Page 80 of Just My Type of wrong guy

“How was your first day?” Dani asks when I close the door.

I find her on the left, looking for something in a dresser.

I almost answer “fine,” but it was more than that. I lean against the door and take a deep breath, organizing my thoughts while the groupie room, full of posters and photos of Vicious, mixes with a vinyl wall and two beds with musical-themed duvets.

“I thought it would be intense, I’d feel out of place and confused, but it was comfortable,” I confess, still looking around the room.

And I needed that, a comfortable moment, even though I didn’t know it.

“I’m glad. Tomorrow we’ll have more time to talk, hang out with the guys, my parents are going to free up the house, so it’ll just be us, the young lovers.” She takes a pajama out of one of the drawers and stares at me. “And Thomas, you and A.J., who aren’t in love, of course,” she ironizes, making me roll my eyes and change the subject.

“How was it for you, really, being away from the band you helped build?”

Since this crazy tour thing started working out, I’ve been away from Thalia. Not just physically, but also because she works at an accounting office, and they’re always intense, plus the distance and all the missed connections, of course. And I miss my friend and biggest fan touring the world with me.

“It’s my last year of college, Alex. I honestly had a lot on my mind,” Dani takes two steps to the vanity next to the dresser and sits, letting her curly hair down. “I missed them. Notmy brother or my boyfriend, but my guys. The guys I spent my teenage years watching sing in the reality recordings, playing in my basement, and became part of my everyday life. But... I get easily starstruck, my immaturity would’ve made me mess things up more than help on this first international tour.”

“Who told you that?” I can’t contain the laugh because those words aren’t hers, they’re from a forty-year-old man.

I just don’t know if it was her dad or...

“Victor,” she verbalizes my thought, rubbing oil on the ends of her hair. “But he was right, Alex. I could never hide Rick from Guilherme, and that could’ve blown up the tour. I fought so hard for Vicious to be Vicious, I’d never forgive myself if it ended because of me.”

“Well, if you have all that awareness, you’re not so immature after all.”

“And that’s why from now on, they’re not crossing the street without me,” Dani assures me with fire in her eyes, walking to the door at the right corner of the room. “I’m going to take a shower, you can pick your bed, I’m not sleeping here tonight,” she warns with grin before leaving the room.

I open my suitcase to pick a pajama, and while Daniele hasn’t come back yet, I sit in her vanity chair and grab my phone, trying to speed up my wait. The first thing I do is update Thalia on how things are going and my weekend back at the shows, but I don’t mention the incident with A.J. on the day of my…pseudo-jealousy— no one needs to know about that.

Next, I open Instagram. The number of notifications and tags is so high I wait a bit so it won’t freeze, but then I rush to the inbox and snoop on other people’s profiles. Beatriz’s only has cute photos of us, A.J. posted part of the rehearsal with a “Back to our roots” caption, and Daniele did a photo shoot with Richard and posted a picture of us with “We’re with the band” as the caption.

It’s strange to notice that the same profile comments the same thing on all of our posts — a sun with sunglasses and a heart. That makes me smile. The little sun really represents A.J. And maybe obsessive fans are like that... they can see who we really are.

Even though I know I shouldn’t, I go to the fan pages. At least they’re not gossip sites, I tell myself.

@ViciousBondsBrasil

They really are the moment.

Since Alex Saldanha’s stint on the guys’ tour ended – and even then, she traveled with A.J. to New York after he picked her up at his own show – we’ve been waiting for the next chapters. Today, they landed in Boston and walked hand in hand, surrounded by the band’s security, to Guilherme’s house.

In other words, there’s no doubt about it: they’re dating. And not just that – they’re living together.

As confusing as it is to imagine A.J. committing, at least now we can rest easy knowing he won’t be catching any bugs or dying from some venereal disease.

With love,

VB Brazil

Jeez. I lock my phone, tossing it onto the bed, and get startled when Daniele comes out of the bathroom wrapped in a silk robe and heads to the dresser. With a glass bottle in her hand, she sprays body oil twice, once on her neck and once on her chest.

“Is it okay if I take a shower here?”

“Of course. I left a premium bath kit on the sink. It’s my favorite, enjoy.” She winks at me, heading toward the door.

“Thank you so much, Dani. See you tomorrow.”

“See you,” she whispers anxiously and turns off the light when I step into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

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