She was holding the cupcake, the candle in the center of it lit, out to me. “Make a wish,” she said to me.

  I blew the candle out, then took the cupcake from her. “Thanks, Baby Doll.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, you need to pick the movie you want to start with, and I’ll go get the drinks. Corona, or are you ready for your birthday present?”

  “I can’t have a drink and my birthday present?” I asked her, trying to figure out the reason she looked almost giddy.

  Her aquamarine eyes sparkled when she was excited about something. I was intrigued. What had she done?

  “You can, but they could be one and the same,” she said in a singsong voice.

  “You got me whiskey for my birthday,” I guessed.

  She winked at me, then left me in the living room to go get whatever it was she was so fucking happy about. It felt like my birthday finally. All day had been just a regular day, except for the strippers and drinks I’d had at Huck’s shop with the guys.

  As nice as all that had been, it didn’t feel like my birthday until I was with Genesis. She’d been with me on my birthday every year since the summer I’d turned eight. Without her, it just didn’t feel right. There had been a time when I would have wanted Bowie here too. That ship had sailed. He was no longer a regret. I was fucking thrilled he’d left our friendship. I got Genesis all to myself.

  She came walking back into the room with two whiskey glasses in one hand and a gift bag in the other. It was times like this that I could see past those killer eyes of hers, that fucking beauty mark that sat just over the left corner of her heart-shaped mouth, and her perfect slightly upturned nose to the tomboy with dirty knees and stringy hair. The girl who had been down to any crazy-ass idea I came up with and did her best to do it better than Bowie and me.

  She held out the bag to me.

  “You look real damn pleased with yourself,” I told her.

  “Oh, I am,” she replied.

  I opened the bag and pulled out a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve—15 Year. This shit ran close to three grand. I jerked my gaze back up to look at her in shock. I knew exactly how much she made a week. She was working at the boutique in town that my mother owned.

  “You got me Pappy’s?” I asked.

  She held up the two glasses. “I might have designed a boho wedding dress for a girl at school, whose brother-in-law is a higher-up at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. I clearly didn’t pay what you’re thinking. Not that I don’t love you that much, but because I have to pay rent and all.”

  She placed the two glasses on the coffee table in front of me. “Let’s drink to twenty.”

  Then, she sank down onto the sofa beside me, curling her legs underneath her. “Now, pour us some Pappy’s.”

  I opened the bottle and gave Genesis her two-finger pour while I was more generous with myself. Turning back to her, I handed her the glass and then picked up mine. We tapped the glasses together, the clink filling the room, because that made my girl smile.

  Genesis said, “To twenty. May it be the best year yet.”

  I watched her take a sip from the glass and wondered what it would take to convince her not to go back to Savannah in the fall. It was selfish of me, and I knew I’d never let her give up her dream, but, fuck, I missed her like crazy. This past year with her away at college had sucked. I hated it.

  Putting the glass to my lips, I tried to push aside thoughts of the future and enjoy tonight.

  “Which movie first, birthday boy?” she asked. “The Conjuring, Poltergeist, or Scream?”

  I rested my head on the back of the sofa and turned to look at her. “Those are my options?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I’ve seen those enough that they no longer scare me. And I live alone, so nothing new that can cause me to lose sleep. Going next door to my parents’ isn’t happening either.”

  I reached over and grabbed her chin. “But you have me. A Lord of the Underworld to keep you safe.”

  She tilted her head and gave me an amused smirk. “Yes, but you are only staying tonight. What happens tomorrow night when I need to pee and I’m too scared to go to the bathroom? Call Mom and ask her to come over and watch me?”

  I laughed because she wasn’t exaggerating. I knew this to be fact. “No, you call me, and I’ll come running.”

  “And if you’re in the process of getting busy at the time? I might pee my pants before you can get here.”

  I let go of her chin and rolled my eyes. “You know the moment you call, I’ll drop what I’m doing.”

  Genesis took a sip from her glass and studied me for a minute. “Okay, fine. What movie do you want to watch? I’ll be brave.”

  I leaned forward and took the bowl of popcorn and a brownie, then sat back, handing the brownie to her. “The Conjuring,” I replied with a wink.

  Taking her brownie, she shook her head, smiling at me as she settled in close to my side, pointing the remote at the television. “You just like getting me worked up,” she said.

  “Always have, Baby Doll. You’re fucking adorable when you get all stressed.”

  One

  Kye—Twenty-One Years Old

  June 1

  I bent down to pick up my keys, placing a hand on the door to steady myself. Swaying, I caught myself before I fell over. Fucking hell, the keys were moving. I squinted hard and tried to focus. Slowly, I reached down and grabbed the keys. Success. Standing back up, I managed to find the right key and jam it into the lock on the door.

  When the door swung open, the sweet smell of Genesis hit me, and, damn, I loved it when she made my childhood home smell like her in the summers. Stepping inside, I grinned, then stumbled and had to grab on to the side table by the door to keep from pitching forward. I should have stopped after the fifth shot of tequila. But those tits with that little shot glass between them had been too fucking tempting.

  “Honey, I’m home,” I called out, dropping the keys and hearing them clatter to the floor.

