Damn, was that ever satisfying to say to his face.
Surprise flashes through his eyes. Zel clearly expected the old me, someone quick to forgive and indulge in a little fun, but after a second, he seems to accept what I’m saying. “Gabriel,” he says softly. In one smooth motion, he lifts his fingers, kisses them, and then presses them to my lips. “We had good times. Sorry it ended like this.” He draws his hand away as he turns, leaving me standing there.
My head is spinning. There are more emotions cascading through me than I can process, but the second I get my bearings again, I realize there are at least a couple phones on us.
The last few minutes crash through my mind. We were leaning close, touching each other. His fingers on my lips alone could look so intimate.
Shit!
I start to panic. What if the pictures go viral? What if everyone thinks I’m cheating on Spencer? Fuck, Spencer could see them and think that.
I walk over to the bar, trying to compose myself, but I’m spiraling. It’s three hours later on the East Coast. He’s asleep, and it’s not like I need to call him and wake him up to tell him what just happened. That’s ridiculous. He has his training schedule to think about. But still, I don’t want him to wake up to a potential scandal.
This could ruin everything. Trash our reputation, undo all the PR good we’ve accomplished over months. On top of all the ways I’ve failed today, I just let Spencer down, and it makes me sick.
“You okay?”
It’s Fox again, here at the end of the bar while a woman screams lyrics on the stage.
“Oh.” I take a drink from my beer and quickly realize I shouldn’t keep this secret from him. “My ex just propositioned me. Some people got photos of us. It might look bad.”
Fox frowns and pulls his phone out. “Okay. Good to know,” he says, texting, but he doesn’t seem too disturbed.
Fuck, I’m really letting him down today. “Sorry. I don’t know how it happened.”
“He came and flirted with you,” Fox says as he messages on his phone. “I saw. This might be a hit, but we’re responding immediately. We’ve got a good chance of keeping this under control. I’ll let Alyssa’s team in New York know, too.” He looks up from his phone. “But are you okay?”
“Fine,” I say, too proud to be honest. “Thanks for handling that.”
“It’s my job.” He studies me for a second and then adds, “I should rejoin my husband. Funny, I always feel better when I’m with him than when I’m apart.”
His parting words linger with me, and it becomes obvious. I don’t need to call Spencer to warn him about anything. I need to call him because I need to hear his voice. Because Zel hurt me, and my album is delayed, and I need him.
I hate to interrupt his sleep, but I know just as clearly that he would want me to call him, and so I walk back to the hallway behind the sound booth as I dial his number.
He answers after only one ring. “Gabriel? Are you okay? What’s going on?”
His voice is sleepy, but he’s still forceful, concern rising with every word.
“I’m okay,” I tell him. “Sorry to wake you. I just… I’m out with the guys, and I ran into Zel.”
“Your ex?”
“He tried to flirt with me. I turned him down, of course. But I saw some people took photos. It might look bad. This could be another PR disaster.”
There’s a pause. “I’m just seeing your text,” he says. “The album is delayed, too? Shit. Gabriel. Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. I’ll be okay if these photos don’t turn into a massive scandal. I already got our PR teams on it,” I add quickly.
“That’s good.” Spencer sighs. “I don’t want a scandal right now, either. But Gabriel, you just saw your ex who really hurt you. That’s the first priority.”
It feels good that he fully understands what this means, like I don’t have to explain. “It sucked,” I say honestly. “He acted like nothing happened.”
Spencer huffs. “That’s awful. Even if he doesn’t care, he should have the basic decency to respect that you do.”
“Thank you.” I swallow. “It strikes me that it’s probably bad form to call your husband for emotional support after you run into an ex. Could make it seem like I’m hung up on him or something.”
“Absolutely not,” Spencer disagrees. “I mean, that might be the case for some people, I guess. But I’m glad you called me.”
