Page 61 of Deeper

We hadn’t spoken since Monday, which I understood since he had a lot of work to do for his upcoming album.

“Hello?” I picked up, anxious to speak to him after so long.

“Hey,” Zander greeted me, his voice sounded chill and mellow. Maybe he was smoking. “I know I’ve been distant, and I’m sorry. I’ve been locked in the studio all week.”

“You have a career, I get it,” I said. “It’s okay.”

“I miss you,” he said softly. “Is that weird?”

After spending a weekend together, and then the week after apart, I was missing him too.

“No, I’ve been listening to your music, watching videos and interviews all week. I miss you too.”

“You like my albums?”

“Yes,Exposedwas such a solid debut with no skips. I loveDamage Controltoo, butExposedis my fave of the two for sure.”

“Any favorite records?”

The lyrics to one of the songs I was obsessed with came to mind and I closed my eyes and almost got lost in the vibe.

“Outside of ‘The Sound’? I gotta go with ‘Chill,’ ‘Make it Last,’ and ‘Freak for You.’?”

I refused to fangirl over the guy now that I liked his music. I had some dignity about myself. Istilldidn’t follow him on Twitter.

“Come over,” Zander begged. “I want to see you.”

Being playful, I said, “Nah, I’m good right now.”

Zander clicked his tongue. “I thought you were my number-one fan.”

“I said I liked your music now. I didn’t say nothing about being a fan or your number one at that.”

Zander sighed. “You still have my car.”

“Oh, do I?”

“Bianka.”

Clearly he was grasping at straws now. “Out of all the cars you have, you need to drive this one?”

“That’s not all I want to drive.”

My phone vibrated with a text alert and I put him on speaker to see thathewas also texting me. I almost ignored it, but out of curiosity I checked our messages to find he was sending me anX. Just like I told him to do whenever he wanted to hook up again. Cute.

“Come get it.” I hung up, feeling victorious.

He called me back immediately and I declined it. I couldn’t make it easy for him, no matter how much a part of me wanted to go running back to the Hills to spend another weekend with him.

It wasn’t a full ten minutes later when Zander texted me, wiping the smirk off my face.

7146 Frederick Blvd, Hemingway Park, CA 90255

Shit. He knew my address, at least, the address to my apartment building.

This time when he called, I picked up.

“Technology is a lovely thing, Bianka,” Zander said to me.

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