Page 94 of Loved Out Loud
Greg drops his hand from my wrist with a scowl. “Call your rent-a-cop off and sit down.”
“No.” Dan helps me off the stool. “I don’t know why you flew all this way to just be an asshole, Greg.”
“You’re being used, Hazel. Don’t expect me to still be here when you come to your senses.”
“I’m being used? How so?”
He sneers at me. “Hazel. You can’t really think he cares about you. You’re here. You’re convenient. He has his pick of women, and you think you’re the one he would choose?”
My eyes burn, but I refuse to let a single tear fall.
“Goodbye, Greg.”
I turn and walk out of the bar as blood pounds in my ears. In less than twenty minutes, he weaponized every single one of my insecurities. I jab my finger at the elevator call button while Dan stands beside me.
“Are you okay?” he asks quietly when we step inside and the doors close.
A single tear falls when I nod. I swipe it away quickly. That’s the last tear I’ll shed for Greg.
But.
What if he’s right? I walk off the elevator as the voice I’ve worked so hard to bury claws its way back into my mind. It does seem unlikely that Stone would be so into me. I’m literally just a normal person, and he’s won fucking Grammys. Like, a lot of them, I believe. He could be dating supermodels.
The suite is quiet once again, he mentioned being in Xan’s room, so I don’t bother calling out to him. I walk into the bathroom, ready to shower the night off and then sleep. My reflection catches my attention, and I feel so stupid for feeling so good about myself. I’m so embarrassed that Jade had Adam send photos including me.
I turn away from the mirror while I strip out of my clothes, leaving them in a pile on the tile floor. Hot tears roll down my cheeks as I step into the steamy glass shower. I drop down to the floor when my vision blurs, and I succumb to sobs.
The hot spray beats down on me as I rest my forehead on my knees. I stay on the shower floor long enough that my back starts to ache, the tears never stopping. The bathroom door swings open, hitting the wall with a loud crash, but it doesn’t pull me from the darkness that’s settled inside my chest.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” Stone walks into the shower fully dressed and kneels beside me.
His body blocks the water from beating down on my skin. He cups my face in both his palms, lifting until he can get a good look at me. His eyes scan my face for clues as to what’s wrong.
“You’re getting all wet,” I say numbly.
“I don’t care.” He wipes tears from under my eyes. “What’s going on?”
“I’m just,” my voice trails off. “I’m just having a moment.”
“This looks like more than a moment.”
I have no answer for that, so I just sit there looking at him. He pushes to his feet and pulls his shirt over his head. His jeans go next, landing with a loud thwap beside his shirt. He bends and wraps his hands around mine, pulling me to my feet.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.”
He starts with my hair. The fingers that so effortlessly play guitar massage shampoo through my hair gently. He brushes his lips softly against mine as he tilts my head back to wash the suds out. The process is repeated with my conditioner. Then he washes my body using gentle, caring strokes. There’s nothing sexual occurring, but this feels like the most intimate exchange we’ve had.
I move out the way when he finishes taking care of me, so he can clean up too. He’s done in a fraction of the time he spent on me. Before I can even take a step out of the shower, he’s there, grabbing one of the plush towels and wrapping it around me before drying himself off.
I grab a towel and wrap it around my hair while he tosses his wet clothes over the top of the shower to start drying. I catch him giving me furtive glances as I do my skin care routine. He doesn’t push me to talk, though, which makes me feel guilty.
“Greg was here.”
“I know. Adam told me. I went down to the lobby to check on you, but you had already come up.” He leans against the counter. “Did you know he was coming?”
“No. I didn’t even remember sending him the itinerary, but apparently I did. He said he came to see me, that he misses me.”
“And?” His face stays impassive as he probes for more information.
