Over the Hills and Far Away (NOLA's Own #1) (52 page)

“I wasn’t even two years old!” I laughed.

“You were my first kiss,” he said, a sweet smile making his dimples punch in deep.

My heart tripping, I said, “Really?”

He nodded. “Mmhmm. I saw my dad kiss my mom—she was sober those few weeks—and the way she smiled at him…I wanted to make you smile like that.”

I thought I felt my heart crack open for the loving little boy he had once been. “Did I?”

“You bit me and laughed your fat little head off,” he replied with a playful scowl. “You made me cry.” He laughed and then jumped up.

He started getting dressed as I shoved some clothes into the Burlap Beast.

“But I adored you so much. I forgave you and gave you my Ernie doll.”

I froze and stared at him. “
You
gave me that?”

His eyebrows rose. “You remember it?”

“I still
have
it.”

“Shut the fuck up,” he said.

Heading into the closet, I pulled out a box of my old treasures, finding the much hugged, squeezed, and deeply loved Ernie from
Sesame Street
doll. He was filthy and patched in some areas, and he had a decent grease stain from me sleeping with my face on him throughout my whole childhood. Cradling him to my chest, I turned, and the utter delight on Phil’s face was simply awesome to behold.

“I never went anywhere without him for a long time. He made me feel safe,” I told him.

Smiling, I gave Ernie a place of honor on my dresser, next to my ancient CD player. Then, I took Phil’s hand and led the way down the stairs. Alys, Lili, and X were sitting in the living room.

Well, damn
, I thought.
If this isn’t a bit awkward…

“Hey, man. You guys hashed shit out?” asked X.

“Yeah,” replied Phil. “You got your sister home?”

“Yeah. Took her and Becca back to my parents after I dropped you off here. I just got back a little while ago.” X replied.

Alys came up and put her arms around me. “You okay?”

I returned her embrace with a one-armed squeeze since Phil refused to release my hand. “Very much so.”

Phil dropped a huge hand on her shoulder. “Sorry if I freaked you out, Alys,” he told her in a quiet tone.

“It’s cool,” she replied. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him, too.

Reaching out, Phil patted Lili on the head with his free hand. “You, too, brave Pygmy.”

Unable to help herself, Lili launched at us, snuggling into Phil’s side.

“Aw! Jeez, man!” cried X as he joined in, mostly squeezing up on Alys.

“You know, your voice carries something fierce, Gigantore,” Lili informed him.

“So I’ve been told,” Phil replied dryly.

“Where are you headed?” Alys asked, her voice muffled with her face squashed into Phil’s chest.

“His place. I’ll come back tomorrow morning before you guys head to work.”
Then, I’ll tell you what went down.

“Okay.” Alys replied.

“Well, this has been an exciting evening,” Lili announced, freeing herself from the lovefest. “See you in the morning then.”

We all pulled apart, and Phil and I headed for the door.

“I’ll meet you guys outside,” X called over his shoulder at Phil and me.

Shutting the door quietly behind us, Phil pulled me down the steps and out of the direct light of the porch lamp. Wrapping his arms around me, holding me close, he rested his chin on top of my head and sighed, swaying us to whatever music was playing through his mind.

What was going through
my
mind was the other thing Jason had said to me. Admittedly, I was seething in a bit of pea-green envy. I didn’t want to piss Phil off any more this evening, but I was dying to know.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” he replied immediately.

I took a deep breath. “Who’s Brigid?”

He froze. “Wow. That asshole covered all the bases.”

I swallowed thickly. “Jason said he didn’t see what was so special between you and me, but that there was something special when you were with Brigid. He said she was awesome.”

“He’s full of shit. He could hardly stand her.”

“Was she your girlfriend?”

“I guess you could’ve called her that. I just got tired of sleepin’ around, and she looked the part.”

“Looked the part?”

“She reminded me of you. Not your personality. But she had some badass hair.”

“Did you love her?”

“No,” he sighed. “She was just easy access, had great drug connections, and was fun to be around. It was while we were in Switzerland for eight months. She…I guess she helped me feel normal for a while.”

“Why didn’t you feel normal?”

He shrugged. “I was in a dark place in my head. It was while we were recording
Moniker Mayhem.
”

“Mmm…yeah, that album has a bit of a dark side, not as dark as
Addicted Masochist
though.”

