Ivy dropped her voice into a whisper and leaned over, her long blonde hair falling over both shoulders. "Jen's working with Noah Hart."
"No. Freaking. Way." Nat slapped her hand down on the table to emphasis each word. "Are you serious?" she turned to me. "Is she serious? Are you really working with—"
"Shh!" I looked around to make sure we weren't being overheard. "I can neither confirm nor deny that statement."
"Oh my god!" Nat squealed and hugged me so hard she almost broke my ribs. "That's an amazing opportunity."
"Yeah. It is." Of course, I might have completely blown that opportunity.
"I know you didn't want to use our connections in the music industry to help you, which I still don't understand by the way," she said, making a face at me, "but I'm so proud you."
"I get it," Ivy said. "You wanted to do it on your own."
Ivy's independent streak was even more stubborn than mine. She got why I didn't want to use my friends to get ahead in my career. I needed to prove I could score a job on my own merits.
As it turned out, the only merit that mattered was my fuckability.
"I can't believe you get to work with Noah Hart," Natalie sighed blissfully. Even dating a rock star herself hadn't cured Nat of her fangirl ways. "He's so passionate on stage."
Ivy looked thoughtful. "From what I've seen, he seems kind of closed-off in person."
"What's he really like?" Natalie asked.
"An emotionally stunted jerk," I muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. I'm still getting to know him."
I remembered the various and myriad ways in which I'd gotten to know Noah Hart and flushed.
He said he was done with me, but I wasn't done with him. No matter what our personal feelings were — and god, were there a lot of feelings tangled up in my chest right now — we still had a song to work on. We still had professional business to take care of.
I had to convince him we still needed to work together. That I was the only person who knew him well enough to work on this with him. He said all the others were hacks. I wasn't near as good as the rest of the members of Darkest Days, but I wasn't a hack. No matter what else he'd thrown in my face, Noah had said I was talented. He took my opinions and suggestions into consideration.
When he wasn't getting pissy and throwing me out of his apartment, that is.
But despite all my texts and voicemails and emails, Noah wouldn't respond. I had been contemplating showing up at his apartment door and not leaving when the solution came later that afternoon via text from an unknown number.
hey gorgeous, i'm throwing a huge rager at my place tonight. u in?
From thegorgeousI knew it had to be Cameron. I asked how he got my number. He said he had his ways with a winky face. I assumed he'd asked Naomi.
Is Noah going to be there?
so its true? the two of you? damn, i was hoping i had a chance
I need to talk to him.
i'll make sure he's there. give them ur name and tell them cam invited u
Going to a party with rock stars would be fun, not to mention I would get a chance to talk with Noah. Maybe I could corner him so he couldn't get away. Maybe if I went to the party I could salvage something. Maybe I could convince Noah to take me back—
I had to stop thinking of it like that. It had too many different connotations.
But as much as I tried to convince myself this was a purely professional move, there was a part of me mourning the loss of our relationship. It wasn't just the sex. It was all the other little things. The little smirks and the small touches and even the grumpy way he grunted after I caught him saying something sweet.
I knew there was something more between us. There had to be.
