Flirting With Chaos by Kenya Wright Read Free Book Online

ignore that and pretend like you didn’t say it so I can return to this excellent party.”
    People bumped into my side. I didn’t care. I looked off to see where everyone was in a rush to get to and spotted all of the members of Depraved Minds on the stage. Well, not all of the members. Dad wasn’t there, but his replacement, Tech T, did a few tests of the microphone as Kaden tuned his guitar.
    I covered my mouth. “How the hell did you get all of them together tonight?”
    After my dad died, his band had separated. They’d never played another song together again. It’d hit Kaden the hardest, Grandma had said. She’d claimed my dad and the band were the only things Kaden truly cared about. Thank goodness she hadn’t said that in front of Jude.
    “I asked Dad to play for you for your birthday this year, and he got all crazy excited. The next thing I know he’s calling up his publicist and convincing the band members to do a onetime gig on South Beach in honor of you.”
    “Where are we on South Beach?”
    “The Circus! And your name is all over the beach, baby. Signs everywhere say ‘80s Birthday Bash for Jack Kenner’s Rainbow.’”
    “Oh God.” I hid my face. Mom is going to kill me.
    “What?”
    “Nothing. I was just thinking Mom might find out.”
    He sighed loudly. “I thought you said you stopped doing that?”
    “What?”
    “Is that why you’re wearing those ridiculous blue contacts?”
    “She likes them on me.”
    He looked away for a minute. “Please stop that.”
    I pretended to be confused. “Stop what?”
    “You know what. I don’t like that shit, Rainy. You know that.”
    He hated talking about Mom with me, but tough. “I’m the birthday girl. You have to do it with me.” I stuck my tongue out.
    “It’s fucking bizarre. Crazy stuff like that is going to make you lose it.”
    “It’s called a coping mechanism.”
    He studied me for a minute. His eyes moved from side to side as if a true answer swirled around my head. When it came to my sanity, he believed he was the maintenance man. “Just one more time. I’ll do it with you tonight, but don’t do it around me anymore.”
    “Fine.”
    “Okay.” He muttered some curse under his breath. “How is old mom doing these days?”
    “She’s in Paris filming her new show. It’s a worldwide success now.”
    “Worldwide success?” He quirked his eyebrows.
    “She’s bigger than Oprah.”
    “Well, of course she is. How can Oprah compete against your mom?”
    I scowled at him.
    He raised his hands in the air. “Fine. Fine. So, you think your mom will be worried about you partying tonight? Don’t stress about it. Just let her know that you’re a woman now.”
    “It’s not that easy.” My mom was holding my trust fund over my head. I wouldn’t get it until I turned twenty-five. How she’d managed that requirement, I didn’t know. She had feared I’d be as wild as my dad, but instead I’d proved her wrong. Well, kind of. I snuck a few joints every now and then. Plus, hanging with Jude caused me to get involved with things that she surely wouldn’t like.
    “Yes, it is easy.” He hooked his finger in my jeans’ belt loop and tugged me to the staircase farther away. “She can’t control you all of your life.”
    “I wouldn’t bet on that. Hold up.” I tapped his back. “We’re going away from the chocolate. The birthday girl does not want distance between her and the chocolate fountain.”
    “You’re just going to speak in third person now?”
    “Yes. The birthday girl will be doing that all night.”
    “I’ll have one of the guys make you a plate.” He towed me on, darting through shocked faces as they realized he was coming their way. “We need to get to VIP before we get rushed by crazy people.”
    “You mean you get rushed. No one’s coming after me.”
    “Men would if I wasn’t around.”
    And if I wasn’t loony.
    “Well, then I should stop coming around you, right?” I nudged him with my elbow.