Nodding, he grinned. "I think it's cool that you all still go to shows. We went out last night and saw some up-and-comin' bands. It's nice to be in the audience once in a while."

"It's all I've ever known. I think it's a hobby of ours though. We just love music."

"Me and the guys were the same before we started performin'. If we weren't in Dad's garage, we were at shows."

"It's a magical thing," I happily informed him.

He chuckled, "You've got an awesome way to look at it."

"Well, it is," I insisted. "You get a group of people to come together to write and play music. Music is its own sort of magic. Unlike anything else, it fuels our brains on a spiritual level. It makes us dance, and it inspires us to fall in love, have sex, and lose our inhibitions. Hell, I listen to music to help me clean my house! I prefer certain music to smoke to and to listen to while I meditate. It sets our mood, amps us up, and brings on bittersweet memories. My mom used to say that music was the language of the soul. It speaks directly to our inner selves."

He leaned over and kissed my temple.

"I think you're pretty magical," he whispered.

We stopped at the red light at the intersection that turned into Ormond. When the light turned green, I turned left, pulling into our neighborhood. I took another left on Alameda and continued past the Plantation House.

Next to me, Phil tensed up.

Slowing down, I made the first left after we'd passed his place.

"Shut the fuck up," he whispered, making me grin.

There was only one house back here.

As I pulled into my driveway, he stared at the house in stunned silence before saying, "You live here?"

"I do."

"How long have you lived here?"

"Um...thirteen years?"

He stared at me, and I was dying to know what was going through his head.

"Ready for homemade Mexican with three crazy bitches?"

He seemed to snap out of it. "Yeah."

He grabbed his bag and guitar, and we headed up the steps. The scent of frying meat greeted us as we walked through the front door.

"Fuck, that smells awesome," he groaned.

At the sound of his voice, Lili came peeling out of the kitchen. Completely out of character, she bounced and squealed, throwing her arms in the air. The sound of utensils clattering on the counter sounded, and Alys came running out, too, joining Lili. They looked like two twelve-year-olds witnessing their favorite boy band walking through the front door.

Phil looked shocked as he dropped his stuff on the couch. Then, he did something that sealed my love for him forever. He started to bounce and squeal, too, throwing his arms out in invitation. Alys and Lili launched themselves at him. Huge dude that he was, he enfolded them in his embrace. After dropping a kiss on top of Alys's head, he then lifted Lili for a proper hug. She looked like a toddler in his arms.

Lili responded by wrapping her arms and legs around him and burying her face in his neck.

Phil froze, his arms dropping to his sides, having no idea what to do. "Uh, Baby Girl?"

"Yeah, Phil." I replied, walking behind Alys into the kitchen.

"She knows I belong to you, right?"

Alys let loose a lusty sigh.

I replied, "Mmhmm."

"Shh. I'm holding on to a master of metal," said Lili from her lofty perch. "Don't ruin this for me. Who knows if I'll ever get to do this again?"

Bless Alys.

She'd offered to have everything ready for when we got back, and she had done a gorgeous job of it.

Phil walked into the kitchen, complete with his Lili attachment. With a deep appreciation, he looked at the breakfast bar loaded with food. "Damn, this looks amazing."

"It is," piped up Lili. Untangling herself from him, she totally slid down his front. "It's one of my favorites of Kenna's."

"You made all of this?" he asked.

"I had help."

"Damn, woman," he grunted.

Phil sat next to me, and when he wasn't constructing a fajita, his left hand was glued to my right thigh. One-handed, he would shove the food into his mouth. Sitting across from us, Alys and Lili noticed this, but they made no mention of it.

By witnessing our antics, Phil was beginning to understand the relationship between the three of us, that we weren't just best friends. We had a truly stronger than average bond. We more like sisters.

"It's like you guys have your own language," he said after one particularly animated story the three of us had told while cracking up the whole time.

"Something like that." Alys smiled.

At seven thirty, Alys and Lili went upstairs to grab their stuff and get ready to go out while Phil and I cleared the table. There was no food left. Phil had eaten eleven fajitas.

From the fridge, I grabbed a couple of organic beers and handed one to him.

"I thought you didn't drink," he said in surprise.

"I do on occasion. I prefer weed."

