When she moaned against my lips, I forgot we weren’t alone for real. My hands roamed her body just like the first time we kissed. Gripping her ass, I held her against me. Needing her closer, I picked her up and wrapped her legs around me. The sound of Justine whistling pulled me from her lips. Our eyes remained locked for a few seconds as Eli brushed her thumb against my bottom lip.
“My teddy bear. Trouble,” she whispered before giving me another quick peck.
I didn’t have to ask her to clarify, because I knew exactly what she meant. This—us—her—definitetrouble. I set her on her feet and put some space between us. Running my hand down my black tee, I asked Matthew, “You got enough to work with?”
“More than enough. Y’all made my job easy. Great work, guys.”
Justine clapped as she walked over to us. “If I didn’t know this was fake, I’d swear you two were in love for real.”
Eli looked from her to me bashfully before saying, “I um . . . have to go. Studio session.”
“O-okay, Eli. We’ll talk soon,” Justine said to Eli’s retreating back. “Is she okay?” she asked, turning her attention to me.
“Yeah. I’d say she’s more than okay. Scary ass just running from me and how she feels.”
“So thereissomething there then? Something real.”
“Doesn’t matter. Once this is over, we’ll go back to normal.”
“Well, seeing as I can’t ignore or deny the chemistry you two just had, I will give you some unsolicited advice. Take full advantage of the next few months. Maybe things will get so real she won’t be able to or even want to run.”
Justine gave my arm a gentle squeeze before walking away. For a brief moment, I considered her advice. Regardless of how deep things got between me and Eli, they’d be over this fall. No matter how much I liked her, I couldn’t betray Isaac and pursue her. Not only would I lose my best friend, but there was a chance it would affect our team as well.
We flowed well and were unstoppable when we were in sync. I had no guarantee it would stay that way if me dating his sister created conflict between us. With that truth in mind, I reminded myself that this wasn’t real and that it had an expiration date, but I was damn sure going to enjoy the hell out of my fake girlfriend while I could.
Chapter
Eleven
Eli
I felt defeated.My last few studio sessions were horrible. With everything that was going on, I wasn’t in the headspace to record songs about love. That was the only bad thing about the way I worked. I only recorded what felt good to me in that moment, and in this moment, singing about love disgusted me. Unfortunately, I was having a hard time hiding that disgust in my voice. Disgust for love. Disgust for men. Disgust for best friends who did you wrong in the end.
“I just need a little break,” I said, removing the headphones and standing up from the stool.
Wayne, my producer, bobbed his head. With a long sigh, I pulled my phone out to do an order at the dispensary at the beach and saw that I had missed calls from Isaac, Falcon, and Natasha’s mother.
For a brief moment, I forgot I hated Natasha and feared something was wrong with her. I decided to call Falcon back first because I figured that would be the quickest conversation. He probably was calling to make sure we were good after I left thephoto shoot so abruptly this afternoon. My pussy was wet as hell, and my heart was having trouble understanding Falcon wasn’t ours to keep. I needed distance to remind myself that I’d just gotten out of a toxic ass relationship and had no business acting like I was in a forbidden romance novel.
“Hi,” I said after he answered the call.
“Wassup, Smiley?”
“Why do you call me that?”
“Have you seen your smile? Fucking beautiful.”
Blushing, I squeezed the back of my neck. “Thanks, Falcon. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I was just calling to make sure you were good.”
Sighing, I stepped out of the booth and made my way over to the love seat in the dark corner where I’d littered the small table with candles.
“I’m okay. Struggling at the studio. I can’t . . .” Chuckling, I shook my head as I leaned back. “I can’t sing and record love songs while my heart is broken, Fally. And that makes me feel broken.”
“You’re not broken. You’re open. Hurt can seep out, and new love can seep in.” A sniffle escaped me, and he continued. “I know that shit hurt you, bae, but don’t let that shit take your spirit. Your voice. Your breath.” His words, though healing, only made me cry harder. “Where you at? Send me your location.”
I nodded as if he could see me before disconnecting the call and sending him my location. Pulling my knees to my chest, I released silent tears while I waited for him to come. Somehow, my heart knew him being here would make it all better. I didn’t even bother calling Isaac or Natasha’s mom back. Everything else could wait. In this moment, I needed to purge. More than that, I needed to ruminate on Falcon’s words.
