Chapter 2
Derek
I can’t tear my eyes away from her.
Jesus. Why the hell is she here complicating shit?
And who wears leather leggings in the summer anyway?
She moves up onto her tippy toes as Levi hugs her and the curve of her ass, stretching the leather fabric, taunts me. Tempts me.
She was beautiful at seventeen but now, she’s a siren, calling to all the fucked-up parts of me she has no business mixing with.
Levi releases her and I tear my eyes away before my bandmate—my best friend—catches me ogling his baby sister.
I know for a fact the way I’m checking Allegra out isn’t big brotherly.
Nope, there’s nothing platonic about the way my hands want to roam her curves or how I can still taste her sweet kiss when I’ve hooked up with countless—nameless—women since her.
We didn’t even hook up. We kissed. It was so PG I shouldn’t remember it. It shouldn’t register. The fact that it does unnerves me. Allegra unnerves me.
I huff out a breath. I don’t want her here, in my space, in my city, under my goddamn roof all summer.
But the thought of her hanging with Cynthia and tangling up in her bullshit bugs me even more.
Levi slugs an arm around Allegra’s shoulder. “Come on. You can bunk with Mav.”
I start at the stupid suggestion. Is Levi dense? He’s gonna put his baby sister in the same room as our drummer? Maverick Tate isn’t anything like his big brother, our bass player, Jameson.
While Jameson is locked down, banging the same woman since high school, Mav is a pranking, easygoing, life-of-the-party kinda dude who pulls women in with his blue eyes and baby face and leaves them crying the next morning when he promises not to call.
I start toward Levi. “Levi, I think—”
My friend swings his gaze toward mine. His eyes narrow and his jawline tightens, and I note that my interfering in his family shit with his sister just ended. As much as I don’t like it, I respect it. I hold my hands up in surrender. “I’ll bring up Allegra’s suitcase.”
“You do that,” Levi bites out.
Damn. We’ll have words later. He doesn’t want his sister here any more than I do. But while I need her gone so I don’t do something I’ll regret, like jeopardize the stability of the band, he doesn’t want her here because it makes his shit with his parents more complicated.
And their relationship is a mindfuck on heroin.
I trail after them, taking Allegra’s suitcase with me. It’s lighter than I thought it would be. Did she leave her belongings in California? Is this all she has? Both thoughts bother me, and I shake them off.
“You sure about this?” Levi asks.
“Absolutely,” Allegra replies. She’s decisive. It’s a far cry from the girl I met four years ago and yet, I can’t tamp down the flicker of pride that sparks in my chest.
Good for her.
“What are you going to do all summer?” Levi adds like he had his whole fucking life sorted at twenty-one-years-old.
“I’ll figure it out,” she responds cryptically.
I duck my head to hide my smile. I like that she’s knocking her brother down a few pegs. He needs it.
Allegra catches my grin and her eyes spark. There’s a playful gleam that wasn’t there the night I met her. But underneath, that sweet softness, that genuine authenticity, flares. It sobers me. Transports me back in time.
To the night of her seventeenth birthday and that stupid bonfire by a barn in the middle of fucking nowhere in her small town.
To the way she looked after some golden boy baseball player with stars in her eyes.
To her fallen expression and slumped shoulders when she admitted she’d never been kissed.
Levi flips on the light to Mav and Jameson’s room. “I’ll tell Mav to clean his shit up,” he offers, glancing around the mess. Swearing, Levi bends and pockets a red thong Mav’s last conquest left behind as a souvenir.
Allegra wraps one hand around the ladder to the top bunk. “Where’s Jameson?”
“Pussy whipped,” I mutter.
Allegra snorts.
Levi sighs. Grips the back of his neck. “He pretty much lives with his girlfriend.”
“Amelia,” Allegra supplies.
“Yeah, her.” Levi nods. “She comes around sometimes…”
Allegra glances between Levi and me, but neither of us offers the information we’re thinking. Amelia’s a bitch, and Jameson should drop her ass. The last time she stepped out on Jameson, she gutted him.
I drop the suitcase with a thud, garnering both Rousell siblings’ attention.
“If you’re gonna stay, we have rules,” I spit out.
Levi raises his eyebrows. “Really? What are they?”
I glare at him. He smirks.
I point at Allegra. “No men.”
Her eyes widen. “Excuse me?”