He took a glug and read the label. "It's good."

"Are you sure you guys don't want to come with us? Some good bands are playing tonight," Lili said as she reappeared with her overnight bag over her shoulder.

Phil looked at me. "Do you?"

I shrugged casually, like I wasn't anxiously hoping the two women I loved most in life would just get the fuck out of the house. "We can, if you want." Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.

He looked at Lili. "I think we're just gonna stay in tonight."

"I bet," she retorted.

Alys came up and hugged me, and I happily hugged her back. "I'll call you in the morning before we head home, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Muffin."

"Anytime. Love you, Sweet Pea."

"Love you, too."

Lili came up and hugged me, too. She whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "Just not on the breakfast bar, yeah? We eat there."

Phil proceeded to have a violent coughing fit, having sucked the rest of his beer down the wrong pipe. He was still wheezing a bit when she walked up to him and poked him in the sternum.

"You," she snapped.

"Yeah?" Cough, cough.

"You'd better not be messing around. You fuck with Kenna, you hurt her in any way, and I'll cut you."

His face turned dead serious. "I believe you."

Outside, the faint sound of thunder rumbled in the distance, and Phil's eyebrows reached for his hairline. It was as though the gods were in agreement with Lili.

"Bye, guys!" Alys called from the front door.

"Bye!" Phil and I called back.

Lili gave Phil one last glare before flouncing out.

"She's abso-fuckin'-lutely terrifying," he said under his breath.

"Like a Chihuahua," I agreed, turning toward the sink and turning on the faucet to start rinsing the dishes. "But it's Alys you should really be scared of."

"But she's the sweet one."

"She's the one who actually knows how to kill a man."

"Oh, yeah."

I picked up the frying pan and shoved it under the water. Phil braced his heavily tattooed arms on either side of me, his hands landing on the counter. The full length of him was pressed against my back, and he strained his growing cock into my rump.

"Leave it," he commanded in a menacing voice.

I must have some sort of fucked-up wiring in my brain because that voice should have inspired terror, but all it did was make my nipples hard and my crotch go all mushy and hot.

"And if I insist on doing this now?"

"Then, our first time will be me fuckin' you up against the kitchen sink."

Well, all right then.

I turned off the faucet and dropped the pan. He took a step back, so I could turn around. Looking up into his face, I realized, Holy shit, this is it. This is about to happen! I'm going to have sex with Phil fucking Deveraux!

I took his hand and led him toward the stairs. We stopped briefly for him to grab his bag.

"I got a mega box of condoms, and we're gonna put a serious dent in it," he announced joyously, following me up the steps.

On the fourth step, I paused, and I turned around. "Wait."

"What?"

Oh, the look on his face was priceless. His eyes were suddenly wide with a panicky glaze.

"Don't think you're changin' your mind. I will lose my shit and go on a homicidal rampage, Kenna-"

I lost it, laughing heartily.

"I'm fuckin' serious-"

"No!" I cracked up. "It's not that-"

"Then, what?"

"Well, I mean, we both have a clean bill of health, yeah?"

"Yeah-huh."

"I've never had unprotected sex before, and I'm on birth control. I was wondering...if you're comfortable with it, that is...I'd like to not use protection with you. It's not like I plan on ever sleeping with someone else-"

Without further ado, he tossed me over his shoulder. "This day just keeps gettin' better and better," he crowed, hauling ass up the stairs. "Which fuckin' door?"

"On the right," I told his perfect ass, which filled my vision nicely.

Opening the door, he set me on my feet and back-kicked the door shut. He hauled me into his arms and kissed me until my legs turned to jelly and my spine turned to rubber. His hands grabbed the hem of my shirts, and he started tugging them over my head.

"Off," he panted. "Everything off!"

"Grunt, grunt," said the caveman.

He pulled his shirt over his head.

I tugged off my bracelets and unbuttoned my jeans. After kicking off my flip-flops, I pushed my jeans off, leaving on my underwear. He could have the honors with that.

Taking my face in his hands, he dragged me back, once more mating his mouth to mine. I started tugging at his belt buckle, finally fumbling it undone. After opening his belt and fly, I pushed his dark blue Dickies over his perfect bubble butt.

They dropped...to his boots.