Kissing the Bad Boy Read online

  Kissing

  the

  Bad Boy

  NYE Kisses Collaboration

  Winter Travers

  Dear Reader,

  With a New Year come new possibilities and a blank slate! What a better way to ring it in than with stories to help create good cheer. So, whether it’s a happy ending or happy beginning, we got you covered!

  These stories will have you falling in love, grinning ear to ear as characters count down to a new year! Join us on this adventure and remember, this is the first page of your new year. Make it shine bright!

  May your glass of champagne never be empty and the clock strike midnight while kissing the one you love!

  Always,

  Your Authors!

  Ring in the New Year with a kiss!

  Kiss Me Like You Miss Me by Felicia Fox

  A Kiss to Remember by Geri Glenn

  First Last Kiss by Kristen Hope Mazzola

  Covered by a Kiss by Lisa B. Kamps

  Kissing Gabe by Mayra Statham

  Kiss My Glass by Melanie Codina

  Just a Kiss by Shantel Tessier

  31 Kisses by Sonya Jesus

  B.A.K.E. Belladonna’s Arousing Kissing Extravaganza by Teresa Crumpton

  Lost in His Kiss by Tracie Douglas

  Kissing the Bad Boy by Winter Travers

  Copyright © 2019 Winter Travers

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduction, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) utilization of this work without written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  For questions or comments about this book, please contact the author at [email protected]

  Also by Winter Travers

  Devil’s Knights Series:

  Loving Lo

  Finding Cyn

  Gravel’s Road

  Battling Troy

  Gambler’s Longshot

  Keeping Meg

  Fighting Demon

  Unraveling Fayth

  Skid Row Kings Series:

  DownShift

  PowerShift

  BangShift

  Fallen Lords MC Series

  Nickel

  Pipe

  Maniac

  Wrecker

  Boink

  Powerhouse MA Series

  Dropkick My Heart

  Love on the Mat

  Black Belt in Love

  Black Belt Knockout

  Nitro Crew Series

  Burndown

  Holeshot

  Redlight (January 29th, 2019)

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  About the Author

  Coming Soon

  First Chapter of Burndown

  Chapter One

  Ruby

  Home sweet, home…

  “I’ve got everything moved in.”

  “Moved in?”

  I ripped open the tape on the last box and opened the flaps. “Uh, yeah.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed the stack of plates from the box.

  “Ruby, you do know that I’ll be back, right?” Jonas laughed, and I pictured him shaking his head at me like he always did.

  “In six months, Jonas. Did you really think I wasn’t going to move my stuff in and make the place feel like home?” I opened the cabinet and stacked my plates on top of the plain white ones Jonas had. “I had my stuff in storage, but what’s the point in wasting money on storage when I can just keep it here with me?”

  “I suppose,” he muttered. “Just remember this is only temporary.”

  Jonas hadn’t even been gone a full day and he was already driving me insane by reminding me this was his apartment. “I know, dear brother, but I want this place to feel like home, and I really don’t have much stuff.”

  “If you would stop working for peanuts and demand your worth you would have more than a few things that fit into six boxes.”

  “Seven,” I grumbled. “And two were pretty full. Should have been eight.”

  I heard a woman’s voice drone over the loudspeaker in the background. “I gotta go, Ruby. I’ll give you a call tomorrow after I get settled in.”

  “Till then, Jonas.”

  “You are so lame, Ruby.”

  I scoffed and ended the call.

  I was not lame. Not in the least.

  At least I didn’t think I was. Jonas was so much a stick in the mud that someone being a little different from his was downright weird or lame.

  It was a good thing I loved him and he was my brother, otherwise I would have been highly offended at his words.

  After I put the rest of my plates on the stack, I grabbed the four coffee cups I had and set them next to his all back mugs. “This man needs a ton more color in his life.” I shut the cabinet and survey the kitchen.

  I hadn’t ever had a space that was fully my own.

  Normally I had my room that was mine, but I had shared every other aspect. From the kitchen to the bathroom, I had shared it with at least two other people.

  Now I had a huge twelve hundred square foot apartment that was all mine for the next six months. Jonas had thought that he was asking me to do a huge favor for him by moving in for six months, but it was absolutely perfect and exactly what I needed.

  I did have to get the mail, water the plants, and take care of Mookie, but other than that, I was a free woman to do whatever I wanted.

  First up on the agenda was to take a bubble bath with the door open and the music blaring from my phone.

  “You ready for a bubble bath, Mookie?” I looked down at the pitbull who was dark gray with a white snout and chest. His eyes were an alarming bright blue, and he looked up at me as if he understood what I had said. His tail thumped excitedly on the floor. “I’m gonna take that as a yes, big man.”