  Silence.

  I made my way to the living room. It was dark. Where the hell was Genesis? It was my birthday. Leaning against the wall, I groaned as things began to spin. Slapping my hand around until I found the light switch, I slowly opened my eyes against the sudden brightness. Maybe I should have left the lights off.

  My gaze locked on the coffee table, covered in all our favorite snacks. The cupcakes in the middle brought a goofy grin to my face. She’d stuck a candle in the center one again this year. I liked that new addition to our tradition.

  “Baby Doll! Where are you? I’m ready for movie night,” I yelled and managed to make it to the sofa without tripping over the other furniture.

  Sinking down on the worn leather, I sighed in contentment. This was what I had been missing tonight. Sure, the drinking, strip club, and fucking had been great, but I did that pretty regularly. My birthday movie night with Genesis was special.

  I laid my head back on the sofa and closed my eyes. She’d be in here soon. I just had to wait. She was probably getting a shower. I loved the way her hair smelled after she used that vanilla shampoo. I needed to bury my nose in it, listen to her laughter, feel her snuggled up against me as we watched one of the horror movies we already knew word for word.

  Happy birthday to me.

  The pounding in my head made opening my eyes a bad idea, but my fucking mouth was so dry that I couldn’t swallow. I needed water. Groaning, I rolled over and realized I wasn’t in a bed. Where was I, and how much had I had to drink? Jesus Christ, I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.

  “Here,” my favorite voice in the world said. “Drink.”

  My eyes opened, and Genesis sat on the edge of the coffee table, holding a glass of water. A smile curled across my lips. The sight of her was a relief.

  “Baby Doll.” My voice sounded gravelly and hoarse.

  She gave me a tight smile that concerned me. What was wrong? I sat up and took the glass of water from her and drank it all down while studying her. Something was off, and if I wasn’t so fucking hungover, I’d know what it was.

  Had I done something or said something last night? Why was I here anyway?

  “You okay?” I asked her, trying to remember why I was on the sofa.

  She laughed softly and shook her head, then stood up. “I’ll get you some toast and an aspirin.”

  I reached out and grabbed her wrist, stopping her. She was acting weird. It wasn’t like I hadn’t shown up here drunk before. That shouldn’t have been an issue. Unless … fuck, had I come on to her? I winced, thinking about it.

  “What’s wrong, Baby Doll?” I asked her, trying like hell to remember last night.

  The last thing that I could clearly recall was drinking shots out of Chyna’s cleavage. Levi had held her big, fake tits together while I drank from the shot glass between them. Then … oh, wait. I also remembered Levi spanking her ass with his belt, then me kissing the welts before fucking her from behind. She’d sucked Levi off, and then he’d left. I thought we’d fucked again after. Things got blurry.

  Genesis sighed, and the tight smile she’d been giving me just looked sad now. My chest tightened. What had I done?

  Think, Kye! Fucking think!

  She was upset. I’d messed up somehow.

  “I’m fine. Let me get you something to help with that, and then we can talk.”

  I shook my head. “No. I want to talk now. You’re upset, and if I did something, then I need to fucking know so I can fix it.” Standing up, I winced as the pain in my head sliced through me.

  She narrowed her eyes as she looked at me. “Do you remember last night?” she asked me.

  I stalled. I wasn’t going to give her details on what I did remember. We joked around about my sex life, but that was it. She knew little about what I did with women. I had never even told her about my four cock piercings. That was just shit you didn’t tell your girl best friend.

  “Not all of it,” I admitted.

  She simply nodded and looked away from me. This was not good. I was going to have to spend the summer making this up to her, whatever it was. The summer … holy fucking hell! My gaze swung back to the coffee table, where the snacks had been last night. I remembered them. The table had been full. The cupcakes, the candle. Motherfucker!

  I shoved my hand in my hair, furious with myself. The pain in my chest was now worse than the pounding headache. “Baby Doll, I am so sorry. I drank too much. Fuck.” I closed my eyes, trying to find the right words.

  “It was your twenty-first birthday. You went out with friends and got drunk. That’s what people do. It’s fine. I shouldn’t have expected you to come back here. That was silly.”

  No, please stop talking. She was killing me.

  “Don’t do that. Do not let me off the hook like that. I can’t handle it.”

  I opened my eyes to look at her perfect face. Her heart-shaped mouth with the beauty mark right above the corner of her lip, the slightly upturned nose, and those aquamarine-colored eyes. It was painful sometimes to see just how beautiful she was.

  “I’m not letting you off the hook. It’s just the facts. No reason to get worked up over it.”

  “You are upset. It’s all over your face. I fucking hate myself,” I said, reaching out and pulling her to me in a hug.

  She smelled so good. This was what I’d needed last night. Why had I drunk so much?

  “We can celebrate tonight. Have our tradition with me sober and right here with you all damn day.”

  That was what we needed. What I needed. I wasn’t going to feel right without it.

  “I can’t,” she said against my chest.

  I pulled back and looked down at her. “Why not? You’ve already got all the stuff. We don’t need to waste it. Besides, I want my cupcake, and I need to blow out my candle and make a wish.”

