I have to stop the direction my mind in speeding in right now. Not one of these pictures shows him cheating on me. And honestly, if anyone took a picture of me and my first interview with Damian Miles, how the hell wouldthatlook to everyone? The man had an orgasm next to me, while talking to me.
Would Dex be angry about that?
I call Julia, because I need someone to talk to about this. She picks up just before her voicemail does and she groans into the phone. “Something-something-blah-blah. It’s too early,” she mumbles, but I can only make out a few words.
“Jules!” I blurt. “What does it mean when you think you are in a relationship with someone and then you both get sent to opposite places on the globe and he totally goes ghost on you? Asking for a friend.”
“Ugh, Janie. Like I said at home. Dex is an asshole.” I hear the low murmur of a man’s voice next to her.
“Are you still in Florida?” I ask.
“Uh huh,” she mumbles. “And it’s eight in the morning here, what time is it in California where Dex is?”
I count on my fingers. “It’s five in the morning there.”
“You think maybe that’s why he’s not calling you?” I hear her move around and close a door.
“Is Nate with you? I hear a man’s voice.”
“No, he isn’t, and pretend you didn’t hear anything.” What I hear her doing now is peeing. Gross. “So how is the rock star?”
“So far, traumatic, but I’ll make do.”
“Uh huh, okay. I need to go back to bed. Forget about Dex, okay? Have groupie sex and get an STD.”
“And you make sure whoever you’re with wears a condom.”
“Of course. Talk soon,” she says and ends the call.
Well, she was no help. Or maybe she was and I just didn’t want to listen to what she had to say.
It’s an hour later when Dex finally calls. He doesn’t say hello, or hey, or how was your flight. His first words are, “God, I fucking miss you.” And it kind of stuns me stupid.
“Really?” I ask, my eyes filling with tears.
“Yeah, really. This Pippa Grace nutcase has me scheduled for photo shoots at seven in the morning and there’s no fucking breaks with her. She’s a fucking lunatic. And I tell you something, Nash. She definitely murdered that guy, because she is one hundred percent fucked-up in the head.”
“Go back to the part where you miss me,” I say, squeezing my phone.
“I miss you, babe.”
There’s silence for a beat and words just vomit out of my mouth. “Look, I know we never talked about if we were exclusive or not and I saw the pictures on your newsfeed and I would understand…” I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “Well, I wouldn’t understand, really, I’d hate you until the day you died, which would be soon because I’d kill you dead, but I don’t know how to do this or what’s the protocol—and Gail has me writing about long-distance relationships and I don’t want to—”
“Hey, hey, Nash…listen to me.”
I instantly shut my mouth and sit up straighter.
“I’m crazy about you. I’m not doing what I do with you with anyone else. I don’t want to, okay? You’re Ms. Perfect to me, remember? Being far away from each other is going to be hard, but stick it out with me, okay? Jane,” his voice gets soft. “I really want to see where this goes. I really like us together.”
I jump up and do a little dance.
“Are you jumping around and doing a little dance?” he chuckles.
“No,” I laugh, flinging myself back onto the bed.
“Oh, the lies you tell.”
“Were you ever in a serious relationship before?” I ask, thinking about the question Damian brought up before.
