The Opposite Of Right (Bad Decisions Trilogy #1) (9 page)

He’d give her a pass, this one time. So Cam patted her hand. Shot her a grateful smile. “
Because
of your tattoo. How you just described it to us.”

“It’s the core,” Jake added, fingers already moving restlessly across the keys. Must have a melody coming together inside him. “We can build a whole song around it.” He gave her an approving nod.

“Really?” Kylie lit up, like a firecracker had gone off in her heart. Her cheeks got as red as the tank top she wore. The one that didn’t hide at all the way her nipples puckered right through her bra. The salsa on his quesadilla hadn’t been the only thing hot at the breakfast table.

“Definitely.” More than anything, Cam wanted to pull her onto his lap. Kiss her senseless to thank her for being his muse. God, it was as hard to keep his hands off of her as it was to stop writing. Instead, all he could do was offer up a lame compliment. “You were the perfect inspiration.”

“Then my work here is done.”

A clatter as the rest of the dishes got piled in the sink. “I’m out of here. I don’t need to listen to you guys bang out notes that don’t fit for three hours. Text if you need me.” Kyoko slammed her way out of the bus. She had zero patience for anything but the finished product. And they had zero patience for her sighs and groans at the often discordant sounds that it took to write a song. Better for everyone that she hit the movies.

“Is it okay if I stay and watch?” Kylie had perched on the edge of the couch, hands tucked beneath her thighs as if it was the only way to keep from reaching out. Cam knew the feeling. “I’d love to see your process firsthand. I’ll be quiet, I promise.”

“You can stay,” announced Jones as he re-entered, carrying an acoustic guitar in one hand and an electric guitar in the other. “If they get stuck, they might need your brilliance around to flesh it out.”

“Especially since Cam’s been known to show questionable taste in new songs.”

Jake’s dig was about as subtle as a wrecking ball to the head. All three of them loved the new music. But Jake kept taking shots at him about
Triangulation.
It was getting old. On the other hand, everything about the way he’d handled that album rolled up into the worst decision-making of his life, so it wasn’t like he had a leg to stand on.

Cam shoved a sheet of paper at Jake and started on a second one. He was in a groove now. They wouldn’t need any help finishing it. But, yeah, he did want Kylie to stay. In fact, he was starting to think he wanted her to stay with them for a whole lot longer.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Kylie stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Rolled a shoulder beneath the ruffled strap of her black tank. Flashed the inside of her wrist. Looked down at her bare ankle, sporting six new mosquito bites. She’d known Minnesota was famous for big and voracious mosquitos, but it was also known for cheese curds, and she’d take cheese over bugs any day. Turning sideways, Kylie tugged down the waist of her shorts to reveal her hip bone.

“If you’re trying to decide which part of you is the sexiest, do I get a vote?” Cam’s voice curled around her a moment before his hands bracketed her against the sink.

“No.” She reconsidered, scratched her itchy ankle and then clarified. “No, that’s not what I’m deciding, but I would like to hear your thoughts.”

Those long, talented fingers flicked her ponytail away from her nape. “I like this spot.” Cam dropped a kiss that raced a chill down her spine. “I’m also partial to this spot.” His fingers wandered lower to dip between her breasts.

Batting him away, she laughed. “Neither place would be good for a tattoo.”

“Oh. That’s what the mirror session’s about, huh?” Resting his hands on her shoulders, he looked at Kylie in the mirror. “It’s a big decision. You really ready to go through with it?”

Aww. The big, bad rock star didn’t want her to do anything rash. How adorable was that? “I’ve been ready for years,” she reassured him.

When they were alone together, like now on the bus, Cam couldn’t seem to keep his hands from moving over her. They skimmed up and down her arms in long, slow strokes. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve wanted to get a tattoo for a looooong time.” Kylie wouldn’t call it an obsession, but only because she didn’t want to freak out the handsome man behind her. “I scoped out different shops. Got references. Looked at different body parts, just like today.”

“What design did you want back then?”

This was embarrassing. “Yours.”

