Jason had a fantastic voice, too, doing the backup vocals. X and Flipper looked to be in heaven while performing Zeppelin. At the end of the song, we cheered and applauded, and Alys did her special ear-piercing whistle.

Phil laughed. "I guess it's a Led night then."

Up next was "The Song Remains the Same," and it was fantastic. Alys and I were in complete audio bliss, considering Zeppelin was our band, the one band we wished we had seen in concert. We wrapped our arms around each other's waists and sang every word.

"Black Dog," "Over the Hills and Far Away,"-which made me think of Mom-"Gallows Pole," "Immigrant Song," and "The Lemon Song" followed.

Oh my gods above! If I'd thought I was in love before, it was nothing compared to how I felt about him now.

This was NOLA's Junk-just four dudes who fucking loved to jam out. And Phil could dance, moving his sexy bubble ass all over the place. He looked to be having the time of his life. I loved it when he would look right at me and sing to me personally.

I get to go home with that! I've totally had sex with that! my head screamed at me.

"Pretty awesome, right?" asked Sheri, positively glowing.

I realized that the woman truly loved them, loved each of them, and loved their music just as much as we did-perhaps even more so, considering she had upped and left whatever life she once had behind and followed them around the world.

I hadn't been willing to do that, and a twinge of shame zipped through a region of my heart.

"Oh my God! Who knew?" crowed Lili.

Sheri just smiled. She had known, and I had to admit that I was a smidgen jealous. She had had a front-row seat to the evolution of NOLA's Junk.

Phil laughed into the mic again. "I think the food's ready," he told everyone.

Indeed, Louis was waving a large set of tongs in the air.

People were heading over to the barbeque feast, but Phil came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"What did you think? Did we pull it off?" he asked, his voice once more deep and warm, chocolate-sounding.

I playfully smacked him on the chest. "I never knew you could retract your testicles on cue!"

Danielle choked on a healthy swig of beer.

His eyes shone down into mine, and I felt the buzz of excited energy zipping through him. "You liked?"

"I loved."

"Good," he said. He grinned.

Alys and Lili were giving him their feedback, and X joined us, too. However, I wasn't paying any attention to them, and neither was Phil. We were just lost in each other's eyes while the rest of the world could go to hell.

All it took for me to let him in completely was to hear him sing the songs of my childhood. There's no going back now. If he ever thinks of leaving me, I'll be the one who'll need to be locked up because I'll never leave him alone.

Phil totally got the gist of my thoughts, too. His eyes lit up like the Fourth of July, and he gave me the Lady Killer before lifting me up and planting a very inappropriate kiss on me-in front of everyone.

"Phil!" I gasped, pulling back and blushing madly.

"Fuck 'em!" he growled, going in for seconds.

"Stop it!" I hissed.

He laughed at my flaming face. "I adore you, Baby Girl."

"I adore you, too," I huffed.

X cleared his throat, and we both turned our heads to look at Alys, Lili, and X.

Shit, we completely forgot they were even there.

Phil looked at me and bit his lip to keep from going full-on Lady Killer again. "Hungry?"

"I could eat," I replied.

"Go find someplace to sit. I'll get us some grub."

"All right," I said and smiled.

X looked at Alys. "Can I get you some grub, too?"

She blushed and smiled shyly.

Uh-oh.

"Sure," she answered.

X beamed and followed Phil, looking back once more to throw her a really sweet smile.

"No, that's cool. I can get my own plate. Thanks," said Lili sarcastically. She made her way to the buffet. "Asses."

Free of his woman, poor Phil immediately got flanked by Erika and Becca. We saw Lili's shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter, and X was laughing with her.

"I think X has the hots for you," I said to Alys as we made our way to a picnic table.

"Or he just wants to get laid," she replied dryly.

"I get the feeling it's more than that."

She said nothing, but she smiled all the same.

They returned with heaps of food. After dropping our plates on the table, Phil actually lifted me and deposited me on his lap, making me straddle one of his thighs so that I could face forward to eat. He kept me securely anchored to him with an arm wrapped around my waist.

Flipper and Vivian sat down in front of us, and X parked it next to Alys. Lili quickly snatched the spot on Phil's right side, taking it right under Becca's nose.

Phil was so thankful and impressed that he dropped a kiss on top of her dark head.

"You're awesome, Pygmy."

"I try."

The guys began telling us stories about how they'd practically lived here as kids. X had lost his virginity in the tree house, and that had made Erika turn beet red while the rest of us howled with laughter. At some point, Sheri brought us all some beers, which Alys and X both declined due to driving responsibilities.

