I’m fine.
Congratulations, me.
Chapter 7
Serenity
I need to talk
I stared at my phone screen and double-checked the time in the corner. It was just past midnight, and while normal people were probably in bed by then, my creative mind found more energy when the sun went down. I sat criss-crossed at my desk chair in my hooded bat onesie, editing the last chunk of my next novel with Sinners Do It Better playing softly through my computer speakers.
Setting my pen aside, I texted Dante back.
What’s up?
Instead of texting back, a video call popped up on my phone. My eyes widened, and I panicked for a moment. I had on zero make-up, and my silver curls were barely staying beneath my bat hood. Not that it mattered. I wasn’t trying to impress Dante … but I still didn’t want to look like a loser in front of aliteralcelebrity.
Shoving down my sporadic thoughts, I took a deep breath and answered. Dante’s handsome face filled the screen, and from the look of his bare, corded shoulders, it was obvious that he was shirtless. My mouth dried.
Clearing my throat, I tried to put on a casual front. “Hey. This is a surprise. Do you video call all of your fans at midnight, Dante?”
He smirked. “Only ones who look like you, Star.” He paused and seemed to study the screen. He raised a single dark brow. “Is that a bat face on your head?”
I grabbed the hood, which had a cute smiling cartoon bat face and ears. I held my chin higher but averted my eyes. “Maybe.”
He chuckled. “Capybaras. Bats. You really do love animals. Do you have even more critter stuff around there?”
“N-No,” I fibbed with a glance at my many plushies and animal desk ornaments.
“You’re such a bad liar,” Dante purred, the statement coming out far more sensual than it should’ve been. It sent a hot zip down my spine to settle at my lap, and I shifted nervously in my seat.
“What did you need?” I asked, trying to redirect the call to safer waters.
Dante suddenly straightened in the phone screen, and his face went serious. He held up a book for me to see, and my heart got lodged in my chest as he shook it. “I just finished this.”
I held my breath while anxious jitters broke out in my gut. Trepidation had my head going dizzy, and I prepared myself to keep an even face, knowing Dante was about to tell me that my book was garbage. Internal orders screamed that my tears couldn’t break free while Dante went into detail about how much he hated what I’d written. Theyhadto wait until we were alone.
“Oh?” I managed to croak.
“Have you read it?”
I couldn’t get my voice to work, so I nodded.
“Great. Then let me say … What the fuck?”
Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry!
“That was the best book I’ve read in such a long ass time!” he shouted.
I froze in my seat. What? I’d definitely misheard him.
“I mean, it was amazing!” he went on. “The world building, the characters, their struggles, the romance. I don’t have the next book on hand, so I need to talk to someone who will understand.”
My mind couldn’t process what I was hearing. I couldn’t seem to grasp that Dante not only read my book, but seemed toloveit.
Sand filled my mouth as I finally managed to ask, “You liked it that much?”
He narrowed his dark eyes and looked at me skeptically. “If you’re about to tell me that you didn’t like this book, we can’t be friends anymore. I refuse to trust anyone who read it and didn’t love it.”
