Chapter 2
Spike
What started out as a beautiful thing between the three of us was now turning…
toxic. At least between Richard and Kalin.
They just couldn’t seem to see eye to eye any longer.
Kalin wanted to be together without having to worry about others seeing us and things going sideways.
It wasn’t that he wanted to make a public statement.
Even he and I had never made a public statement about being together.
We’d never even outright told our friends.
We just let everyone get used to seeing us together and we were just us.
But we couldn’t just be us with Richard. He had an image to maintain and a business to run, and he didn’t want bad publicity to fall back on me and Kalin for being with him. I understood his overprotectiveness because I was protective as fuck of Kalin. Always had been.
But Kalin was over being understanding, and he was about ready to cut his losses and leave Richard behind.
He hadn’t outright said it yet, but I could see it coming.
He was hurting, and Kalin, while a lover, was also big on self-preservation, especially as of late.
He wouldn’t deal with being in the shadows much longer, no matter how much he loved Richard.
“Is he okay?” Tor asked once Kalin had escaped into the bathroom.
We’d done another concert tonight, and Kalin had been silent the entire night.
He’d barely even made an effort with the fans who had backstage passes.
Delia, our bitch of a manager, had yelled at him afterward, but Kalin hadn’t even flinched.
My boyfriend, who usually took shit from no one, just stood there and took everything she threw at him until I intervened and told her to fuck off.
The moment we’d gotten on the bus, Kalin grabbed his clothes and headed into the bathroom. He didn’t take the drink Dalton offered him, and he ignored Jesse when Jesse tried checking in with him.
This whole thing with Richard was taking its toll on him, and I was ripped in two. My loyalty would always lie with Kalin. We’d been each other’s rocks for years. He was the solace I found in foster care. The only person who’d ever loved me and stood by my side.
But I was just as in love with Richard, and seeing the two people I loved more than anything else in this world slowly fall apart was killing me.
I didn’t know how to bring them together or how to fix this because everyone deserved to have their own time, even Richard. Richard deserved to reveal his relationship to the world on his own time. But Kalin was also valid in his feelings of no longer wanting to be hidden.
I glanced down at my phone when it buzzed, showing an incoming call from Richard.
I smiled tightly at Tor. “He’s not okay, but just give him space, okay?
” If I could trust anyone to make sure Kalin got the space he deserved, it was Tor.
He was huge on boundaries, and he was also the only person who could keep Salem in line.
Fuck knew I didn’t need Salem and Kalin butting heads.
I stood and slipped out of the bus. Once I was far enough away from the door, I lifted the device to my ear with a heavy, tired sigh. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Richard rumbled, the single word somehow comforting me.
He sounded tired, too, and a little sad.
My heart ached for him. “The concert was amazing, as always. You two never fail to impress me, little tiger.” My heart skipped a beat.
Little tiger was the nickname he gave me when he spotted my tiger tattoo on my back.
I’d gotten it when I was eighteen as a reminder to myself of my resilience and that I’d never be kept down again.
But turned out, tigers were Richard’s favorite animal, and he adored seeing it on my skin—said it meant the universe had put us together for a reason.
“Thank you,” I said softly, not wanting my voice to carry. I knew Kalin would never try to stop me from talking to Richard, but I didn’t want to upset him by communicating with him while he was giving Richard the silent treatment.
“Kalin didn’t answer my texts or my call.”
I blew out a soft breath. “I know. He’s… he’s having a rough time of it, Richard. I think he needs space.”
Richard was quiet for a long moment, only the sound of his soft breathing letting me know he hadn’t hung up on me.
Finally, he said quietly, “I’m afraid giving him space will make him leave me.
I’m trying, Spike. But I have a whole company to think about, plus the safety of you and your friends.
Your family. If I don’t handle this with care, it could end terribly.
You all—you and Kalin, especially—have been through enough.
I won’t allow the media to terrorize you if I can help it. ”
When Richard found out what we’d all been through, especially the hell Kalin and I had survived in foster care—strung out foster parents, abuse, sexual assault—he’d done everything in his power to make sure we were safe, even from him.
“I know.” And I did know. I understood wanting to protect not just me and Kalin, but all of us. The only one of us who hadn’t come from a bunch of fucked up shit was Dalton. We deserved the peace we’d found. We deserved our dreams coming true.
But again, I also understood Kalin’s feelings.
“I’m sorry, little tiger.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” I assured him. “But just remember, Kalin’s feelings are still one hundred percent valid.” I wouldn’t let him shove Kalin’s feelings to the side, regardless of his own. Kalin meant too fucking much. Was too damn important.
“Of course, they are,” Richard rushed to say.
“I would never try to invalidate them. I just wished he’d talk to me instead of shutting me out.
The silent treatment isn’t helping anything.
” He blew out a harsh breath. “You need to shower and rest, little tiger. Kalin and I will sort everything between us eventually. Sleep well, okay?”
“Yeah… you, too,” I whispered. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, little tiger.”
I pulled the phone down from my ear and turned, jolting in surprise. Kalin was standing a couple of feet from me, his shoulder propped against the side of the bus. His lips were turned down in a frown, and his half silver, half black hair was a wet mess on his head.
“How is he?” Kalin asked, tilting his head down to stare at the ground. My heart ached. He loved Richard so fucking much. I knew he did. Deciding to choose himself was hard as hell.
I stepped closer, my hands already reaching out to tug him closer.
Kalin fell into my arms easily, tucking his face into the curve of my neck.
I cradled the back of his head, sifting my fingers through his damp hair.
“He’s upset you won’t talk to him, but he seems okay otherwise.
” Turning my head, I kissed the shell of his ear. “Just give him time.”
Kalin leaned back to look at me, his jaw set in a firm line. Clearly, I’d said the wrong thing. Fuck.
“I have given him time, Spike. I’ve given him nothing but time, and I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of being forced into the shadows. I deserve more than this, and just as he deserves that time, I also deserve more. Maybe he and I just don’t align anymore.”
With that, he pushed back from me, already turning and rushing for the bus door. I rushed to grab his shirt, but he slipped away too quickly.
“Kalin—”
The door slammed shut behind him, cutting me off.