Worse, when our clothes came off… when Seth touched me, kissed me, held me… when he was inside me… my body told us both thetruth.
That this was about so much more thanmusic.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Elle
Icouldn’thold Summer off anylonger.
Ever since I’d returned from Hawaii, she’d been threatening to throw me that party she’d mentioned—the one swarming with available men, for me. And every time I refused to admit that there was anything going on between me and Seth, she’d threatened to send someone—muscular and attractive, of course—to drag me out of my house and over to party central, in other words, herplace.
But she never actually didit.
She’d also texted me such comments asWhat r u waiting for?Accompanied, usually, by drool-inducing pictures of a dreamy, angsty, baby-faced Seth, twenty years old, gazing soulfully at the camera; early Dirty promo photos, scavenged from the internet. Along with such hashtags as#cockgoals.
Somehow, I’d managed to appease her by telling her Seth and I were “talking things through” and “figuring things out.” Of course, she’d wanted to know what kinds of “things” I was referring to, but it was just enough to satisfy her thatsomethingwas going on, even if I wouldn’t talk to her about ityet.
When she called today—my day off, between auditions—I finally accepted her invitation, though. In part, so I wouldn’t have to be alone with Seth, or mythoughts.
A party would be the perfect distraction,right?
I was so bent on distracting myself from myI-don’t-know-what-the-fuck-to-do-about-these-feelingsdaze, it didn’t even occur to me that Ash might be at the party,too.
Of course, he was. I saw him as soon as Seth and I stepped in thedoor.
I’d been worried, on the way over, about how Seth might be received. What people might think of him, and of us being together. If Summer’s friends would be welcoming tohim.
But as it turned out, I really didn’t need to worry aboutthat.
As we walked into Summer’s modern, sprawling house on Arbutus Ridge with its epic city views—a quintessential party house, operating something like a free bed-and-breakfast for all her friends, and currently populated by a few dozen carefully-selected guests, many of them beautiful men—it quickly became clear that Seth knew as many people here as Idid.
Likely, Summer had known hewould.
I knew the Dirty crowd wouldn’t be here. Summer knew the guys in the band, but it just wasn’t that kind of party. It was a party for me; an excuse to entice me out of my house and allegedly meet men. Summer knew me well enough to know I’d bring Seth if I was serious about him, to give her the message that I wasn’t looking to get fixed up. That I wasn’t looking to hook up with anyone, because yes, I was—unofficially—hooked up with Seth… even if I didn’t yet want to sayso.
But none of that would keep her from invitingAsh.
Actually, I couldn’t think of a single thing on Earth that would keep her from welcoming Ash at any of her parties, if he was in town. Which, apparently, hewas.
Glaring at me from across Summer’s living room, to beexact.
It was early yet, the party deliciously chill as people sat in small groups on the clusters of party-ready furniture or mingled, sipping cocktails, chatting and laughing. A sumptuous remix of Ella Fitzgerald’s “Wait till You See Him” was playing; classy, sexy, and so fitting that I had to wonder if Summer had cued the song just for my entrance with Seth. I definitely wouldn’t put it pasther.
She was quick to swoop in and kiss me on the cheek—and steal Seth from me with a sly wink, steering him away into the crowd to show himoff.
As soon as I’d lost him, Ash stalked over; Seth’s popularity was just the opportunity he needed to pull me aside. He nudged me into an empty hallway and lit right intome.
“What the hell are youdoing?”
“That’s none of your business,” I told him, calmly. Clearly, he’d seen Seth and I arrive together. Maybe he’d even seen me holding Seth’s hand when we walkedin.
“We’ve been friends a long time, Elle. That’s how you want to playit?”
I said nothing, but it wouldn’t have mattered; he was already talking againanyway.
“What about your band? They know you’re here right now, withhim?”
“It’s none of their business, either,” I told him. “Dirty doesn’t own me.” But the truth was, I was scared. Scared of them finding out and being pissed. I looked straight in Ash’s blue eyes. “And if you say anything,Ash…”
