Dangerous Fling (Dangerous Noise 4)

Lacey: Mostly.

Adam: Are you happy?

Lacey: It's complicated.

Adam: I hope it's not too complicated. You deserve to be happy, Lacey.

I can see the heartbreak in his words. When I close my eyes, I can see it on his face.

But this is good.

We're both moving on.

Lacey: You do too, just with someone else.

Adam: I'm not sure anyone will stack up, but I'm not giving up hope.

I set the phone down to catch my breath.

The sting of breaking Adam's heart turns to relief. My shoulders relax. My breath eases. I suck my iced tea through my straw without clenching my teeth.

Adam hurt me.

It's okay to admit that.

It's okay to tell him.

It's okay to demand more for myself.

To demand what I want.

My damn phone buzzes again. It buzzes all the way to the edge of the table. A call.

I bite my tongue and brace for the worst—fuck knows what Danielle has done by now.

But it's not Danielle's number. It's Mal's.

I answer the call and bring my cell to my ear. "Hey."

"Hey." His voice is that same deep, steady tone. It soothes something deep inside me. "You know?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry. The tech guy at our label got some great opportunity with a YouTube feature."

"You didn't know?"

"No."

I dig my fingers into the back of my phone. There isn’t a doubt in my mind. I trust Mal. I trust him not to hurt me, not on purpose. "He was right. It has a million views already."

"Fuck, really?" He's quiet for a moment then his voice lifts. "Shit. Don't read the comments."

"You should never read YouTube comments. Everyone knows that."

"A lot of guys want to fuck you."

"Old news." I try to say it teasingly, but it doesn't quite come across. It's weird, thinking of strangers watching the video and wanting me. It makes sense in the abstract, but to actually imagine some guy across the country thinking of me the way I used to think of Mal—