Page 29 of The Heartbreakers
“Do you ever miss it?” I asked, trying to distract myself again. My breathing hitched, and I hoped he hadn’t noticed.
“Miss what?”
“I don’t know, like, before everything?”
“You mean my anonymity? Sure.” Something in Oliver’s voice sounded off, and I craned my neck to look up at him. He was staring past me, deep in thought, and then a scowl crossed his face. “But I would never go back. Ever,” he added fiercely.
The skin covering his knuckles turned white as he tightened his fist, and I bit my lip, not sure what to say. I didn’t think he was mad at me, but something had upset him.
“Sorry,” I told him. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
“No worries,” he said, sounding much softer than before.
But Oliver seemed to be done talking, because he turned his attention back to the movie. And without our conversation, my nerves crept back up. I realized I was holding my breath when he started moving his thumb in small circles on my arm. For some reason, I found the sensation calming. Bit by bit, my breathing returned to normal and I nestled down into his side.
Just as I finally relaxed and turned my attention to the movie, Oliver chuckled at something 007 said, and I felt him shake beneath me. Tilting my head back a few inches, I looked up at him through my lashes. There was a dusting of pink on his cheeks, and his eyes shone as he laughed.
He must have felt my gaze, because his eyes snapped down and found mine. His lips slowly parted as he stared down at me, and my whole body flooded with warmth. Someone was shouting something crazy on-screen, but I was too preoccupied with Oliver to turn toward the TV. The way he was looking at me made me want to press my body farther up against him, and the thought made me blush.
Embarrassed by my own thoughts, I suddenly needed to look away, to focus on anything but him. But as I turned, Oliver gently grabbed my chin. He held my head in place until I made eye contact, and then, once he knew I was watching, he dipped his head and brushed his lips against mine.
The small bit of contact was all I needed. Something flared up inside me, and instead of waiting for Oliver to deepen the kiss, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. I’d kissed boys before, but I had never felt like I did in that moment—crazy and wild and losing control. When Oliver yanked me onto his lap, my mouth left his and I started kissing down his neck. His head rolled back against the couch, and he groaned, yanking at his shorts with his free hand as he tried to readjust.
The front door banged open. “Stella? Oliver? Are you guys up here?”
When Xander’s voice rang through the apartment, Oliver pushed me off and shot to the other side of the couch as if I suddenly had a contagious disease. Sitting up straighter, I patted down my hair.
“There you guys are,” Xander said when he entered the living room.
“Oh hey,” Oliver said.
He put on a wonderful performance. First, he casually glanced up at his friends like he hadn’t heard anyone enter the penthouse. Then he yawned and stood up to stretch as if his muscles were cramped from watching the movie.Ifhewasn’t a singer, I thought,hewouldmakeanexcellentactor. Grabbing the remote, Oliver flipped the movie off just as Aaron ushered the rest of the guys into the room. Then a woman with short, blond hair stepped inside after them.
“Aaron called Courtney,” Xander said, his lips tightening.
Oliver narrowed his eyes at his bodyguard. “Traitor.”
“Aaron did the right thing,” said the lady I presumed was Courtney. “We have an interview tomorrow morning and a concert tomorrow night. You should have gone to bed hours ago.”
“We’re not kids, Courtney,” JJ complained. The way he rolled his eyes made him look exactly like a little kid, and I covered my laugh with a cough.
“Really?” she responded and put a hand on her hip. “Could have fooled me. Aaron shouldn’t have to call me in the middle of the night to make you behave. I’m your manager, not your babysitter.” So this Courtney chick was the band’s manager.
“Okay, we get it,” Xander grumbled. “We’ll behave. You can go back to bed now.”
“I will,” Courtney said, “but your friend has to leave.” She pointed at Drew.
“Friends,” Drew corrected her. “My sister is coming with me.” He shot me a look that said, “No way in hell are you staying here alone.”
Courtney’s eyes flickered over to the couch when my brother looked in my direction. She sighed before turning to Oliver. “Your friend has to leave as well.” The way Courtney dismissed me made it seem as if she had done it many times before, almost like it was a normal occurrence.
“Okay,” Oliver said calmly. For a moment, nobody moved.
“Well, are you both coming?” Courtney asked as she nodded in the direction of the door.
A gut-wrenching feeling washed over me as I stood up. I turned to Oliver, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. Okay…why was he acting so strange all of a sudden?
Alec spoke up. “It would be nice if we could say good-bye to our friends.” Courtney raised an eyebrow as if she were waiting. “Privately,” he added and crossed his arms over his chest.
