the microphone.
Hopefully, this will get him off my case
. Eyeing up the red head Reece had pointed out, I realized that it was going to be a piece of cake. That girl was pretty much spreading her legs already. Her top was so sheer you could see her bra, and her skirt was so tight and short it didn’t leave much to the imagination.

I let go of the guitar and held the microphone with both hands. My lips touched the intertwined pattern, and just as I was about to start the next song, I caught sight of Caroline, sitting at a table in the back. A man appeared next to her. Placing his drink down, he whispered in her ear, and she gestured for him to sit down. I had missed the count were I was supposed to start singing and the guys thankfully started the intro again for me. I quickly turned around to gain my composure. Reece was shaking his head and whipping his hand at me.

“Kat chow!” he yelled to me.

God damn it, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to explain this one
. Hearing Reece and the other guys cackling behind me, I knew for sure that whatever cover I thought I had was just blown.

CHAPTER 9

Caroline

I found a table at the back that was empty, since people were clamoring around the stage.

“This seat taken?” a deep voice asked from beside me.

I turned in the direction of the voice to find a guy placing his drink down. He was tall, and well built. Dressed in a T-shirt and khaki shorts, he was clean cut, with a healthy five o’clock shadow on his jaw. His hair was dark and in a short buzz, but still long enough to run his fingers through. His green eyes stared down at me waiting for an answer. This guy was good looking, but not--

I took a chance and caught sight of Kane on stage.
I hate that he’s so fucking sexy up there.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Go ahead, have a seat,” I said, tapping on the stool next to me.

“So, this your first time here?” he asked, leaning closer so he didn’t have to yell over the loud music, which seemed to be on repeat.

Didn’t they already play this?
I glanced up at the stage again to see Kane turned from the crowd. Guess he’s not as good as he thought if he forgot his own lyrics. It made me chuckle.

“Do I stick out that much?” I replied. As he smiled down at me, I took notice of his kind face.

“Yeah, you kind of do.”

Both laughing, we took a simultaneous sip of our drinks.

“So, what brings you to our small town?” he asked casually.

“I’m spending the summer with my dad. He owns the place.”

“Oh, B’s daughter. He’s been telling everyone about you.” Taking another sip of his drink, he stretched on his chair and glanced around the stage area.

“What brings you here tonight? You like One Night Stand?”
Did I really just ask that?
Cringing, I quickly took another sip of my beer.

Chuckling he answered, “They’re okay, but I’m here on big-brother duty.”

They really needed to change the name of their band--it lead to some pretty awkward conversations.

“My sister is a super fan, I guess you could say, and she wrangled me into bringing her here tonight since she’s seventeen and can’t get in on her own.”

I turned back to the stage and noticed that the row in front of it was all women, scantily dressed. No wonder JJ flirted with the line. These girls were dressed to impress and, my guess, not legal yet.

“I can’t believe my dad lets them in underage. Can’t he get in trouble?” I asked.

“Your dad has an in with the sheriff. They’re allowed to come in only while ONS is playing and they have to have a chaperone. Once their set is over, everyone under eighteen is kicked out,” the man clarified for me.

I shook my head in amazement that my father had an “in” with the sheriff.

“How do you know all this?” I asked.

“Because, I’m a cop and I know everything,” he said, taking another sip of his beer.

“Oh, you don’t look like a cop,” I said, smiling over at him.

“Thanks. If I ever decide to go undercover, I guess that’s a good thing.”

“You must really love your sister to sit here.”

“Pretty much. She owes me big time for this. I went to high school with these guys, and let’s just say their band’s name wasn’t a coincidence.”

Nodding in agreement, I glanced back up on stage, where Kane was currently singing about all the different ways to catch a girl.

He looked right at me and pointed. Our eyes locked for a brief second when he sang, “I’ll make you mine.” I shook my head and held up my middle finger proudly. It made the biggest smile spread across his face, as he placed his hand back on the strings of his guitar and continued playing.

“I guess you met Kane already?” my neighbor asked.

“Yes, I had the unfortunate experience of meeting him earlier today.”

“Well, not much has changes about him. These guys have been playing together and banging anything that walks since high school.” I didn’t doubt that either. “I’m Nate, by the way,” he said, holding his hand out.

“Caroline,” I responded, placing my hand in his.

Downing the last of my drink, I went to stand from the stool, but swayed slightly.
Three shots and a beer had me tipsy?
It had been a long time since I last drank. It might have even been over a year and half ago--hell, maybe two. I had poured everything I had into the internship at J&K and what did I get in return? The boot! I put everything on hold for them, friends--which I had lost over the years, boyfriends, who lost interest because I wasn’t around, and even my gold fish Roxy died because of that stupid internship.

“Sit down. I’ll go get us another beer,” Nate said, standing and taking the glass from my hand.

“Thanks.” Sitting back down on the stool, I watched as he walked across the room to where the bar was. I pulled my phone out of pocket to check the time, 9:45.
These guys can’t have much longer up there, can they?
They had been playing for over an hour, only breaking to get sips of beer, and tease the girls who were practically crawling on stage with them.

During the next thirty minutes, I chatted with Nate and continued to throw back at least two more beers. When the guys finally told the crowd goodnight, I watched them all jump off the stage and into the throng of women. They were swallowed whole, but I saw them all leave through the hallway that we had all come through earlier--a few extra people leaving with them, all women, of course.

My father got up on the stage and took the microphone in his hand. “All right, another great performance from the one and only ONS! Sorry, but if you don’t have a yellow wrist band on, we’re going to have to ask you to leave.”

A chorus of groans vibrated in the room. Two girls came up to the table that Nate and I were sitting at, and I could tell instantly that this was his sister.

“Can’t you pull some strings, I’m going to be eighteen in two weeks. It’s ridiculous that I have to leave,” she said, pouting.

“Caroline, this is my sister, Piper, and her friend Morgan,” Nate said, introducing us.

“You’re the girl that Kane was walking in earlier, Caroline. You’re B’s daughter. You are so lucky. I’d give anything to--”

“Hold it right there, sweetheart. Don’t get any absurd ideas about Kane and me.”