“I can’t wait to officially own you,” I say, giving him a sly smile.
He cocks an eyebrow. “I would argue that, but I can’t. You do own me, same as I own you. And it works out in my favour because you are minted.”
“You’re not doing too badly yourself now, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.” He looks like he’s still having a hard time with accepting his wealth. Growing up, he didn’t have much. His grandparents earned a decent amount, but they weren’t even in a position where they could wall made of gold.
Kitt still struggles with his new wealth.
He’s so sweet. The first thing he did when he signed with the label was pay his grandparents’ mortgage off, so they owned their home. It was his way of thanking them for putting his needs before their own. They’d only had a small mortgage because they’d borrowed extra to extend the house and make room for a growing boy.
“You deserve it,” I say.
He responds by kissing me until we’re breathless.
KITT
FRIDAY, MAY 29
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
“We have a huge problem!” Milo says.
Tex and I look up from her bed.
“Don’t worry about knocking, mate.”
“You have a sex tape!”
Texas bolts upright. “We have a, what?” Her voice is about a hundred octaves higher than usual.
“Sex. Tape,” Milo repeats, as if she didn’t hear.
She heard. And so did I.
I sit up because I cannot have this fucking conversation lying down. “We don’t have a sex tape.”
“Poland. Bus. Ring any horny bells?”
“What? But we…oh.” I snap my jaw shut. Yeah, CCTV outside the venue.
Texas is whiter than Casper. “Oh-my-God,” she mutters in one breath.
“Now, good news is, I’ve watched it, and—”
“You, what?” Tex’s voice is back up there.
I wince.
“Milo, what the hell is wrong with you? You’re like a bloody brother. It’s completely unacceptable of you to watch something like—”
“Texas,” Milo says, leaning forward, “take a bloody breath. You can barely see anything on the tape. It looks like arguing, which was hot, and then Kitt kisses you, and you disappear from sight.”
Her eyes flick up to the ceiling. “Oh, thank you. But it was obvious that…”
“That he was balls deep in you? Yeah, babycakes, it was.”
She turns her nose up at his colourful choice of words.
I give him the middle finger. “Cheers, mate.”
“My dad is going to freak. Kitt, we have to tell him now. He can’t find out like that. Oh my God, he’s going to kill us both.”
Grabbing her hand, I squeeze to offer her some comfort. “Way to stay calm, Tex.”
She grips her fingers around my hand like a vise. “Why are you calm?”
Inside, I’m not. I feel sick, and my stomach has bottomed out. “We can’t change it, so all we can do now is limit the damage. You’ve told him you have feelings for me, so we’ll tell him now that we’re together.”
“And the tape?” Milo asks.
Sighing, I look up at the ceiling. How could I have been so stupid?
“We’ll have to tell him that, too.”
“Why is it even common knowledge?”
“There was an incident that night. A girl was mugged, so the CCTV was examined. Ted and Hank were with security reviewing the tape.”
“So, my dad won’t find out then?”
“He’s in there now to review the tapes and see if he recognises anyone.”
“What? Why?” Texas snaps.
Milo winces and rubs his forehead. “Because it happened outside our bus. It looks like they were trying to get in. This was not long after you two went inside.”
Fuck.
People try to get out to the back exit all the time to catch us leaving. I should’ve been more careful.
“Well, that’s it. Grab your passport, Kitt. We need to run to Mexico.”
I clamp her hand down, stopping her from getting up. “You’re being dramatic.”
“How am I being dramatic? I don’t want my dad to see that. Milo, stop him.”
“How do you want me to do that, porn star?”
Texas growls and shoots daggers out of her eyes. “Someone needs to do something because my dad is going to freak.”
“Ted’s with him in the security room. The venue sent the footage to Ted. I think he’s going to try to calm your dad down.”
“You know,” I say, “I didn’t give Mexico enough thought.”
Milo leans his back against the wall and folds his arms. “No one is running anywhere. Don’t worry, like I said, you couldn’t see much. Not once you got down to it against the bus.”
Great.
I glare. “Easy for you to say, buddy.”
“Yeah, it is, but I’m not the one who had sex against the bus, so let’s lay the blame of that at you two’s feet. This might be a blessing in disguise. Kitt, your mood swings are worse than puberty, and, Tex, you’re being eaten alive by guilt. Have that conversation, get all the embarrassment and shame out of the way, and tell Mark you’re solid. It is the only way.”