Levi scowls. “Come on, man. A just got here. She’s not dating any—”
“No boyfriends. No random hook-ups,” I clarify. “We don’t need any strangers knowing our address.”
Allegra snickers. “The red thong wearer is in the circle of trust?”
I almost grin at her sarcasm but hold back. If she thinks she can get her way with that smart mouth and those hooded, bedroom eyes, I’m fucked. Well, more fucked than I already am.
Levi shakes his head, stares at his sister in disbelief. “Allegra doesn’t hook up wi—”
“How do you know?” she challenges him, her eyes sparking. Her gaze darts between the two of us. “I wouldn’t bring a man back here out of respect for you. For your headquarters or whatever the hell you call this place.”
Levi winces when she says hell and I realize how he still sees Allegra. The same way his parents do—pristine, na?ve, and fragile. A little girl.
The woman standing before me is none of those things and while I love witnessing her ferocity, I don’t like her attitude on the topic of men.
“Good,” I state.
She grins. “Obviously, I’d go back to his place.”
Levi’s mouth drops open in shock. I swear.
Before either of us can respond, little Ms.-Fragile-My-Ass points to the bedroom door. “If you’ll give me some privacy, I’d like to shower and change. It’s been a long bus ride.”
“You took a fucking bus here?” I roar.
“From LA?” Levi looks truly bewildered. And alarmed.
Jesus, mate, do you know nothing about your sister?
Allegra crosses her arms. A patch of red—anger, embarrassment, maybe both—crawls up her chest, colors the base of her throat, flames into her cheeks.
Footsteps pound the stairs, and we all turn as Maverick crashes into the room. He pulls up short when he spots his new roommate. His eyes widen, trail down her body slowly, and a smile spreads across his expression.
I punch him in the shoulder. Hard enough to make him wince.
“What the fuck, Reign?” He grips his arm.
“This is Allegra. Levi’s sister,” I spit out.
Levi scrubs a hand down his face. “I messaged you, Mav. Is it cool if she bunks with you for—”
“Hi.” Allegra steps forward, holding out a hand. “I’m Allegra Rousell. If it’s not too much trouble, would it be cool to room together for the summer? I’m…in between life plans.”
Levi watches his sister carefully. As if he’s just noticing that she grew up into a gorgeous and capable woman.
Mav shakes her hand and grins at her. “Abso-fucking-lutley. More than cool, Allegra Rousell. These in-between life plans…like, rehab?”
Levi swears.
Allegra laughs.
And I freeze. The sound of her laughter is a punch to the gut. It’s…beautiful. And I hate it because at the appreciation that flickers in Mav’s eyes, I know he hears it too.
Her sincerity. Her candor.
I don’t want him to have those pieces of her. I don’t want anyone, not even me, to have them.
“Nah. Like, college,” she supplies.
“Got it.” He drops her hand. “I’ll clear some closet space for you. My brother is hardly around so I took over. But it’ll be cool to have a roomie again. We can stay up late, share secrets.” He winks.
“Braid each other’s hair?” she deadpans.
Levi snorts.
Mav’s smile grows. “I already like you, Allegra Rousell.”
“Stop saying her full name,” I snap.
Mav rolls his eyes without glancing in my direction. He slugs an arm around Allegra’s shoulders. “We gotta head to the studio in a few. Wanna come? We’ll grab a bite afterwards.”
Allegra smiles at him. Her face wide open, her dark eyes warm like cocoa, her expression playful. She’s fierce like a thunderbolt. Heartfelt like sunshine.
She’s confusing as fuck, and as much as I want to turn around and walk away, a larger part of me wants to stand here, all day, and listen to her talk. Study her movements. Learn what the hell caused her to take a bus across the country and knock on our front door.
“Sure,” she agrees. She tips her head toward the door. “Do I have time for a quick shower? My bus ride was brutal.”
Mav wrinkles his nose. “Where’d you come from?”
“LA,” she offers, unzipping her suitcase and gathering a few items.
“Damn,” Mav mutters. “I once took a bus from Boston to Houston, and I thought that sucked.”
“So, you understand my need for a hot shower?” Allegra stands, holding a bundle of clean clothes against her chest.
“More than these two.” Mav hooks his thumb toward Levi and me. He drops his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “They only fly business class.”
Allegra laughs again as Mav leads her to the bathroom in the hallway.
My jaw tics.
Levi looks lost.
I dig the heels of my hands into my eyes. A tension headache is coming on.
It’s gonna be a long, insufferable summer.