His chest vibrated warmly with his laughter. “You could say that.”

“The next album had better not be pop music. If you guys go all NSYNC or some such shit because you’re feeling happy, I swear, I will deny being your Baby Girl.”

His laughter exploded out of him like the rumble of thunder. It completely warmed my soul, and I laughed with him. That was how X found us when he exited through the front door. His face was all smiles as he walked up to us.

“How did it go?” asked Phil, sobering a little.

“Mission accomplished,” replied X.

“Nice.”

“Is it cool if I stay at your place tonight? I don’t feel like driving back to my parents’ house. And—”

“And what?” asked Phil.

“I want to have a word with Jace when they get back.”

“Yeah, man, you and me both,” Phil spit viciously, his whole body tensing up.

X gave Phil a shrewd look. “You need to take this time to chill, man. They’re still at the hospital. You mashed his face in good.”

“He fuckin’ deserved it,” snapped Phil.

“Too fuckin’ right,” X agreed darkly. “But I wanna know where his head’s at before you unleash on him, yeah?”

“Right now, all I want is that motherfucker out of my home and away from my woman!”

“Does he have a place to go?” I asked, ignoring the sizzle-thrill of being called Phil’s woman. “And what about Sheri?”

“
She
was supposed to find her own place already!”

“Phil…” I said quietly. “Sheri doesn’t have anyone to take her in. I think you guys are all she has. And…I think she needs, you know,
girlfriends
. I feel that she was really hoping to be accepted by us…you know, me and Alys and Lili. She’s a bit starved for it. Please let her stay.”

He looked down into my eyes with one hand on the back of my neck, fingers gently tangling in my hair. His other arm wrapped around my waist, anchoring me to him. “You really want that?”

“Yes,” I replied. “And you guys really should figure out what’s going on with Jason before kicking him out. At the very least, give him a few days to get his face back together.”

“You knocked out a couple of his teeth, bro,” said X. “When I spoke to Sheri, she said the doctors were trying to put them back in. She actually found them in the grass and put them in milk before driving him to the hospital.”

“Oh shit,” I whispered. “Phil, you
can’t
kick him out!”

“You forgive too easily, Baby Girl.”

“Lucky you,” I huffed.

He stiffened and inhaled sharply, tensing with guilt. “Okay. But only for you.”

We pulled apart and headed for the side gate.

“You guys don’t want a ride over?” asked X, jerking his thumb at his Jeep.

“Naw, man,” replied Phil, opening the gate and shutting it behind us.

“Meet me on the patio when you get there!” X called over the gate. “We’ll have a beer before calling it a night.”

Phil heaved a sigh of resignation. “Yeah, all right.”

Lightly whacking him on the chest, I said, “Don’t be a grump. You guys are family.”

“He knows I wanna be alone with you!” he busted out in exasperation.

He yanked me into his chest and took my face in his hands. His mouth descended on mine, giving me a tongue-sucking, toe-curling kiss.

“Mmm…” he said when he broke it. “I do love kissing your sweet mouth. From the very first time I kissed you—”

“That was
the best
birthday present I ever got,” I told him with a smile. “You tasted wonderful—beer, weed, and Phil fucking Deveraux.”

His dimples popped. “I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to make sure you’d be waitin’ for me, so I did what I had to do. I nearly came in my pants. You looked like a goddess, and you smelled like apple pie. Fuck. That was so good.”

“Apple pie?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Oh! My shampoo and perfume.” I laughed.

“You don’t smell like that anymore.”

“Well, no. I grew up and didn’t think I should stink like a bakery.”

“You still smell awesome, and I still want to eat you,” he said in his hot-chocolate voice. “I want to eat you something fierce, Baby Girl.”

My crotch throbbed heavily, and I went insta-wet. “I might just let you…later.”

Lifting me, he wrapped my legs around his waist. “I’m fuckin’ starvin’ for it
now
,” he growled, grabbing my ass and grinding us together.

“You’re
always
starving!”

“For you? Fuck yeah, I am.”

His mouth took possession of mine again, his tongue pushing past my teeth and coaxing mine into sweet, slow play. His hands clenched my ass, and he moaned, which only inflamed the throbbing between my legs. Our passion for each other was so strong and always smoldering just below the surface.