“My what?”

Kylie pivoted in his arms to face him. Tapped his left shoulder blade, up high. “The one you’ve got right here. The band logo. Riptide, with a guitar as the T.” She rested her cheek against his chest so he wouldn’t see the heat reddening her cheeks to a color that always clashed with her hair. “Told you I was a big fan.”

“And I’m honored our music meant that much to you.” Cam used one finger to tilt her chin up. “So why didn’t you go through with it?”

“My sister, Kira, ratted me out to our parents. They threatened to not pay for college if I, quote, ‘defiled my body in that way.’”

Rocking his head back and forth like it was on a seesaw, he said, “Pretty sure picking college over our band was the right way to go.”

“Yeah.” It had made Kylie mad. Not mad enough to stand up to them, though. In hindsight, she should’ve gone through with it. If it’d gone someplace hidden by clothes, they never would’ve found out. She’d been too scared to stray from the path. Too stuck in a rut to ever poke her head out of it. Kylie vowed those days, and that girl, were gone.

She pulled out of Cam’s loose embrace to look back in the mirror. Tapped her collarbone and tried to imagine what her inked heart would look like there. “But I couldn’t decide on a spot to put it back then, and I still can’t.”

“You should probably make a safe choice.”

“I’ll make sure they sterilize the needle. Geez, I’m not an idiot.”

He burst out laughing. “Of course you’re not. I meant put the tattoo in a safe place, where people can’t see it accidentally. Especially since your future employment’s up in the air. Some companies have strict rules about that sort of thing.”

“Good reasoning.” Kylie wasn’t altogether willing to be practical. This tattoo wasn’t just for fun. It was to be a forever reminder of the U-turn she’d taken. A reminder of her bad-decision spree that was turning into the most fun of her life. “Although, it isn’t really an in-your-face statement if it’s on my hip. Not a declaration to the world that I’m finally making my own choices, good or bad.”

“Do you need to declare it to the world?” Cam tapped her breastbone, right over her heart. “Or just to yourself?”

Oooh, the man was good. Smart. Manipulative in a positive way, if there was such a thing. Cam didn’t treat her like some just-out-of-college kid. He treated her like a peer. Like a woman. Kylie appreciated the heck out of that. She spun back around and planted a long, lingering kiss on his lips.

“You get all the points for that comment. Plus, you can wear the crown of rightness. I can be rational while still embracing my independence.” What mattered most was putting it someplace where she could revel in it every day. So she patted her hip. “Decision made. Under the clothes it is.”

He slid his hand down her shorts with a suggestive smile that raced heat through her body. “As long as I still get viewing privileges.”

“Absolutely. What about you? Which one was your first?”

Lifting the sleeve of his black tee, Cam revealed the triple spiral on his right biceps. “I got it the night we auditioned for the label. They said they wanted to sign us. Which was great. Sent me into a tailspin. I swore I wouldn’t be taken seriously as a rocker if I didn’t have a tattoo.”

“For your street cred. Of course.” Biting back a laugh, she peered closer. “It looks Irish. Are you Irish?”

“Nah. Scottish, if you go back far enough. Or maybe my grandmother just told us that as an excuse to bake shortbread all the time.”

Kylie traced each curling leg of the tattoo with her finger. “Then what made you go with this design?”

“That night? When I decided I
had
to get one? I’d never thought about it before that moment. No research. No ideas. So I flat-out copied Flea’s.”

Yeah, she could run with the big dogs. And it felt great. All those years of lying on her bed listening to every song she could—from alternative to pop to indie to metal and classic rock. Kylie had no doubt she could hold her own against any random name-drop that her famous rock star made. She
belonged
on this bus. “From the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Arguably one of the best rock bass players of all time?”

He gave a nod of approval for her name recognition. “That’s the one. Figured that if a Celtic symbol worked its mojo for Flea, it’d do the same for me.”

“Sort of like a good luck charm?” It made sense. Rockers were too cool for something as mundane as a rabbit’s foot—or the interlocking, triple ring Kylie’d always worn on test days so she could worry her thumb across its layers when she got stuck.

