“She’s in,” I said, yanking a bottle of water from the long table of refreshments behind them and unscrewing the top. Turning toward Blake, I took a slow sip. “Can you provide her with an NDA? She said she’d like to look at it, but judging by the time it took her to say yes, I’m pretty sure she’s a skimmer.”
“Well, damn, Blue.” Blake’s eyebrows were kissing his hairline. “No wonder Jenna likes you. You have a good set of hairy balls on you.”
“Not sure about hers, but mine are waxed.” I winked.
All the guys laughed as Blake sauntered over to the girl with an agreement in his hand. It was the first time he’d called me Blue, and even though the moment felt like the end of the world, it also felt like a beginning of something. Of acceptance.
All the guys laughed but Alex, who stared holes into my forehead, his look alone threatening to kill someone, preferably me.
“You’re one cool bird, know that?” Lucas moved beside me, brushing his shoulder against mine.
Alex grabbed the bottle of water I’d opened and put back on the table and downed the entire drink. “Pushover.”
“Come again?” I asked, willing myself to stay calm.
Alex angled his body toward mine, a dark smirk on his lips. “I said you’re a pushover. You did what I told you to do, never fighting back, never saving face.”
“Saving face?” I blinked rapidly, trying hard not to scream in his face. This. Man. “I don’t need to save any face. You wanted me to hook you up. I did. You’re just disappointed I didn’t fight over you. But guess what? I’m not them. The fangirls. The women with stars in the eyes. When I look at you?” I took a step toward him, and he took a step forward, too, and it was all too wrong and too close and too intimate all at once. “When I look at you, I see something broken that isn’t worth fixing. And you look at me like I’m a cheap thing to replace the expensive one that’s been stolen from you. See, we’re all vases. And you’re the one scattered on the floor, shattered beyond repair. So I’ll let someone else pick you up. It’s really that simple. Have fun with your temporary glue.” My gaze swept across the room to find the mystery girl already giggling and signing the contract she pressed against Blake’s back while the latter was texting on his phone in boredom.
Alex unleashed a toxic smile, his gaze narrowing on mine as he broke our physical stare-off and began walking to her.
“Congratulations, Sport. You just became a war.”
That night, I heard them through the wall.
Their hands. Shuffling. Feeling. Searching. Finding.
Walking down the hall. Our hall. Right outside my door.
Stumbling. Giggling. Breathlessly whispering.
Stop it, heart.
Stay still, heart.
Fight it, heart.
Her name was Gina.
I knew, because he leaned down and let her sniff his neck when she said he smelled like the malest thing she’d ever met. ‘Malest’ wasn’t even a word. And I immediately hated all the Ginas in the world.
“Gina,” he rasped her name like a dirty secret.
I peeked at them through the peephole, every bone in my body shaking with rage.
“Darlin’, if you only had a clue.”
Darlin’. He dropped the G. For Gina.
I was so consumed by their moment, I found it hard to breathe.
“Oh, I saw.” She laughed, her sultry voice perfect against his skin, nothing like my high-pitched one. “Your cock’s all over the Internet, Alex.”
To that, he said nothing.
He stopped by my door, took out his chewed gum from his mouth, plastered a small note into it, and slammed it against the peephole.
Then I heard his door open.
Then I heard his door close.
I opened mine quickly, slipping my arm to take the note he’d left for me.
YOU ARE THE GLUE.
I turned around, squeezing my eyelids and banging my head against the door.
Three.
Two.
One.
Three.
Two.
One.
The sound was faint, but it was there. The exasperation in her movement lit something in me. I felt her pain. Tasted it on my lips and savored it like hot honey on my tongue.
I smiled into my kiss with what’s-her-face. My tool, my container, my bait. My prop for this lesson.
Finally, Stardust was beginning to get it.
It.
Us.
We were going to fuck. Her head banging against the door assured me of that. Lucas was going to pay.
He was going to pay for giving Will the keys to my apartment when I was on tour and Fallon OD’d. He’d found her.
Lucas was going to pay for giving Fallon Will’s phone number when she’d asked for it to thank him after he’d rushed to save the day. Pay for helping them slip under the radar at the Grammys three years ago, when she was on my arm but ended up fucking Will in the bathroom.
Pay for all of those things with the most precious thing money couldn’t buy.