Page 91 of Loved Out Loud
She snorts and turns to him, jumping when she sees how close he is. “That sounds like a PR blitz to save your careers if I’ve ever heard one.”
“None of us are going out. We have sound check all day tomorrow.”
“Darren will be here to keep us in line,” Xan says. “Hazel is beginning to be recognized out in public. It would make Dan’s job easier if he had someone assigned with him.”
A tense standoff ensues between the three of us, but she finally relents. “Fine, but we’re just doing a fitness class and then grabbing dinner. It’s not like we’re going out clubbing.”
I wrap my arms around her, binding her arms to her sides and rock back and forth. “Thank you.”
Now I won’t spend every minute they’re gone spiraling into an anxiety fueled crash out over the worst case scenarios.
“Ugh, let me go.” She gives me a devilish smile as I drop my arms. “I’m surprised you want more men watching us spin around on poles, but we’ll make sure to give them a good show.”
“Wait, what?” I ask as she walks past me, her ponytail swinging.
Xander steps up beside me, just as curious.
“Night, boys,” she says over her shoulder as she walks out of the room.
Twenty-Nine
HAZEL
I’ve never beenthis undressed in front of anyone I’m not sleeping with, but my shirt keeps getting tangled on the pole. I’m having too much fun to quit, so I pull the shirt over my head and toss it to the side with my bag. If Sierra or Jade notice my scars, they don’t say anything.
Mary, the instructor, finishes showing Sierra how to lean back and spin using just her legs. Jade and I clap for her as she completes the move. The song switches over, and Jade leaps onto her pole. This is apparently her workout of choice, and she’s been doing it for years so she climbs upward and completes a series of moves that leave me utterly impressed.
I grab my pole, placing my hands the way Mary showed me and use my core strength to lift myself off the ground. She comes over and helps me position my feet and goes through the same motions she showed Sierra. By the end of the song blaring outof the speakers, I’m spinning in circles holding onto the pole by only my legs.
The lingering darkness from my interaction with my father bleeds away as the joy of being surrounded by friends and silliness fills me. I can only assume I have Pilates to thank for my ability to take to pole dancing as easily as I am. Gripping the pole between my thighs I arch my back and extend one of my legs out while I spin to a Blue Sunday song.
Jade and Sierra hoot and holler their support. As I spin I notice Dan and Adam smiling, one of them holding his phone up to capture it. We instructed them to take photos and videos to send to the guys. If they’re going to rain on our girls' night, we’re going to tease them.
The class period goes by all too quickly. No one says anything about my scars. They don’t even look at them, even with the two under my breasts exposed between the band of my sports bra and high-waisted shorts.
“Thank you for planning this,” I tell Jade. “I did not expect to have so much fun.”
“Me either,” Sierra says as she pulls a brush through her hair. “I’m going to have to find classes in New York.”
“Same,” I say in agreement as I slip my feet into the heels I picked to wear to dinner.
After we finish getting ready in the gym bathroom, we walk out onto the sidewalk. The air has a bit of chill from the wind blowing off Lake Michigan. It’s crazy to think that in a few short weeks fall will be creeping across the country.
Dan opens the car door for us as we get into black SUV. He and Adam then climb into the one behind us. At least they hired two cars for us, so we can chat in private.
The restaurant we’re having dinner at is halfway between the hotel and the gym we just left, so the drive is relatively short. My stomach growls as we walk through the side entrance of theAsian fusion restaurant. The lighting is dim, but the atmosphere is lively making it the perfect environment for a girls dinner. Off to one side is a sushi bar with offerings on a conveyor belt and bar-style seating. The host leads us to a large booth in the opposite corner, the walls of which rise high over our heads, providing a good deal of privacy. Dan and Adam are shown to the table between us and the rest of the restaurant.
After he explains the different menus, we settle into silence, each of us looking at the extensive offerings. I’m probably the least adventurous eater of the three of us and pretty quickly settle on what I’m going to have. While I wait for everyone else to choose their dishes, I pull out my phone to find two texts, one from Stone and one from Greg.
Stone: You look so fucking hot
Stone: Maybe we should put a pole in the back of the bus
He forwarded several of the photos and a video that Adam sent him of me. I watch as I spin around the pole, my hair flying and a wide smile on my face. I look happy. Carefree.
Gratitude swells inside my chest. Never in a million years did I think I’d find an entire group of people who already feel like family when Sierra told me about this harebrained scheme of the publisher and record label. I know in Vancouver we’re doing our first joint interview about the experience so far, and while I had been nervous about it, I’m not anymore. This feels real. It feels right.
I’m not afraid to sit down beside the guys and answer questions.
