The Song Remains the Same (37 page)

This was my absolute favorite, watching her give herself up to it, to
me
. Her eyes closed, and her lips parted as a raspberry flush covered her from her chest to her cheeks. Fuck, I loved that color. It told me I was doing my job right. Her brows knitted together as I pushed all of me, all I was, into the one place I belonged.

“So beautiful,” I muttered, just in complete awe of the gorgeous sight before me.

“Not…as beautiful…as you,” she replied between breaths.

My eyes burned. I knew she believed it with her whole heart, but she was wrong. There was nothing more beautiful than Kenna, no human more precious. My miracle. I fuckin’ felt it to my core. She was everywhere and was everything, and I was lost in her.

“My other half,” I whispered against her mouth.

“My whole life,” she replied.

The guys and I stood huddled, arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders, heads together.

“All right, guys,” said Jason. “Fuckin’
Vegas
. Let’s tear her a new one, yeah?”

“Fuck yeah!” barked Flipper, bouncing.

“Let’s go out there, and have the fuckin’ time of our lives,” I told them. “Let’s give ’em hell. I wanna leave these fuckers sore for days.”

“Too fuckin’ right,” grunted Connor.

Little brother had come a long fuckin’ way since that first show in Bethel Woods. Like his sister, he was cool and calm, and I ain’t ever known a motherfucker more focused during a show. There was something in the MacGregor kids’ DNA that didn’t let them freak out too much.

Kenna had told me what she imagined it was like for us going up on stage and performing before thousands of people. She’d likened it to a wave of energy crashing over us, and from her point of view, I could see it. But what it was like on the
inside
, at least for me…it was a high that couldn’t really be described.

There was the excitement, sure. I’d long ago lost the nervousness. Somehow, it had turned into a buzz. Seeing all those faces, screaming for us, roaring our words back at us, pounding the earth in beat with the music—it was un-fuckin’-believable.

Kenna stood off to the side, smiling and laughing with Alys and Lili. She looked so sexy, her hair tucked up under a black cabby hat, shadowing her eyes, but I could see her blazing smile, felt the warmth of it like the rays of the sun.

Memories of last night washed through me, and
all
of me warmed up.

“Just you and me.”

The stage lights went black, and the roar of the masses called out to us.

Running out to center stage, I jumped up and down, letting the surge reach to my fingertips and toes. It shivered its way down my spine
. Huh
. Never thought of it before, but I would feel the same shit when I was close to blowing a load.

Jason let a chord rip, and
— BOOM!
—lights went up, showing a sea of faces rippling before me.

“Hello, Las Vegas!” I roared into the mic.

Something came over me that wasn’t wholly
me
when up on stage.
That
was what Kenna called Phil fuckin’ Deveraux. A rush of strength, of power, held me up to be a cocky fucker up there. It got the crowd up and going and kept them wanting more.

When we played like this, time didn’t exist. The music beat its way through us, distorting the fabric of the universe, and we loved the feeling so fuckin’ much that, by the time the set should finish, we just wanted to keep going. It wasn’t a fuckin’ job. It was who we fuckin’ were
.
It was the five of us at our most basic, most raw.

Two hours later, dripping under the cooker lights, with the tide of energy ebbing to a sustained thrumming, we all came together and put our arms around each other to thank the audience. We knew it was the fans who had given us this. They were the ones who had made it possible for us to be who we really were, and for that…

Namaste, motherfuckers.

Kenna

Officially on vacation in Las Vegas, my girls and I headed down to one of the bars inside the Bellagio to have a beer after lunch.

The guys were in another meeting. The hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico was now a Category Five, and the trajectory promised it would hit land back home. Every effort was being made to save the equipment in the studio.

Connor and I had convinced Da and Gloria to go stay at either the Plantation House or Grandma’s—well,
my
house. It was built to hold against moderate flooding. The eye of the storm was heading straight for New Orleans, and La Place was twenty-five miles west of it. There would be winds and flooding, but it certainly would not be as severe as what could happen in the city.

Moreover, someone had to board up my house.

People were evacuating the city, and our parents had insisted that we stay where we were rather than come home. Gordy, Siggie, and the Devil’s Advocate crew would take care of the studio, and they had been invited to remain in La Place until the storm blew over.

“Well, it’s not like we’re not used to such storms. It comes with the territory,” said Lili.

“True,” I replied. “So, what’s the plan for tonight?”

“Lewis was saying something about getting us into the fusion restaurant here. I think he talked to the guys about it,” said Lili.

From my seat at the bar, the sight of a petite blonde slinking in under the radar snatched my attention. Brigid still looked rough around the edges. Either she hadn’t seen us, or she was pretending she hadn’t. She made her way to a table where a girl with a black rocker bob sat. The girl stood and warmly hugged Brigid.