“Oh fuck!” I gasped, taking his face in my hands, feeling overwhelmed with this need for him.

I pressed my Third Eye to his, and he gasped, too.

“I feel it, too,” he said. “It’s crazy, awesome madness.”

“Too fuckin’ right,” I grunted in agreement.

“Oy! Are you guys back there?” X shouted from the patio.

Slightly out of breath, we clung to each other for a few seconds more before reluctantly heading for the patio.

X was sitting at one of the tables, a beer in his hand and a mad grin on his face. I totally got how Alys was nuts for him
.

He’s adorable in that soulless-ginger sort of way.

X had cheerful ice-blue eyes, a square jaw with a strong chin, and a smile that totally blazed like the sun. His whole persona was bright and shining, exuding laughter and fun.

“You want a beer, Baby Girl?” asked Phil.

“Yeah, I could use one,” I replied.

After dropping a kiss on my head, he walked around the side of his half while I grabbed a seat. I heard his keys rattle, and the door opened.

“What’s it like—touring the world with your best friends?” I asked X, genuinely curious.

“At first, it was awesome,” he replied. “A lot of fun, you know? But after a while, you just get tired. You’re constantly on the bus or in hotel rooms, livin’ with the same stinky assholes day in and day out. It wasn’t so bad when we were recordin’ ’cause then we had our own place for a while, and we could escape each other when we weren’t in the studio.”

“Wears on the nerves a bit?”

“You could say that. Doesn’t it wear on yours—livin’ with your best friends?”

I smiled. “No, I can’t say that it does. But we live very different lives from each other, so maybe that helps. We all go to work in the morning and have things we do on our own—like me and my yoga, Alys and Krav Maga, Lili and her photography.”

“Yeah, I guess it helps to have a hobby away from them,” snorted X. “We all lived and worked together, and our hobby is the band, too.”

“Where was your favorite place?”

“Oh, wow. Let’s see. Japan was the shit. Fuckin’ Budokan—”

“Best fuckin’ concert!” I said, closing my eyes. “I’ve watched that shit at least twice a week since it came out on DVD. That performance was damn near perfect.”

“Right?”

“Each of you are some of the best musicians out there, and when you come together, the whole dynamic of NOLA’s Junk is unbeatable and so unique. Flipper is one of the best drummers
ever
. And when you’re on your game, there’s not many bass players who can compete. And Jason…”

My chest squeezed painfully, and I had to swallow hard around the lump forming in my throat.

“Don’t worry about Jason,” X told me, his voice warm and sweet. “He deserved what he got, Kenna. And to be honest, I really don’t think it has anythin’ to do with you.”

“I don’t think it really does either,” I agreed quietly.
No way am I a Yoko.

“You should know that Jace is a cocky douche bag. He’s fuckin’ brilliant at what he does, and he knows it. He drives the rest of us nuts, me especially. He and I fight all the time. But we’re brothers, and brothers get past shit like this.”

“Really? Because knocking out someone’s teeth—”

“He knows he deserved what happened. He and Phil are brothers, too. And Phil…he’s
never
hit anyone, not since he got big anyway. Even when we wail on him, he refuses to raise a hand to us. And this is why. He knows he can do some serious damage. So, for him to plant one on Jason means Jason fuckin’ had it comin’.”

“I’ll never forgive myself if this hurts the band,” I said quietly.

“It’s not your fault.” Phil’s deep voiced floated over from the back door.

X and I both looked over at him, surprised we hadn’t heard him.

“That’s what I was tellin’ her, man,” said X. “She’s all broken up over it.”

Phil came up and dropped a beer in my hand, and I took a few long pulls. He sat down in the seat next to me, and I could sense his irritation rolling off of him in waves. When he picked up my hand, I got the feeling he wasn’t really irritated with
me
though.

“Well, what X was
really
telling me about were his favorite places while touring. He mentioned Japan—”

“Oh! And Russia was a fuckin’ trip and a half!” the flaming redhead exclaimed, getting all excited again. “Moscow was fuckin’ brutal. Both the fans and security were nuts! I think people died at that concert. What was your favorite part of touring?” X asked Phil.

“Coming home,” he replied, his eyes landing on me before he winked.