"We should get the shit back in the garage before we're too fat 'n' sassy to move," said Flipper.

"Too fuckin' right," grunted Phil. Kissing my cheek, he said, "We'll just break down, and then I'm all yours, yeah?"

"Do what you gotta do," I replied.

We all got up as the guys traipsed off. Sheri, Alys, Lili, and I decided to help the food settle by hanging out in a little circle next to the bar.

"I've never seen Phil so happy," Sheri said shyly. "I didn't know he had such a sweet side, and it just blazes through when he looks at you-which is all the time really." She laughed.

"Jason looks at you the same way," remarked Alys. "Aren't you guys together?"

Sheri shrugged. "I'm not sure what we are really."

"Speak of the devil," Lili said, spotting Jason heading our way.

We all clammed up as he strolled over, and he draped his arm around Sheri's thin shoulders. I was surprised she hadn't buckled under the weight of it.

"What's up, ladies?" drawled Jason in a lazy, laid-back sort of way.

"Just remarking about how sweet Phil has become since finding his Baby Girl," said Sheri, a genuine smile on her face. "I never knew he had this side to him. It's like he's transformed."

Jason let loose a derisive snort, "Yeah, okay."

With that, the atmosphere turned bitter, acidic. Beside me, Alys and Lili bristled, and I felt it, too. This was going nowhere good.

"He has," Sheri insisted, throwing him a glare.

"Into a pussy maybe."

Removing his arm from around her shoulders, she shot a shrewd glare his way. "What? Are you drunk?"

"Nope."

"Then, why are you being such a jerk?" she demanded.

Okay...this is extremely awkward.

"I'm just sayin' how it is. I just don't see what's so special about any of it. Now, when he was with Brigid, I could see somethin' in that. She was awesome."

Lili hissed like a cat.

Who the fuck is Brigid?

"Jason!" Sheri admonished.

He simply shrugged. "To be honest, Phil was a lot more fun after the show we played at Bougainvillea. That's the night we met Sheri. Did you know that?" His eyes flashed with malicious intent, and his smile slicked his gorgeous face with pure evilness. His hateful gaze was directed at me. "He busted me and Sheri in the van-"

Alys gasped and pointed at poor Sheri. "Silver Tissue Paper!" she ejected like a bad case of Tourette's.

Lili and I both stared at Sheri in shock-and yeah, maybe a little bit of horror as well.

Holy shit, Sheri is that girl! She was one of the five sleazeballs in high heels, the one who tried to shove Alys out of her spot! No wonder she fucking looked so familiar!

"Ja-Jason, don't!" she cried, tears welling up and spilling out. "Please, don't do this!" The blood drained from her face, and she looked...terrified.

Why is he doing this to her?

"Yeah, he busted me nailin' her from behind-"

"Ugh!" grunted Lili, completely disgusted.

I knew it wasn't because he had nailed Sheri from behind but because he had the nerve to stand there and tell us about it-and in front of her, too.

"Jason, please-" she begged him, choking up and shaking like a leaf.

"So, Phil dropped his fly and told her to suck him off. Shocked the shit out me. He was always such a prude. But that was a fun night. He ended up bangin' the shit out of your friend after you sucked him dry. Right, babe? What was her name? Linda? Lindsey? I forget."

The bottom of the universe fell away, leaving nothing for my soul to stand on. Floating in a sick sense of limbo, my brain, my heart...it was as though they had no idea what to do with this information. Shriveled up and confused, they berated me for opening myself up to this. Something within me crumbled.

That night had meant everything to me. It had meant so much that the kiss we shared had made it impossible for me to even think of allowing another man to touch me for nearly six years.

Phil hadn't bothered to wait six hours before he was getting head and fucking some chick.

Wow.

I'm going to be sick. Even my heart feels nauseous.

"Hey, wasn't that the night y'alls met?" Jason asked, feigning innocence and tilting his beer bottle in my direction.

It felt as though all my blood pooled in my gut and then fell to my feet. A buzzing, hollow ringing ricocheted around between my ears.

"Yeah, guess you weren't so special after all," he sneered.

I heard the words Phil had spoken to me earlier.

"My whole life, I've searched for you, waited for you, hoped and prayed I'd find you one day."

What utter bullshit.

"Ke-kenna," Sheri whispered brokenly. Poor girl was openly weeping. She looked how I felt on the inside. "I-I'm s-so-"

Laughing, Jason lightly elbowed her in the ribs. "And that is how you take a bitch down a peg or two!"

"Fuck that!" snarled Alys.