  I padded down the long hallway to the master bathroom with Mookie hot on my tail. I passed the bed room I had claimed as mine, which wasn’t the master, but in my mind it was freakin’ phenomenal. I kept the door to Jonas’s room closed since I had been given strict orders to stay out of his room. No matter what.

  He knew if I got a glimpse of the room I would want to claim it as mine too.

  He was totally right.

  I had already taken over the bathroom that connected to his room.

  A huge jetted bathtub, stand-up shower, a toilet with all the bells and whistles, and a two sink vanity. I had planned on spending a lot of the next six months in here enjoying the large soaking tub while I drank wine and read.

  I plugged the drain of the tub, turned the water to almost scorching hot, and watched Mookie turn six circl
es before he laid on the mat in front of the tub. “You really are gonna take a bath with me, aren’t you, big guy?”

  He stretched his paws out in front of him, then laid his head on them. His eyes rolled back a bit in his head and he looked up at me.

  “I’ll take that as a yes, Mookie,” I laughed. “Just no jumping in the tub with me.”

  He woofed and lifted his head up.

  “Oh no, no, no. You better keep your furry butt right there on the rug. Stay, Mookie.”

  He whined but lowered his head back to the floor.

  I had never met a dog like Mookie before. If my brother wasn’t careful I was going to steal his apartment and his dog.

  I dropped a bath bomb into the water, pulled off my clothes and piled my long brown hair on top of my head. I sunk into the hot water that had steam rolling on the top and sighed.

  “Now this is the life.”

  Mookie grumbled next to the tub and I reached down to rub his head.

  An apartment all to myself, a good dog to keep me company, and a big ass tub to soak in every night.

  Life didn’t get any better than this.

  *

  Chapter Two

  Harrison

  No rest for the weary…

  “Play it back for me one more time.”

  The loud thumping of Malik’s bass sounded through the speakers, and I closed my eyes. This was what we had worked years for.

  Sitting in the studio cutting our first single.

  This was the fucking life.

  “The chorus is fucking amazing, Harrison. I don’t know how the hell you came up with the lyrics, but they are fucking gold.”

  They were pretty fucking good. The best I had written yet. “Let’s hope the fucking fans think the same thing.”

  Maud scoffed from behind me. “You know they’re good. Stop trying to be humble.”

  I spun around to face her. “I may think they’re good, but the crowd I sing to might not think so.”

  “The crowd we sing to,” she corrected. “Last I checked we were a fucking band.”

  “Come on, Maud,” Malik laughed. “You really doing this shit again? You fucking knew what he meant.”

  She flipped off Malik. “It’s a good thing you fuckers are my cousins, otherwise I’d totally punch each of you in the junk.”

  Malik covered his nuts with his hand. “Don’t even mention my nuts again. My nuts want nothing to do with you.” He wagged his finger at her. “My nuts,” he enunciated slowly.

  “Let me punch him,” Maud pleaded to me.

  “Who are we punching?” Darius asked as he and Niko walked into the studio and dropped onto the couch next to Maud.

  “Malik, of course.” She twisted to look at Darius. “And it’s so nice of you guys to finally show up.”

  Darius winked at her. “Thought we would grace you guys with our presence for a bit.”

  Maud put her hand in his face and pushed him back. “Remind me again why I put up with you?”

  “Cause we’re family?” Niko guessed.

  “Cause you’d be lost without us?” Darius suggested.

  “Cause you ain’t got any friends?” Malik added.

  I held up my hand before Maud launched herself at Malik to actually punch him in the junk. “Because we wouldn’t be the Wild Preacher’s Club without you, Maud. You know these assholes are just fucking with you.”

  She aggressively flipped off Malik. “I will cut you in your sleep,” she seethed.

  Malik clutched his hand to his chest and sighed. “I can just feel the love.”

  Mick, our producer, cleared his throat. His swiveled away from the sound board and folded his arms over his chest. “Since nobody really listened to the finished track of ‘Maniac Heart’ I’m gonna say it’s good to go.”

  Darius raised his hand, and I had to shake my head at this fool who was my brother. “The drums sounded amazing.”

  Niko bumped knuckles with him. “Yeah they did, bro. The guitar was sick, too.”

  “It all was good.” I turned to Mick. “So, now what?”

  A wide smile spread across his lips. “Now I put it out to the radio stations and wait for them to pick it up. Until then,” he drawled. “You guys are going out on a whirlwind tour the next two weeks to play the hell out of this song.”

  Everyone groaned. “Aw, man. It’s almost December. I was hoping to head home for the holidays,” Malik complained.

  “The whole month of December isn’t a holiday.” Maud rolled her eyes.

  “She’s right,” Mick replied. “It’s only the third week of November. You guys do a two week tour of some of the hottest spots right now, and you’ll all be home for Christmas and New Year’s.”