  She let out a soft laugh. “We can do that this morning. And I packaged up all the snacks and put them in a bag for you to take.”

  “No!” I said, shaking my head.

  I wasn’t fucking taking anything. We were eating them right here on this damn sofa. She was going to curl up next to me as we watched movies.

  “We’re having our movie night.”

  Genesis sighed and stepped back from me. “I’m leaving, Kye. I’m going to take the summer semester at school.”

  My world felt like it had just stopped spinning. Panic sank its claws into me.

  “What? You’re leaving me because I messed up last night? I’m sorry! I swear to God, I will make it up to you all summer. I’m yours. We will have movie nights every night. I won’t get drunk or go to the strip club. Just you and me.”

  Genesis put her hand on my chest, and I reached up and covered it with both of mine. She had to stay. All I got of her anymore was the summers. I could convince her.

  “It’s not about last night. I registered for it back in April. I was going to tell you, but you’ve been busy, and we haven’t seen much of each other since I got here three weeks ago. You’re immersed in your life here, and I get that. This was something I’d been considering since last summer. I left most of my things at my apartment back in Savannah. I thought I’d get a chance to talk to you about it, but you canceled on me last week, and I’m not complaining. Just pointing it out. You had to handle an issue with the underworld and all. Anyway, I planned on discussing it with you last night. But …” She gave me that sad smile again. “I start my job tonight. I have to leave in an hour if I’m going to get there in time.”

  She was leaving me. The only light I had in my world was really walking out that door. And it was my fault. She’d been here for three weeks, and we had barely had time together. I’d been busy, but even when I could have made time for her, I hadn’t. As much as I hated it, she had a life in Savannah. One with friends and a job. Here, I was the only thing she had, and the deeper I got into the workings of the family, the less time I had to be with her. I wanted her happy more than I wanted my next breath. Even if it meant letting her leave me.

  “I’m gonna miss you so fucking much,” I told her. The thick emotion in my voice was impossible to mask.

  She turned her hand over and clasped mine in hers. “I’ll miss you too. But life is changing for both of us. You’ll always be my best friend. That won’t ever change. Even if we aren’t in the same city.”

  I pulled her back to me and wrapped my arms around her.

  Genesis Stoll had been the best thing in my life since the day she’d walked into my backyard and ruined my eighth birthday party. Every good memory I had, she was in it. When life got dark, she was the thing I reached for to keep me sane. I was selfish with her. I always had been. This time, I wasn’t going to be. I loved her too much to hold her back.

  Two

  Genesis—Twenty Years Old

  June 17

  The music was pumping through the speakers so loud that it was hard to hear Quinn, my roommate and backup best friend—or at least, that was what she called herself. I leaned closer to her, moving the tray in my hand over so I didn’t spill the shrimp cocktails I was serving.

  “What?” I asked her.

  She had a tray filled with crystal champagne flutes.

  “I said, I am going to finish giving these out, then go take my break.”

  I nodded instead of trying to talk over the music. The live band was also on a break, and I was looking forward to their return. They weren’t this loud. I much preferred working weddings and classy rich-people parties. I wasn’t a fan of this type of event. The catering company I worked for paid well though, and the tips I received made it even more worth it. Except for tonight. Nothing made working at some frat house event, hosted by older men who had once been in the fraternity, worth it. I didn’t understand college Greek life, but this event seemed like a way for wealthy, old men to relive their youth.

  Turning, I made my way through the crowd, smiling and pausing as guests took the appetizers from my tray. A college-aged guy winked at me while his date was clinging to his side. That was typical at this kind of thing. Even the older men with wedding rings would give me leers and make suggestive comments. I always stuck my tray in their face and asked if they’d like whatever I was serving to keep them far enough away so they didn’t touch me. It did the trick most of the time.

  Stopping at the next group of people, I sighed when the music ended and the band returned. The lead singer was speaking over the microphone when I held out the tray with my practiced smile.

  “Would you like a—” The words halted as I stared into a familiar face.

  Those brown eyes I hadn’t seen since graduation widened only slightly before turning away from me and looking at the girl at his side.

  “Would you like one?” Bowie asked the brunette.

  She shook her head. “I don’t eat seafood.”

  He lifted his eyes to the guy standing across from him and began to carry on a conversation. I regained my composure and turned my attention to the others to make sure no one wanted anything before I left them.

  “I don’t do shrimp, but I’d like your number,” the guy to the left of me said, leaning toward me with a cocky grin.

  His brown hair was long and tucked behind his ears. He was used to getting what he wanted. That was clear from the way he was looking at me. I was sure he had a trust fund to go with his attractive face. If Bowie hadn’t been standing there, acting as if I were some stranger, then I would have ignored the guy.

  But I was annoyed that Bowie was still treating me as if I were invisible after all this time, so I returned the flirty smile and gave him Quinn’s number.

  I wasn’t about to give him mine, and I knew Quinn wouldn’t be mad about it. He was her favorite type.

  He pulled out his phone and plugged in the number. I flashed one more smile, making it a point not to look at Bowie before I went through the crowd and continued to do my job. Once the tray was empty, I hurried to the back in search of Quinn. I also needed a moment to think this through.