Why yes, Houston, I do mean you.

“You’re bored?” he echoed so low I almost didn’t catch it.

I gripped the counter behind me in an attempt to appear casual. All it did was push out my chest. His gaze dipped briefly to my nipples poking through the thin tank before returning to me.

“Completely.”

“So you’re saying if I tried to kiss you right now, you wouldn’t let me?”

“Are you asking permission? You never cared about it before,” I tossed back.

“Irrelevant. Yes or no, Fawn?”

I kept my mouth shut.

When he slowly stood from his chair, I forced myself not to move. We both had a point to prove, and neither of us considered the consequences.

After all these months, he still hadn’t learned that I would never make it easy for him.

I could already feel Houston’s kiss intensifying the ache Loren had started between my legs. We both still had morning breath, for fuck’s sake, but it didn’t matter when he was this close. I was trapped against the counter with his hands on my hips. The tiny shorts I wore did nothing to protect me from his warmth.

Houston was a blazing inferno, and I was the match that lit him.

“Last chance, Braxton.”

“Go to hell, Houston.”

Smiling, he took his time, letting our lips meet. He was giving me the chance to make a choice, and I was still pretending I didn’t have one. It was irresponsible. Neither of us wanted to take the blame for what happened next.

He kissed me slowly and gently. The way he stroked my tongue with his reminded me of lazy Sunday mornings spent in bed with the sheets twisted around our tangled legs.

It was not at all what I expected.

With one kiss, Houston proved that he was the storm and the calm, and I, the destruction he left behind. As our lips continued to dance, my hands found his bare chest, moaning at the hard muscles there. I wanted him wrapped around me.

Feeling him pull away, I whimpered. If I weren’t too far gone, I would have been embarrassed. So much need in such a broken sound. I didn’t want to leave this dream world.

When I opened my eyes, he was staring down at me, mistrust and desire swirling in his green gaze.

“Play your stunts, Fawn. I do enjoy making you sorry.”

Undoubtedly, if there were a girl out there more daring than me, of the three, Houston would be the hardest to conquer. He considered himself responsible for his friends and what remained of everything they shared. Letting someone in meant lowering his guard and taking a chance that the person didn’t mean them harm.

I ached at the thought even as I spoke.

“Then piss me off, Morrow. That shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

This was getting weird.

But not in the way that made me think shit was totally fucked. The hope stirring in my gut was real, and it wouldn’t go away. Each day it grew stronger. Before, it never lasted past noon because my friends were jerks.

Whether she knew it or not, Braxton had taken up our cause.

Houston was suspicious and fearing the worst. Loren was still convinced he only wanted to get his dick wet. He claimed he was allergic to commitment, but I think he craved it more than he knew. At some point, we start to believe a certain perspective of ourselves, and no evidence otherwise can change our minds. The strongest illusion was delusion.

Loren looked at Braxton like she fed his soul, and he was eagerly waiting for just a little more. It wouldn’t go over well when he finally realized it. He’d rather be told he had terminal cancer than to hear that he was falling for our insatiable rebel.

Right now, he was too occupied with Braxton’s lips to worry about his heart. It was all I could do to keep my gaze forward while Houston navigated Dallas. Security trailed us in separate cars while we did this little outing. Braxton had invited us to go sightseeing, and none of us had the willpower to say no. Even if it was weird as fuck.

“Headstrong” by Trapt started to play, and Houston turned up the volume. I was pretty sure he was trying to drown out the sound of Loren and Braxton making out in the back seat. It didn’t matter how high he cranked the volume, though. We were too tuned in to every move they made.

Even now, I could hear clothes rustling, followed by Braxton’s soft sighs.

“It’s a shame,” Loren muttered when they finally stopped sucking face long enough. “I could be knuckles deep in your pussy right now, but you insisted on bringing food to a buffet.”

Yeah, he was definitely taking a dig at Houston and me.

“How will I ever survive?” Braxton returned.

Loren chuckled, but I knew him. He didn’t find it all that funny. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glowering at his phone.

I was just relieved it was over.

Braxton was no longer hiding that she was attracted to all of us. Before we left, she’d kissed me good morning while Houston and Loren looked on. I saw their jealousy when she pulled away, but they hadn’t said a word. I didn’t know what it meant that we weren’t acting on it. We’ve never so much as double-dipped inside of a groupie, and now we were sharing our guitarist?

One of our songs started playing through the speakers, and listening to Calvin’s insane riff was the first drop of grief I’ve felt since he died. As much as I hated him even after death, I couldn’t deny his gift.

“Can we change the song?” Braxton grumbled from the back seat. “No offense, but I get enough of you guys when we’re playing.”

“You mean us,” Houston corrected, darkness edging his tone. He even risked taking his attention off the road to pin Braxton with his gaze. “You’re Bound now, or should I find a more effective way to remind you?”

I think everyone held their breath as they waited for her response. When it came, she didn’t disappoint. She never did. Sarcasm and defiance were her weapons of choice. It didn’t take us long to learn, but we were still figuring out how to know better.

“I don’t know,” Braxton mocked. She sounded deceptively pliable. “I think the hundred and fifteenth time is the charm. Why don’t you remind me again?”

Sinking lower in my seat, I turned my head toward the window to hide the smile playing on my lips.

I just knew she was batting those big, brown eyes at Houston and daring him to do something about it. I was itching to turn in my seat and see for myself, but I didn’t want her to think that I was helping Houston back her against another wall.

Not this time.

Not when she made my knees this weak.

“Maybe Braxton should deejay,” Lo suggested, breaking the tension. Houston had already refocused on the road. Since he was strangling the steering wheel, I knew the conversation wasn’t over. At least for them. He’d resume it the moment he got her alone. “We all know Morrow only likes the sound of his own voice.”

I couldn’t help myself this time, so I peered into the back seat and found Braxton cutting her gaze at Loren. I also spotted the hickey he’d left on her neck right next to Houston’s and mine.

“Why me?” she asked him when no one objected.

I couldn’t tell if she was nervous about sharing her music choices or too smart to think that Loren was up to any good.

Maybe it was a little of both.

She didn’t want us figuring her out because of what we might do with that information. Someone should have told her that she couldn’t peer into our minds without baring a little of herself in return.

I see you.

Loren paused his brooding to focus on Brax. He licked his lips as he watched her as if he could already taste her tears. Or maybe he had something else in mind. If he only knew how good she tasted.

“Why not? Afraid we’ll find out that you secretly love the Backstreet Boys? I suppose you think “I Want it That Way” was the greatest love song ever written.”

“No,” she returned, sounding confident even when Loren was forcing her to play defense. “But I do think “Goodbye Earl” is pretty killer.”

“‘Goodbye Earl,’” I echoed from shotgun. “Isn’t that a song about a woman who killed her husband?”

Braxton shrugged, still staring at Loren.

I need you to notice me.

My head had my heart all twisted up. The feeling only intensified when Braxton finally looked my way. Her attention was like phantom fingers tiptoeing down my spine. Goose bumps appeared on my skin just as those full, red lips of hers moved. “I said it was killer.”

She smiled at me like I deserved the privilege.

My heart skipped a beat while warmth filled my belly. Braxton must have read it on my face because her smile disappeared, and then she was pulling out her phone. I watched her tap the screen a few times, and after helping her connect her phone to the car using Bluetooth, Tool’s “Sober” spilled through the speakers.

Unable to forget her confession four days ago, the lyrics took hold with an icy grip. They did their job and left only a warning.