Sinful Serenade

Chapter 20

Danielle

"Maeve, it is what it looks like, but I swear, I was going to tell you eventually," I say, trying to stand up, but Kenneth wraps his arms tighter around me.

"Stay," he murmurs, and I immediately relax in my hold. Kenneth's fingers move to my thighs and he begins massaging them in soothing circles, sending pleasure shivers down my spine. The warmth of his touch is both comforting and electrifying, grounding me in the moment.

Maeve crosses her arms and glares at Gage. "Gage, did you know about this?"

"Um, a little," he murmurs. "But since we're keeping our thing a secret, I assumed it would be a little hypocritical to out them."

I fold my arms across my chest, mimicking Maeve's stance. "Exactly, we've known about you and Gage, but I wasn't going to say anything until you did."

Maeve scoffs, clearly unimpressed. "I think we did a better job at hiding it. You and Edward Cullen over there need to take some pointers," she says, pointing to my neck.

My cheeks flame, but Kenneth only chuckles softly, not commenting on Maeve's nickname for him.

"Like you can talk. You and Gage kissed right in front of us last night," I retort, smirking.

That makes her freeze. "W-We did?" she whispers in horror.

"Yep. Tongue and all."

"Nuh-uh. Drunk or not, I wouldn't have done that," she argues, shaking her head.

I grin wider. "But you did."

"Fine. I guess I'm not going to be a hypocrite then." She turns to Kenneth, her expression stern and fierce. "But if you hurt her, Kenneth Knight or not, I'll bury you in a grave so deep, they'll never be able to find you."

My eyes widen as she blatantly threatens him. "Maeve," I scold, trying to sound stern but feeling a bit amused by her protectiveness.

"No, I'm dead serious. If he hurts you, I'm going to have to kill him."

"That's fair," Kenneth says, still drawing soothing circles on my thighs. His touch has heat pooling in my core, but now is not the time to get horny. Not with my best friend right in front of us.

"What about you?" My gaze snaps to Gage, who shifts uncomfortably. I want to laugh, but I manage to keep my expression deadly serious. "What are your intentions with my best friend?"

He tugs on one of his dreads, looking a bit nervous. "Um, for right now, we're just hooking up. But I really do like her, and I'm not going to hurt her."

Maeve's stern expression softens into a smile. "That's so sweet. I really like you too."

As they lean in to kiss, I clear my throat. Maeve glances back at me with a playful grin. "Shut up, Danielle. You have literal bite marks on your neck. I think it's okay if we kiss in front of y'all now."

After they kiss slowly and deliberately, Gage pulls away, his dimples popping out as he blushes.

Hmm, I've never noticed those before.

"Hey, baby. I want to teach you how to play football. You in?" he asks her, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

She scoffs, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "Please. I've been throwing spirals since I was ten."

Gage grins. "Oh, yeah? Show me."

I love that Gage doesn't seem threatened or bothered by the fact that there won't be a lot of firsts in their relationship, or fling, or whatever they're doing. Her father really did do his job, and I'm almost envious.

Gage grabs her hand and leads her back to where Nolan is, retrieving a football from his bag. "I hope you guys are ready to get your asses kicked!" Maeve exclaims, her competitive nature kicking in.

Relief washes over me. She really wasn't mad like I thought she would be. I'm sure she'll piece together that I lied about our reason for coming along with Kenneth, but then she'll realize that's how she was able to meet Gage. Unless he breaks her heart, which in that case, means she'll probably end up hating me.

And then I'll be forced to kill him.

"That went better than I thought it would," I murmur. Kenneth hums in agreement, the sound vibrating against my back.

Now that she knows, we don't have to hide it anymore. At least, not around the band. The rest of the world will never know that I'm spending this incredible summer with him.

"Honey, aren't you hot wearing all that?" Deedee asks from her seat on the porch, staring at me with concern in her eyes. "It's like 95 degrees out here. I can grab you one of my shirts. It'll be a little big, but it's better than what you're wearing right now."

I blush and shake my head. "N-No, I'm okay. Thank you."

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Deedee pull Roxy inside the house, but I don't think anything of it. I just relax against Kenneth and close my eyes, enjoying the sunshine on my face.

This feels amazing, freeing. Everything I've dreamed of.

If only my mom could see me now. Maybe she'd even be envious. It can't be easy living with a stick up your ass 24/7. I know I shouldn't be thinking about her right now, but I wonder what she's doing. Is she just disregarding my entire existence now, or is she actively trying to find my location so she can drag me back to hell with her.

I bet it's the latter. Instead of explaining to her church group and friends that she was such a horrible mother that she made me run off, she'd blame me for everything. I'm a troubled child in her eyes, one who needs Jesus more than anything. Maybe this time, she'd even consider an exorcism. Especially after she finds out I was hiding out with Kenneth's band.

"Your thoughts are so loud, baby. Relax," Kenneth murmurs, nipping my ear.

God, I'm starting to love when he does that.

"Sorry, sorry," I say, forcing my thoughts to shut up. I can always think about the horrible life I have waiting back home for me later.

"Danielle, can you come in the kitchen for a moment? Deedee wants your opinion on this lemonade she made?" I open my eyes to find Roxy standing over us, her expression carefully blank.

Kenneth stiffens beneath me, but doesn't say anything.

I gesture to myself. "Mine?"

"Yep, she says she doesn't trust my opinion because I just tell her what she wants to hear."

"Kenneth, come play with us. We need another member," Nolan calls to him from across the sand.

Kenneth sighs and shrugs. "Sure." He turns to me. "Just hurry and come back, little trouble. I want to spend some more time with you."

I can't help but smile. "Okay."

Reluctantly, I pull away from him and follow Roxy to the kitchen. The cool air inside is a sharp contrast to the sweltering heat outside. Deedee is leaning over the island, her eyes filled with concern as we enter the room. As far as I can see, there's no lemonade in sight.

"What's going on?" I ask, feeling bees buzz in the pit of my stomach.

Roxy sighs as she turns to me. "Now, I'm only going to ask this once," she says in a firm but gentle voice. "Is Kenneth hurting you?"