He opened his eyes to reveal the storm within him. “My every instinct is telling me to have my way with you.” He was dead serious and my cheeks heated. Fire shone in his eyes and I broke eye contact, burying my face into his cotton-covered chest. “But it’s not nearly as difficult as going all this time without you,” he said.

I grasped his T-shirt in my fingers and brought myself nose to nose with him. His eyes ate me up.

“Let’s never do that to ourselves again.” I gripped the fabric tighter, a well of panic surging at the thought of being cut off from him. “I mean it, Kai. No matter what my dad says or how scared we are. We can talk when it’s safe. We’ll be careful. Please don’t push me away—”

“Shh,” he whispered, pulling me to him.

I breathed in the scent of skin at his neck. He ran a hand over my messy hair as the anxiousness settled.

“How often does your father ring you?” he asked.

“Every month or two.” I stayed cuddled close while he continued to caress my hair.

“Right, then. How about this? We know he checks to be certain it’s safe on your end. So each time he rings, you can contact me afterward straightaway.”

“Deal,” I said, and pressed my lips to his neck. He held me tighter.

“It’s nine thirty,” he said with reluctance. “I’ve got to go to practice. Will you join me?”

I smiled up at him. Watching Kaidan play? “Sure.”

Oh, wow.

Oh, great goodness. I’d forgotten what watching Kaidan at the drums did to me. He was only warming up while the other guys tuned their instruments, and I already needed a fan.

I looked around the room at the other people sitting and standing—mostly girls but a few guys, too. One girl gave me a little smile and I smiled back before she returned to gazing at the lead singer, Michael.

The bassist went up to Kai when he finished his set, and I nosily stuck out my hearing.

“You brought a chick?” the guy whispered.

“Yeah.”

The guy grinned. “Man, you haven’t brought a girl in forever.”

“Your point, Raj?” Kaidan ran a hand over the drum’s top.

“Nothin’. She’s pretty hot. You bang her yet?”

Okay, go away, Raj.

Kaidan gave him a steely stare. “Nosy git, aren’t you?”

Raj laughed and pointed at Kai. “Dude. You got it bad if you won’t give any deets. I thought you and Anna were—”

“Nope.” Kaidan cut him off and cleared his throat just as Michael called them all together, and Raj left him alone.

I was biting my lip when Kai looked at me with a worried expression. I sent him a small smile for reassurance. I wasn’t going to get upset, even if hearing her mentioned did turn my stomach.

Kaidan raised the drumsticks above his head to count off the first song, and Michael stopped it after a few seconds because someone was off-key. It had sounded great to me, which showed how little I knew about making music. They started again, and the core of my body tightened when Kai went into musician mode. I could see the very moment when he stopped thinking and lost himself in it. I wondered if he could keep drumming with me on his lap.

He was my drummer. My guy. Mine. I bit my lip to hold back a grin.

The door of the practice room opened during the song and a few people shuffled out of the way. A cute girl with short blond hair came in. She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, a yellow aura surrounding her petite frame. I was just about to turn my attention back to the band when a stream of red bled into her aura. She was staring hard.

At Kaidan.

I should have looked away, but a gross sense of raging jealousy and morbid curiosity filled me. I knew it was the other Anna. She chewed the tip of her thumb and soon her whole aura was red. I wanted so badly to use my silent power of persuasion to make her leave, but I wouldn’t.

Go. Away. Stop staring at him. Go away, go away, go away.

It felt like evil banshees were clawing my insides. The other Anna was probably a very nice girl, but I wanted to scour her skin and rip from her body every cell that had had any contact with Kaidan.

At the end of the song she clapped and said, “That was awesome, guys.” Clearly, she was tight with the band, and they all beamed at her praise. Except Kaidan. He’d frozen in place, staring down at the drums.

A horrid moment of awkwardness passed where everyone seemed to put two and two together. The whole room was glancing back and forth between Kaidan and us two Annas, although the other Anna seemed oblivious until her eyes landed on me and she realized I was new. Her head flicked to Kaidan real fast, then she made eye contact with me. As she stared, her aura turned a vile green.

The girl next to her whispered something, but Anna ignored her, instead walking up to Kaidan in her jean shorts and lavender fitted T. I sat up straight on the edge of my chair. Kaidan watched her, his face serious.

“Is that her?” Anna asked. She was being quiet, and I was totally eavesdropping again.

“Yes,” Kaidan answered.

“You could have freaking warned me she was coming.”

“I didn’t know until today. And you don’t usually come to practices anyhow.”

“So . . . what? Now you’re, like, suddenly with her? After you were just with me?”

“I was never with you, Anna. I explained everything, which you seemed to understand. Now’s not the best time to chat.”

“Nice.” She huffed. “Real nice.”