Page 6 of The Pursuit of Happiness

My lips part and I have no words. I have no idea what he’s talking about. I place a hand on his chest, pushing him away to put enough distance between us. I don’t trust myself to not kiss him or worse right now. “Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about. But what I do know, is that you need to help me find my phone and I need to get thefuckout of here,” I press as I take a step around him and continue searching for my phone.

I catch sight of betrayal in his eyes and a look of shock before he takes a deep breath looking defeated. “Right. Sorry.”

I feel an ache in my chest that feels a lot like pity. I’m not sure why I feel bad, maybe it’s because he looks so sad but I’m not sure why. This whole situation is so entirely confusing and humiliating. I watch as he sweeps whatever feelings he’s experiencing under some kind of internal rug and begins searching for my phone. I try to focus on my search, but my eyes keep wandering over to his lean body and chiseled abs. He is painfully hot.

“Found it,” he declares proudly as he raises it in the air from where he’s kneeling on the floor beside the bed.

I rush over and grab it from his hands, “Thank you.” I turn my phone on and immediately notice the time. “Holy shit we slept late,” I volunteer. It’s three in the afternoon. What time did we get back last night?

“Three?” He asks, shock in his voice. “What the hell happened last night?” He throws his head back and searches for the answers in the recesses of his mind, but if he’s anything like me, he’s coming up empty.

“I have no idea, but I know that my head is fucking killing me so whatever we did or took, we should probably never do or take ever again,” I complain as I massage my temples with shaky fingers. I feel weak in a way that can only be cured by greasy food.

My phone buzzes in my hand and I finally get a chance to take in all of my notifications. I gasp when I see how many there are. There have to be millions upon millions of notifications, most of which are from social media and the rest from my group chat with the girls. “What’s wrong?” Slater asks, worry in his voice as he hurries over to me.

He stops behind my shoulder and looks over at my phone as I try to figure out what’s going on. “I don’t know. Somethingmust’ve happened because my phone is going off the hook.” As I explain, more notifications pour in.

I unlock my phone and decide to start with my messages because if the chat is going this crazy, something bad must’ve happened. My stomach sinks in suspense of what I’m about to find. I start to skim through the most recent messages with Slater at my back.

SATAN’S ANGELS

Brody

WHAT THE FUCK!

Selene

I’m going to kick her ass when she responds

Selene

ARIA KANE ANSWER YOUR PHONE

Selene

I’m doubling my rate after this shit storm is dealt with

Ivory

This is so bad…

Selene

No shit!

Brody

I’m sure there’s a way we can fix this

Selene

It should never have happened in the first place!

Ivory

OMG just saw it on the news…

Saw what on the news? What shit storm? What the fuck is going on? I continue scrolling just as a notification for a newsapp pops up on my phone. My eyes linger on the headline as it reads “Satan’s Angels Guitarist Sex Tape Leaked.”But I’m the guitarist! And I don’t have a leaked sex tape!

---