Falling Into Love with You (The Hate-Love Duet 2)

Laila grunts with anger. “No, Adrian, this isn’t about me being jealous of Colin’s ex. This is about me realizing I’ve ignored way too many red flags with you. This is about me realizing I can’t trust a word you say!”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You looked me dead in the eye at Reed’s house and told me Colin didn’t like you because you’re buddies with C-Bomb! You said Colin must be taking Dax’s side in their beef. And then you had the audacity to chew me out in Reed’s laundry room for supposedly flirting with Colin, while not bothering to mention to me, ‘Oh, gee, come to think of it, Colin might be pissed at me because I banged his ex-girlfriend, rather than because he’s siding with his best friend in a stupid beef with C-Bomb’!”

“I didn’t lie to you. I just didn’t tell you the whole truth because I didn’t want you thinking Colin was flirting with you to retaliate against me.”

“Oooooh, so let me get this straight. You lied to my face—oh, sorry, ‘didn’t tell me the whole truth’ to my face—in order to protect my sensitive feelings?”

“I shaved the truth a bit to protect your feelings, yes.”

“And once again, you prove, without a doubt, you’re a liar. The truth is you wanted to get laid that night, and you figured telling me about the time you railed Colin’s ex a week after they’d broken up wasn’t going to help your cause.”

I pull a face that concedes she’s got a point. “I suppose it could’ve been that, at least in part.”

Laila throws up her hands. “See what I mean? I can’t believe a word out of your mouth!”

“I just copped to wanting to get laid that night!” I shout. “Jesus, Laila! I feel like you’re looking for things to be mad at me about, when what you’re really mad about is Charlie, for reasons I can’t comprehend, since I only invited him over to help you tap into your inner bitch! Which, by the way, you did—brilliantly, all day long. You’re welcome. But guess what? You can stop being a bitch now, Laila, now that the cameras are off!”

Laila gasps, and I immediately regret my comment. Come on, Savage. You’re trying to make amends here. Not fan the flames.

“You ‘can’t comprehend’ the reason I’m mad about Charlie?” Laila booms. “Okay, then, amoeba boy, let me explain it to you in terms your amoeba-sized brain can understand. You’re the one who said we should put the past behind us and press the reset button. You’re the one who said we should forget the past and move forward—so, that’s what I’ve tried to do, with all my might. And you have no idea the mental gymnastics it took to do that! But I did! And then, what did you do? The boy who can’t help self-sabotaging couldn’t resist dredging up the past this morning, despite what he suggested we do, because he couldn’t resist finding out, once and for all, if I’d let Charlie plow me during the tour!”

“Oh, my fucking God. Laila, I already knew about Charlie’s family situation when I asked him to come to the house. Kendrick told me about Charlie’s husband yesterday. I only invited Charlie over when you started freaking out about your job being on the line. I thought me supposedly finding out that Charlie is married and gay, right in front of you, would give you something to chew on during today’s shoot. And I was right about that!”

Laila shakes her head. “Don’t you see? You bringing Charlie into our new life, after we explicitly agreed to forgive and forget the past, made me realize you’re still that guy from the tour, the one who wanted groupies more than me, no matter how much I try to—"

“I didn’t want groupies, Laila! I only wanted you. All those groupies were a set-up! I thought you knew that. The same with that waitress in New York. I never even called her, Laila! I only got her number to piss you off, because I was so jealous of watching you and Malik!”

To my shock, tears prick Laila’s eyes. “I saw you bringing a groupie to your room—and that was most definitely not a set-up.”

“What? Where?”

“The fact that you don’t even know which city I’m referring to isn’t a good sign, Savage.”

My heart is stampeding. “Laila, no. Whatever you saw, it wasn’t what you thought. Women throw themselves at me, all the time, but that doesn’t mean I catch them. I wasn’t with anyone but you on that tour, Laila. Nobody but you.”

She scoffs and a dam of panic and despair breaks inside me. I’ve been so happy with this girl. So fucking happy. How is everything falling apart so fast and suddenly?

“What happened today?” I shout, my frustration and panic boiling over. “Do you want Colin, so you’re trying to get me to break up with you? Is that it?”