Page 40 of Pretty Little Rocker

In the mood Jamie was in, I didn’t think it was the best time to introduce him to any of my family yet, especially not to Abi. Thankfully, she’d gone back to her room after Maddie left, resting with an ice pack on her face.

“Abi, babe, how are you feeling?” I asked quietly, tucking the blanket up around her.

“I’ve been better,” she mumbled, keeping her eyes closed.

“I need to take care of something with the band. The guys need me, and I—”

“Oh my God, Hayat!” She lifted her head to glare at me. I winced when I saw how swollen her face was. “Don’t you dare let all this bullshit with Ali from last night, and me in general, fuck up what you have going with Autumn’s Slumber. Go, or I’m going to kick your ass.”

Promising I’d check in with her later, I left as quickly as I could get Jamie out the door. I could hear movement in the spare room where Evan was, and since Bentley and Sixx were both in there with him, I didn’t want to chance all the testosterone setting off anyone’s temper. My brother tried to be a peacekeeper, but rarely did situations end the way he hoped. His kind heart wasn’t mangled by anger and distrust like everyone else’s was.

Jamie drove us back to Carver Towers. No sooner had we walked into the penthouse than Ky was on me, with Sparks only a few feet behind him. I didn’t have time to process the emotions that crossed Ky’s handsome face or the guilt that attempted to bombard me. Grasping my waist, he lifted me. Automatically, my legs wrapped around his waist. Gray storm-cloud eyes scanned my face for a count of five seconds before he was pressing me up against the nearest wall.

My ass was still stinging from the spanking Jamie had given me earlier, but that wasn’t the only reason I moaned when Ky thrust his lower half against mine. Whimpering, I let my head fall back against the wall as he lost control, rubbing his length against me through our clothes.

“You ever pull shit like this again, and—” His jaw clenched, cutting off his words.

I gulped at the unfinished threat. “Wh-what?” I whispered. “Will you end this?”

“Fuck you, Hayat!” he snarled. “You’re the one acting like this isn’t what you want. If we’re going to be together, then that means you don’t go silent on us. Especially when you get into trouble. You are ours to protect, in all ways, and from the way you just ignored us, it’s obvious you don’t trust us to do our jobs of taking care of you. If this isn’t what you want, if you can’t handle this relationship, then say it now. Put us all out of our misery, and let’s end it here and now.”

“That’s not what I want!” I cried. “Last night wasn’t about me trusting you. It was about me protecting you. Things got crazy way too fast for me to think clearly. My priority was to get my brother and Ali out of that hellhole and home safe. I didn’t realize what I was walking into.”

“You should have called us. Told us where you were going and why. We would have helped you. Last night would have ended a hell of a lot more peacefully if you had just paused long enough to reach out to us. But you didn’t even think about us. Are we even a priority to you? Or just some fucking afterthought?”

I pressed against his chest, but he only pushed his lower body into me harder, trapping me in place. “That’s not fair. I’m not used to having a boyfriend—or whatever this is. I’ve always taken care of shit myself. Or with Abi. Whatever type of girls you’re used to, they aren’t me. I can take care of myself.”

“And you did such a spectacular job of that last night, huh?” he snapped.

“That was uncharted territory for all of us. But you weren’t some afterthought. I was scared, Ky! I didn’t know what was going to happen, but what I did know was that I didn’t want any of it to affect you three.” Tears filled my eyes and I tried so hard to hold them back, but he was so angry and I was so tired. And scared. I didn’t want to lose him. These guys had changed my life in a way I still didn’t fully understand, but what I did know was that I didn’t want what we had to end. “I’m sorry you got pulled into Ali and Sixx’s bullshit. All I wanted was to get my family out of there, safe and whole, without putting anyone else at risk.”

He dropped his forehead to mine, a tortured groan rumbling out of his chest. “This doesn’t happen again, Hayat. Something happens, you call us. You’re scared, you call us. One of your friends or family runs into trouble, you do not fucking go running off to save the day, putting yourself at risk for who the fuck knows what kind of dangers. You call us, trust us. We take care of your every need, in every way.”

“O-okay,” I choked out.

“But if you go silent on us again, blocking us out like we are nothing to you, then I’m going to take that as you telling us that this thing with us isn’t worth your time.”

“Ky,” I whimpered, a lump filling my throat as the reality of what he was saying caused my heart to clench. I felt like he’d slapped me—and not the fun kind Jamie gave me earlier.

Was that how he thought a relationship worked?

A few small fuckups and game over. Nice knowing you, but I’m done. No do-overs. Not a second—or third—chance.

There wasn’t a rule book for this kind of situationship. Or at least, not one I’d been given. Fuck’s sake, I’d never had one boyfriend, let alone three. What did he expect?

I’d been scared, worried, and not thinking straight. I would own that. But trusting him and the others hadn’t been the issue. They wanted to protect me, and I was trying to protect them. How was I to know that they were already being dragged into the same bullshit?

I’d never been in any type of relationship before, so this was all new territory for me. I’d been misguided in how I’d attempted to protect the guys who meant everything to me. But it wasn’t done with malicious intent. My friends and family had been in trouble, and my instincts had kicked in to help them. I wasn’t used to asking for help, damn it. I was the one Abi, Ali, and Evan came to when they needed it.

Now, however, I did have a trust issue.

With Ky.

He wasn’t all in. That much was clear.

If he were, then he wouldn’t have so callously given me that threat—or ultimatum.

As much as I wanted to be with these guys, I wasn’t going to become that girl. The one who was always worried that her boyfriend already had one foot out the door, just waiting for her to mess up, no matter how big or small.

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