Kiera again tried to take the phone away from me. I batted her away so I could apologize for my inappropriate comment. “Sorry, man, you probably don’t want to hear shit like that.”

“Yeah…I really could do without those kinds of visuals, Kellan,” he muttered.

Guilt instantly tried to flood through me, but the massive amount of alcohol flowing through my veins shifted it back to humor. “Yeah, well, at least I didn’t say you caught us in the middle of doing it…That would have been awkward.”

The line went absolutely drop-dead silent. Oops. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that either. “Denny? You still there?”

“Yeah, I’m just…” He paused to sigh. “I just called to wish you good luck on your tour. Are you leaving after your show?”

“No, the tour starts tomorrow. We’re livin’ it up for our last night in Seattle.” And my head was already floating…

Denny laughed a little. “Yeah, I can tell. But still, all of this is really impressive, Kellan. I’m not surprised, but at the same time…I almost can’t believe it. You’re actually going on tour.”

Hearing the pride in his voice made me beam. Holding Kiera back, since she was still trying to nab my phone, I told him, “Yeah, I know. Six months, Denny. On a bus, man! An actual tour bus, can you believe that shit?”

He laughed again. “You’re really drunk, aren’t you?”

Why did everyone keep asking me that? “Yeah, I’m seriously buzzin’…why?”

Before Denny could respond with anything besides more laughter, Kiera successfully snatched the phone from me. “Hey, Denny, it’s me. Sorry about that. He’s been…celebrating.”

I crossed my arms over my chest as I patiently waited for Kiera to hand me back my phone. Thief. Kiera didn’t give it back though. She ignored my annoyance and kept on going with her stolen conversation. Then she closed her eyes, and I saw something familiar pass over her face…pain. What were they talking about? Me? Was I causing her pain? Or was Denny?

Kiera said something along the lines of “I’m fine,” then she opened her eyes and smiled at me. I smiled back, drinking her in as she told Denny, “This is a big moment for him. I’m not going to ruin it by…” She suddenly bit her lip, then she sighed…and turned away from me. “Denny…”

The guilt in her voice cut straight through my buzz. Her turning away from me went straight to my stomach. I wasn’t sure exactly what they were talking about, but I felt like it was somehow about our fucked-up little threesome. I didn’t want to think about that again. I didn’t want to worry. I didn’t want to be scared. I didn’t want anything but for Kiera to be mine. Truly mine.