Falling Out of Hate with You (The Hate-Love Duet 1)

“Okay, guys,” our director, Maddy, says. She looks at her watch. “With the remainder of our daylight, I’d like to shoot some close-ups and pickups. Shots of Laila and Georgina standing over the car, raising their bats and looking like badass bitches.”

Georgina and I respond enthusiastically, of course. But as Maddy moves us into position, the unthinkable happens. A taxi pulls up a few feet away and Savage emerges, looking like a shit sandwich.

He drags his sorry ass to the stunned group, runs his hand through his dark hair, and says, “Am I too late to shoot my cameo?”

“No, not at all!” Maddy chirps. “We’re so glad you made it!” She turns to Georgina and me. “Why don’t you ladies take five while we shoot Savage inside for a couple minutes. This will be quick.”

“That’s okay,” Savage says. “Finish what you’re shooting here, while you’ve still got good light. I’m not in any rush.”

“Oh, thank you,” Maddy says. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” Savage walks over to stand with Fish and Reed, who are watching from a distance, while Maddy returns her attention to directing Georgina, Keane, and me.

Maddy says, “Laila, stand over there, holding the baseball bat over your head, like you’re going to smash the car.”

I comply with Maddy’s request, and she looks at a nearby monitor.

“Great. Just move to your left a touch. Perfect. Now, give me your bitchiest face and stick out your chest.”

I follow her directions and she hoots with laughter.

“You’re so freaking gorgeous, Laila. And so photogenic. Okay, we’ve got what we need from you. Georgina, you’re up. Same thing.”

As Maddy directs Georgina, I can’t help looking at Savage. And what I see there is molten lava. Which, frankly, pisses me off. He has the nerve to look at me with lust in his eyes, after spending the day in a marathon fuck session with that waitress?

I saunter over to Savage and stand next to him, shoulder to shoulder, watching Maddy finish up with Georgina.

“Hello, Adrian,” I say.

“Hello, Fitzy.”

“You look like shit. You didn’t get much sleep last night, huh?”

He says nothing.

I shouldn’t do it. I know it. But letting sleeping dogs lie has never been my strong suit. My jaw tight, I say, “I hope you signed the waitress’ tits before you sent her on her merry way. That’d be an appropriate souvenir.”

The slightest smirk curls Savage’s sensuous lips. “I did, actually. Signed her ass and pussy, too.”

“Lovely. So glad you two had fun.”

“We sure did. How about you and Malik?”

“Oh, we had a blast. I can barely walk today.”

“Lovely.”

“It was. I’m so impressed you managed to get your ass down here, despite your marathon fuck session.”

“What can I say? I’m a saint.”

“That’s the word I always think of when I think of you. Adrian Savage. He’s a saint.”

“Hey, fun fact. Did you know cheaters are the ones who are always the most paranoid about their girlfriends cheating on them?”

“Is that so? How interesting.”

“It’s a proven fact. Cheaters project what they do—aka cheating—onto their partner. And then, in some cases, attack innocent bystanders outside of restaurant bathrooms, usually because they’re insecure about their tiny dicks.”

“Well, that’s not an issue for Malik.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Me, too,” I say, my eyes trained on the action in front of Maddy’s camera. “In fact, I had the best sex of my life with Malik last night. Wooh! Hot, hot, hot.”

“What does the ‘best sex of your life’ mean to you, Laila? Stamina? Emotional connection?”

“Both.”

“Nice. I notice you didn’t mention multiple orgasms. Squirting orgasms . . .”

“Oh, well, that, too. Of course. In fact, I’ve never had two squirting orgasms in a row the way I did last night. Woo! Man, oh man, Malik really got me going like a geyser.”

His features contort with disdain. “You think squirting twice is ‘coming like a geyser’? Ha! You poor thing.” He pats my shoulder. “Thoughts and prayers.”

Damn! I wanted my lie to sound believable, so I tried to pick a highly credible number. In truth, I haven’t had multiple orgasms before, let alone a squirting one—or two—so I thought what I said would sound super impressive. But is having two orgasms, in rapid-fire succession, let alone squirting ones—actually unimpressive, or is Savage messing with me?

“We’re ready for you, Savage,” Maddy says, saving me from myself.

Savage smiles at her. “You only need me to sit at a table and pretend I’m watching Alessandra performing, right?”

“Yep. That’s it. Easy peasy.”

“Okay, good. If you’d said you need me to walk on-camera, or dance around or something, that’d be a tough one for me. I’m super exhausted from screwing a waitress all night and day and making her squirt, five times, in rapid succession.”

“Oh,” Maddy says. “Okay. Um. Yeah, no worries there. Just sit and nod your head a little.”

“Cool.” Savage opens the door to the coffeehouse, cool as a cucumber, and motions for Maddy to pass through. She enters the building, followed by her camera operators and crew. Then, Reed, Georgina, Fish, and Alessandra. Until finally, everyone has entered the building through the door held by Savage, except for me. Smiling politely at me, his dark eyes burning like hot coals, Savage says, “After you, my dear.”