“Can you text Nova and let her know about the party?” Aaron's head popped up next to me, and I almost dropped my phone. The last thing I needed was him seeing my text thread with Rosie. There were way too many hearts in there.
“Sure, no worries,” I swiped my screen to Snapchat before deciding to text Nova there. “Let's take a selfie for her.”
Aaron leaned in, and I snapped a quick pic of the two of us, captioning it: Party at our place, don't miss out!
“Since you have such a good network of sorority girls, maybe you could snap them all,” he suggested, and I winced. “What?”
“Haven't really caught up with them in a long time...”
“Come on,” he laughed. “You know they'll come if you ask. Plus, now you're back. You can drop the sad recovery act.”
It wasn't an act, but I didn't correct him. Instead, I sent the same photo to several girls and added it to my public story before darkening my phone screen. “Happy?”
Aaron was frowning at his phone, ignoring me. “Gotta call Rosie, she said she is not coming.”
“Maybe she just needs space," I offered, my heart hammering in my chest.
“Or maybe the car ride made her hip hurt,” Aaron bit into his lip and nervously typed on his phone. “Or who knows if she and Nova...”
“Dude,” I stopped his spiral. “Maybe she just wants to chill with Daisy. Watch a movie, I don't know.”
Aaron stared at me. “I know you guys are friends, but you don't know her the way I know her.”
I was not going to correct him, but I got to know her better.
“I'm going to do some stretches,” I muttered as the bus pulled in. “See you at the party.”
My delusion that Aaron would be okay with me and Rosalie quickly evaporated. He still thought of me as the playboy, and he still liked to be on top of every little thing Rosalie did. We needed to keep it a secret until he chilled down.
If that was ever going to happen.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ROSALIE
I was panicking, preparing everything for Dex to meet me in the studio. I turned on the corner LED lights, laid out some blankets, and even ordered burgers, assuming he was starving.
My nerves were unusually jumpy, but I looked forward to some real one-on-one time with him that didn't involve a screen or us faking we weren't a couple. In the darkness of the night, we could always be together. But sometimes I wished it were easier.
I typed out one last message to my brother, who was annoyingly checking in to make sure I was fine and to find out why I didn't want to party. I went as far as snapping a pic of him sitting in my split, which pissed him off when he realized I was in the studio.
Just doing some stretching after the long car ride, not doing anything crazy. Chill. Gonna watch a movie after and cuddle with Yudi.
Yudi was my toy reindeer, and I never went anywhere without him. Hecame with me to every competition, every intensive, and summer camp.
Aaron
Please take it easy!
I rolled my eyes and swiped to check my message thread with Daisy, checking her new message. Things were still rocky, but we were sailing past it, and the fact that things with Jer went well helped.
Daisy
We need our Sunday roomie date back because I miss you! Thanks for giving me the room.
I liked her message, but didn't want to bother her with a reply. I told her I would come to the studio and maybe swing by the party, so there was no need for her to worry about me. I didn't feel comfortable telling her everything about my relationship with Dex. I loved keeping it all to myself.
“Hey, pretty girl,” someone hugged me from behind, and I was pulled against a hard chest and wrapped in a spicy leather scent.
