Page 117 of Composed
“Dean’s on it.” I place a hand on her lower back, fire licking my fingers as they slip under her sweatshirt.
“Who’s Dean?” She peeks up at me.
I flick her nose lightly. “Our security.”
“You have security with you right now?” She scans the room, her face slackening. “Where? How did I not realise? Has he followed us all day?”
I chuckle at her naivety as I steer her towards the doors. “Since we left the skatepark, yes.”
“But—”
“He’s discreet. It’s kinda in the job description.” I nudge her out of the way when she reaches for the door handle. I tug it open. “I don’t get to go many places these days without someone tailing me.”
She hums as if the thought had never crossed her mind.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Justin Bieber, but me and the guys can’t really go out without being recognised. And there’s always that one person who takes it to the extreme, so it’s just not worth the risk.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I laugh. “There was this one dude who broke into my hotel room a couple years ago because his girlfriend had my poster on her bedroom wall and he was feeling a little jealous.”
Hendrix’s mouth drops open. “What happened?”
“Nothing exciting. Saint was crashing with me that night, so he just tossed the guy a joint, told him to chill the fuck out, and locked him in the bathroom until security came up to clear him out.”
“That’s…” She blinks. “Holy fuck.”
“It doesn’t happen a lot, but better safe than sorry, you know.”
“Yeah.” Her voice softens, and she exhales a short breath as I unlock my car and shuffle her inside. “It’s still so hard to reconcile with that side of you. I’ve seen your career, I know how big you are. Hell, I have a bank account to prove it, but I just can’t see you as anyone other thanCole.”
“Is that a bad thing?” I lean over the door, metal digging into my arm. “I’m still Cole. Just a lot richer and a little more known.”
“It’s not bad. Just different.” She fingers the edge of her jumper. “I always knew you were headed here. You know that, right?”
She looks up then, her expression the most open I’ve seen it since she came back. “The thought of you making it never scared me, Rock Star.”
I swallow.
When she left, she never gave me a real reason. Just that things weren’t working anymore. That she couldn’t do the girlfriend of a rock star thing. I thought it was bullshit back then and she just confirmed it now.
I lean in closer, my breath blending with hers.
Gold flickers as her eyes caress my face. My left eye, my right, my lips. She dampens her lower lip, the silver ball glittering.
My arm trembles against the metal hood.
She pushes up, chasing away the final inches between us. I can taste the chocolate milkshake lingering on her lips as they ghost over mine.
Every muscle in my body begs to reach out for her—to pull her into me and never let her go. But the moment is gone as quick as it comes when she presses a warm hand to my chest and pushes me back.
She tips her head toward the windshield, her face blanking. A gaggle of teenage girls watch us, their phones in their hands, their eyes brimming with excitement.
“We should go,” Hendrix says, hand curling around the door handle. “Don’t want to cause a commotion.”
She tugs the door shut and ducks her head, leaving me with a single questioning lingering on my lips…
What did scare you, Rixie?
