Page 64 of Loved Out Loud
I release an annoyed growl. “I cry. It lasts for twenty or thirty minutes every single time I’m at a concert of any kind. I just get overwhelmed by feeling so proud of the performers. Like Iimagine how much work it is to get where you are and how incredible it is. Then I just cry, and I can’t turn it off until it runs its course.”
They all look at each other and fight smiles.
“Stop that.” My face heats, and I try to stand up off Stone’s lap.
His arms lock around me tighter than a seatbelt. “Sorry. It’s just that we always see people crying at concerts. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“I hate people seeing me cry. It’s why I always have my back to Dan.”
“Xander cries in movies,” Tobias says.
“Onemovie,onetime.” He throws an empty water bottle at Tobias. “And anyone with a soul would cry in that movie.”
“What movie?” I’m curious now.
“My Girl.”
“Oh that’s so valid.”
“See.” Xander stares down his bandmate while I feel Stone shaking with laughter beneath me. “You’re the problem, Tobias.”
Good-natured joking continues around me. Part of me is really starting to feel as if I belong with them. Any awkwardness that existed before is now gone.
Jade emerges from her bunk and takes a seat opposite of Darren. Stone finally releases me, and I sit down next to her. I haven’t opened my social media yet, and I need emotional support beside me.
“Ready?” she asks once I’m comfortable.
“No. Social media is overwhelming on a normal day. I don’t even want to know what it’ll be like on a day where I’m in the news for getting caught up in a mosh pit.”
Darren snorts. “That was tame compared to an actual mosh pit.”
“May I never be inside one in that case.”
“Damn right.” Stone bumps Darren over so he can join us. “You’re too precious for that.”
My chest tightens at the searing look in his eyes. He means every word of that proclamation. And he just said it out loud in front of everyone. I feel the blush creep over my cheeks, so I turn my attention to my phone as I open the first app.
I have hundreds of comments under my last post and as much as I’d like to pretend they’re all centered around my book, I know they aren’t.
BlueSundaeGirl: I’ve never been so jealous of another human being, write a tell all about the band
Stones_wifey: I don’t get the appeal of this heifer
I laugh at that. Being called a heifer is a new one, so points for creativity.
“Oh god.” Jades looks at the screen. “That one is absolutely feral. You’d be shocked at some of the things she sends to his DMs.”
“Considering what I’ve gotten in my DMs, I probably wouldn’t be that shocked.”
Stone looks up from what he and Darren are doing with a sharp look in his eyes. “What have you gotten?”
“Sugar daddy offers to dick pics to solicitation.”
“Are you serious?” His eyes narrow.
“Yeah. It’s why I turned off DMs. The guy that sent his dick had one of my TV interviews on in the background.”
Honestly, the message was much worse than the photo, but at the look on Stone’s face, I decide not to share anything more. It’s difficult to tell whether he’s jealous or enraged, but regardless I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty details. I’m sure their imaginations can fill in the blanks.