“I wonder what’s up with Devon,” muttered Alys.

Both Alys and Lili stared at the women over their beer glasses.

“I think he’s finally out of the Cannibals,” I said quietly. “He mentioned his contract ended with them on the thirty-first.”

“About damn time,” huffed Lili under her breath. “He’s got so much more to offer. I think Jürgen keeps him down, not wanting him to shine too much. If the world got whiff of the true talent in that guy, they’d expect more from the rest of them.”

“Something like that,” I replied.

Brigid and her friend didn’t stay long. The guys and Sheri, minus Connor, came in to join us maybe twenty minutes after they’d left. We ended up grabbing a booth.

Phil pulled me onto his lap as we sat down.

“I missed you today,” he said softly in my ear.

Smiling, I popped a quick kiss on his mouth. “I missed you, too.”

An hour later, Lewis came in and had a beer, letting us know we had reservations at the fusion restaurant in an hour. Lili, Alys, and I decided to head up to the rooms and shower, leaving the guys to get their buzz on.

“Does Connor know about dinner?” I asked as we piled into the elevator.

“We can always find out,” replied Alys.

We headed to his suite before branching off toward our own. I knocked on the door, hearing muffled crashes and laughter.

“What the hell is he up to in there?” Alys laughed.

Connor finally answered with a sheet wrapped around his waist and a shit-eating grin on his face. “Hey,” he said, his voice hitting a baritone pitch.

“Hey,” the three of us replied.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“We got reservations for that fusion restaurant,” said Alys, desperately trying not to devour the sight of him.

“So?”

What’s with his fucking attitude?

“So, Lewis got us a table for thirteen at a posh-ass restaurant,” Lili snapped at him.

A woman who was not Quinn and not wearing a stitch of clothing came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his tapered waist.

Alys gasped softly, and Connor’s eyes hardened at her.

“I’m busy,” he said. “Maybe next time.”

“Next time?” Alys echoed, her voice pinched in her throat.

“Connor!”
That
was definitely Quinn.

“Dude, tell me you’re using protection,” I said.

“Seriously, Kenna,” he retorted, rolling his eyes.

“Come on, Connor,” said the brunette, her face all sulky. “We’re having fun. Don’t go.”

He turned a smarmy look on us. “You heard the little lady. Gotta go.”

“Who is she?” whispered Alys.

“What fuckin’ business is it of yours?” he snapped before slamming the door in our faces.

Lili had many talents. One of them was the ability to pull a face that was both disgusted and impressed at the same time. “What was
that
all about?” she asked, her tone holding the same two qualities.

Alys, on the other hand, appeared horrified. It was no wonder, as Lili’s question had been directed at her. Connor had been rude to all of us, but he’d certainly taken his frustration out on sweet Alys.

Her features hardened. “Fuck if I know. Come on. Let him live the life of a fucking rock star, the douche.”

She took off down the hall to her suite, leaving Lili and me to stare after her.

“That gave me a weird feeling, Kenna.”

“You and me both, Pygmy.”

Connor might have sold us out, but Devon happily joined us for a seven-course dinner. Brigid had had an invitation extended even though none of us truly wanted her there, but no one was surprised that she’d declined.

Dinner was
fabulous
. Food, booze, and laughter flowed freely. Alys seemed to have forgotten all about Connor’s rudeness. She and X were cuddled up close, just being overall adorable.

Squished in between Phil and Devon, I kept laughing at their antics. Sheri sat on Devon’s other side, and I noticed a few stony glares from Jason when Devon would engage her in conversation. I was under the impression they both liked each other, so I was a little surprised by Jason’s barely there animosity.

“She slept with Devon a few times way back in the day before she and Jason became more…exclusive,” Phil whispered.

What? Is he reading minds now?

After the most amazing chocolate-mint mousse, we all decided to hit up the casinos. Phil and Jason headed for a poker game while Lili and Lewis made for a craps table. Alys and X went off somewhere as Flipper and Viv went in search of a blackjack game. That left Devon, Sheri, and me heading for the bar.

Taking a seat, Devon called Brigid to make sure she was doing all right.

“It was great. You should’ve joined us. I know that, but you never will be unless you get over it and try to make friends with them. They invited you, right? They wouldn’t do that unless they meant it…”

Sheri and I locked eyes and repressed grins at that point. That was
exactly
what we had done.

When Devon hung up, he took the stool to my right.

“How’s she doing?” I asked.

“Better. I think she’s looking forward to going home. This trip didn’t really turn out to be the joyous reunion we’d hoped for.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sheri.

We both gave her incredulous looks.

She rolled her eyes. “What was supposed to be so joyous about your reunion? I mean…you guys were just friends, right?”

“Yeah, but we were thinking that maybe we could be more,” he replied.

“So, that’s no longer an option?”