“More like a mandatory rite of passage. Like a bar mitzvah. Or shaving for the first time.”

“Did you grit your teeth through it? Regret it the next morning?”

“Nah. Jake and Jones were with me, so I made like the needles were no big deal.” Cam winked. “Best acting I’ve ever done.”

Kylie shuddered. “I’m trying not to think about the needles. That’s another reason I want to do it soon. The longer I wait, the more I psych myself out about the pain.”

With a tug at her waist, Cam drew her out of the bathroom. “We’ll go tomorrow. I’ve already tracked down the perfect place. Brass Knuckle Tattoo Studio in Uptown. It’s supposed to be a funky neighborhood, right on a lake or two. There’s a good-looking restaurant on that block. We can grab lunch. Or a drink, if you’re feeling shaky afterwards. Thought we could take a walk and see why these Minnesota lakes are so famous.”

Omigod. He’d planned the whole thing out. Okay, maybe Cam had researched it himself, or maybe he’d just asked around. Either way, he’d planned a real date. Not snatched time on a rooftop—as awesome as that had been—or a hidden half hour in a club balcony before a gig. This was an above-board date. Out in the open. Romantic. Well, if you didn’t count the half hour of stinging pain she’d have to endure.

Kylie looked up into those bright blue eyes. “That sounds perfect.” She looped an arm around his neck to pull him down for a kiss, but Cam shook his head. Brought her hand to his mouth to kiss her knuckles.

“There isn’t long before rehearsal. I came to get you to show you my favorite spot.”

“In Minneapolis? We don’t have time to really go anywhere.”

“No, my favorite spot in the club.” He drew her down the bus steps and onto the sidewalk. Cars rocketed by. To the normal world, it was rush hour and time to head home. In her new world as a goody girl, her workday was just kicking into high gear.

The black cinder-block wall of First Avenue was covered with rows of large white stars. Each had a band’s name printed in its center.

“When you play here, if it goes well, they put your name on the wall. This goes all the way around the building.”

A star above her head caught Kylie’s eye. And a possessive thrill of belonging rippled through her. “There’s Riptide!”

“Cool, huh? I mean, look at these names. They Might Be Giants. Alice In Chains. Prince. The first time we played here—” Cam broke off, shaking his head. “There are some places that are iconic to rockers. Where it’s more than just a stage surrounded by four walls. The Greek Theatre in LA. Red Rocks in Denver. Soldier Field, back in your hometown.”

Kylie peered the length of the squat building. It filled the triangular point of almost a city block, but it wasn’t anything close to an amphitheater or stadium. “First Avenue is considerably smaller than all of those places.”

“But that’s what makes it great. There’s no filter of space between us and the fans. Trust me, you’ll feel it tonight. The energy’s unreal. It fills you up. Sets every nerve on edge—in a good way.”

The pilot light behind Cam’s eyes had kicked in, the same way it did when they had sex. His voice had dropped lower, too. It was all the warning Kylie got before he backed her against the wall. Slanted his wild, wanting mouth across hers. And kissed her senseless.

Senseless as in Kylie knew they were on a sidewalk, with people walking by at a fast clip. She saw their shadows against her closed lids. Heard the steady drone of traffic. Smelled the exhaust. Felt the contours of the cinder blocks against her back. But Kylie registered all that as though through a blindfold and blankets. The only real sensation was the heat of his mouth. The whip of lust lashing from the inside out. Cam’s hard body.

A combination of habit and need had her curling her legs around his waist. Cam shifted his hands to support her butt and carried her to the bus. “Let’s take this inside,” he growled from deep in his throat.

“What about rehearsal?”

“Beautiful, I don’t need any practice for what we’re about to do.” Laughing, panting, they both grappled with the door handle.

“What the hell’s going on out here?” Jake’s voice was colder than when Kylie had done the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Cam didn’t change position, but Kylie dropped her legs from his waist as fast as possible. “Cam? You have something to say for yourself?”