  “We have a gig New Year’s Eve,” Maud reminded Mick.

  He waved his hand. “That’s at the Ritz. You guys have played there a thousand times before.”

  He was right, but it was still a gig. A pretty damn big gig since it was in our hometown, and Ritz Nightclub put on the biggest New Year’s Eve party in the state. “But we have off most of December?” I asked.

  He nodded his head. “Yup. You guys go do your Thanksgiving stuff tomorrow, then Friday we’re headed to Boston. The last show is December eighth. From the ninth to the thirtieth you guys can do whatever you want.”

  I shrugged and turned back to the band. “Can’t really hate on working for two weeks then having off for three weeks.” I was the lead singer of Wild Preacher’s Club, and for most part I was the leader of the band. Even though I didn’t really like having that role. All I wanted to do was sing and I needed these guys to do that. “Sounds like a good deal to me.”

  Everyone begrudgingly agreed.

  “Good, good,” Mick muttered. “Now you fuckers go spend some time with your families, and then I want all of you here at eight a.m. Friday.”

  “He wants us to tour for two weeks and then he tells us to be here at the butt crack of dawn,” Darius muttered. “Freaking slave driver.”

  Mick turned back to the sound board. “I’m your producer and manager. It’s my job to help you guys sound good so I can sell you.”

  I clapped Mick on the shoulder and stood up. “And you’re doing a damn fine job of it, Mick. You know we all just like to complain.” Wild Preacher’s Club had been signed to Rhythm Records for just over four months and so far it had been the best decision we had ever made.

  Malik stood up with his hands on his hips. “I’d say see ya Friday fuckers, but since we’ll all be at Uncle Bryan’s tonight and tomorrow I’ll see you guys in about twenty minutes.”

  Darius snickered. “I’ll grab a ride with you, bro. Niko drove here and he’s got some shit he needs to do.”

  Darius and Maud ended up deciding to get a ride to my parent’s house with Malik while Niko went and did some mysterious shit he didn’t want to tell anyone about.

  “You’re not heading out?” Mick asked me.

  I shook my head. “Got my own car and I wanted to hang back and listen to the song a couple of more times.”

  Mick shook his head. “The song is good, kid. All you need to do is write eleven more just as good.”

  Way fucking easier said than done. I had about five other songs that might be worthy enough to record, but I knew I was going to need more than that. “Let’s get this one in the bag and then I can move onto the next one.”

  Mick shook his head. “Don’t stress, Harrison. You got this.”

  I sure the fuck hoped I did because if I didn’t I was screwing over every one of my cousins.

  No pressure at all.

  *

  Chapter Three

  Ruby

  Work, walk Mookie, feed Mookie, sleep, repeat…

  “It’s shit, Mookie. I can’t get this to look right.”

  Mookie looked up at me from his spot on the floor at my feet.

  “I can’t get it, big guy. The flow of the site is shit and I can’t seem to get it right.”

  He grunted and laid
his head back down.

  “That’s all of the advice you have for me?” I complained. “You’re supposed to be helping me here.”

  It was Thanksgiving Day and I was telling my brother’s dog that he should be helping me design this website instead of mowing down on turkey and all of the fixings. I had reached an all new low. Before when I used couch surf I at least had the company of whoever’s house I was staying at, but now I didn’t have anyone but Mookie. He had become my sounding wall and it was frankly a bit scary.

  “Maybe we should go for a walk?”

  Mookie shot up off the floor and wagged his tail excitedly. He let out two short barks then turned two quick circles.

  “I will take that as a yes.” I stretched my arms over my head and saw that it was already almost seven o’clock. “We can pick up some Chinese on the way too.” Not exactly your traditional Thanksgiving, but when you only had a brother who was a very long plane ride away and no other family, holidays were never the norm.

  Mookie turned circles in the living room as I got my shoes and coat on. I grabbed his red leash off the hook by the door and hooked it on his collar. “Ready, big guy?” He gave a loud bark and sat at my feet as he tailed thumped loudly on the floor. “Poop, pee, and Chinese?” I cringed at the combination, but Mookie seemed excited about it.

  We walked to the elevator, rode it down to the ground floor, and sped walked out the door. Mookie had no chill factor when we were leaving the apartment. Thankfully once he did his business he managed to relax and not pull me down the sidewalk.

  I looked up at the night sky and sighed. “It’s just you and me, Mookie.” I normally didn’t mind being on my own, but it was always a bit harder when the holidays rolled around.

  That was why as soon as Mookie was done we were going to head to the Chinese place, grab some food and then get back to the apartment so I could work on that damn website I wasn’t able to get just right.

  As far as I was concerned it was just another Thursday night and I had work to do.