Page 47 of Songbird: Black Kite
“I knew that.” She pouted, crossing her arms. “My tattoo is ironic, or whatever.”
“Of course,” Bird said, turning her head away to hide her giggle. “I love it. It’s super adorable and totally unique.”
The praise seemed to satisfy the girl, and she flashed a smile before turning back to the room and rejoining the party.
“That was nice of you,” I said, nuzzling my nose into Bird’s hair, loving the feel of her silky strands on my face. Everything about her was just so fuckingsoft, and I couldn’t seem to get enough of it.
“I felt bad. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, and she was so proud of it.” Bird shrugged, her fingers sliding along the fretboard as she stroked the neck of the guitar. “People shouldn’t be made fun of for the things they like. The tattoo was cute, and even if it was wrong, it was well intentioned.”
I paused, my lips against the tender skin of her shoulder as I considered her words. She’d gone out of her way to make that girl feel better about her mistake. Selflessness like that didn’t exist in my world.
It made me even more grateful for the fact that I’d found my little Bird tonight.
“What the fuck is that?” Lewis shouted over the general hum of conversation. He’d been posted up near the bar, a girl under his arm—a different girl than the one he’d been fucking earlier, I thought—but when I went to answer him, he was staring at Bird, a shitty look on his face. “Tell me that bitch is not touching your guitar.”
“Hey,” I barked, sitting up straight and putting my arm back around Bird. “Fuck off, Lewis.”
“You never let anyone touch that thing. What the fuck makes her so special?”
All eyes were on us, and I could feel Bird withdrawing, physically pulling into herself, and my anger started to rise.
“Why don’t you worry about yourself for a fuckin’ change and leave us the fuck alone?”
“I’m just fuckin’ asking.”
“Well, fuckin’ don’t. Let’s go, Bird.” I gripped her by the hips, lifting her up off the couch and smiling as she squeaked a little at the sudden movement. Standing, I stepped out from behind her, all the bullshit of the last few minutes having done a fucking number on my boner anyway. “The bedroom’s taken,” I shouted over my shoulder as I used a hand on her back to guide her to the back of the bus.
“Hawk,” Tori called, and I paused, exhaling loudly.
“What?” I asked coldly, lifting the bottle to my lips and taking another drink without even turning to look at her.
“Can we talk for a moment? About business?”
She always fucking did this; had a tantrum about something personal, then pulled the ‘my daddy owns the label’ card and inserted herself back into my life under the guise of business.
And, unfortunately, her daddy did own the label, and as a result, I did have to fucking talk to her.
“Can it wait until tomorrow?”
“No.” She was such a fucking liar.
Rubbing one hand over my face, I shook my head, then ushered Bird forward.
“I’ll be right in.”
She stared at me, then looked over my shoulder at Tori before nodding and making her way back into the bedroom, still holding the Martin. Only when the door had closed behind her did I finally turn, finding that Tori had made her way over to me and was once again all up in my fuckin’ space.
“Listen, Hawk,” she cooed, running her fingers up my chest. I wanted to shrug her off, but the sensation of her touching me had me pausing, closing my eyes for a moment as I let it soak in.
Fucking Molly. I was gonna kill Ronnie.
“Why don’t we go over to the other bus? We can get away from all the noise and distractions and really connect, you know? Like we used to.”
Opening my eyes, I stared down at her, looking at the hopeful glint in her gaze and knowing this was a bad situation.
One I’d been in before.
I couldn’t let Tori get her fucking claws into me, not again. She’d been the cause of so much fuckin’ trouble last time.
