Page 39 of Loved Out Loud
“She posted one of you that I took at her signing and posted it on her socials.”
“She did?”
“Yep.”
“Let me see.”
She opens the app and pulls up Hazel’s account. Sure enough, the second to last photo is a candid shot from behind of me watching her sign books for her fans. You can’t see my face, but I’m sure everyone knows it’s me by this point. Especially with the paparazzi photos from afterward.
“Did you suggest that?”
Jade smiles. “No. That was all her idea.”
Darren barely suppresses a chuckle, and I look up, giving him a sharp glare. Jade looks back and forth between us, one auburn brow arching. She doesn’t ask what’s up, though, and he keeps his mouth shut.
As everyone trickles to bed over the next couple hours, I find myself wishing that she’d wake up and join me. Unfortunately, she stays in her bunk for the entire six-hour drive, and I don’t get a chance to see her until we’re checking into the hotel.
Between everyone on our bus and the security team on the other, there’s no time to pull her way and check in. In fact, she barely spares me a glance. Is it regret? Or embarrassment? Some combination of the two?
She’ll have to get over it all, because there’s no way it’s not happening again.
Thirteen
HAZEL
“What’s on your neck?”The first words out of Greg’s mouth during our FaceTime isn’t even hello.
I touch my neck and squint at my reflection. “I don’t see anything.”
“Other side. Move your hair.”
Oh.
Oh.
There’s a dark and very obvious hickey on my neck. I can’t believe nobody mentioned it to me on the bus. But then again, I had my headphones looped around my neck and hightailed it away from Stone as quick as I could.
“Is that a hickey?” Greg pulls his glasses on and leans forward.
“Yeah, it is.” I could make up an excuse, but we’re not together. I’ve seen plenty of photos of him holding hands withdates over the years. I don’t particularly care if he gets jealous, in fact, it might light a fire under his ass.
“From whom?”
“Stone. The concert last night was electric. We both just got carried away and kissed each other.” He doesn’t need to know about the wandering hands or that I was seconds away from cumming just by dry humping against the wall. In that short, fully clothed encounter, Stone gave me more pleasure than Gregg has in the past six months.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” A crease forms between his brows as he leans back in his desk chair.
“Why? Are you jealous?”
“You know that’s not how I operate Hazel. I just know you get so easily attached.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not like it’ll happen again. It was just a spur of the moment thing.”
“I hope so.”
“Though, I do have to say, I don’t get attached as easily as you seem to think I do.”
“In my experience, you do.”
