Page 84 of Flirting with the Rock Star Next Door
I jogged after Emily. Dev called out, “Hey, where you going?” but I ignored him.
“Emily, I’m sorry,” I said, slowing down to a walk next to her.
She didn’t respond.
“I didn’t think he’d show up like this. Or bring all those women. I certainly didn’t ask him to bring them. I also didn’t say your books were junk. He’s just being a dick. You know how much I love your writing.”
She kept marching, her eyes straight ahead. Every taut line of her body said she was too irritated to talk.
Shit. Anxiety like I’d never felt ran through me. It was worse than my first audition. Now Emily was never going to give our relationship a shot. I’d be lucky if she didn’t point and laugh when I asked her to consider coming to Dallas with me.
Damn it, Dev!
“I’ll kick his ass. Would that help? I’m faster and stronger than him. And then I can pack him and those girls up and send them back to Spain.”
When we reached her driveway, she stopped. “I know you didn’t have him come here with those women. And I’ve heard worse about what I write and my career, so I shouldn’t be this upset. But I am. I hate it that somebody as close to you as a band mate would say that about me. Or bring those women and be that insensitive when he had to know why I was at your place at this hour, dressed like this.” Her lips were pressed tight, and I hated the unblinking gaze—or the fact that she wasn’t looking at me. She was trying so hard to appear calm, but I could sense the tightly suppressed hurt.
Fuck. Emily took such pride in her work. I’d seen how hard she worked, and you only did that with things you cared about.
And the girls… Contrary to what Dev thought, they weren’t my type. People generally put too much stock in women’s cup size and hip-to-waist ratio. I also happened to care about brain size because I needed somebody I could talk to and laugh with.
Although I understood that Emily’s reaction to the women wasn’t completely out of bounds, I was vaguely disappointed that she considered me shallow enough to go stupid over a collection of silicone tits. Didn’t she know me better than that?
On the other hand… If her close friend had shown up with a group of aspiring male strippers the morning after we had sex for the first time, I might not have been taken it too well either.
“He doesn’t understand the situation,” I said. “And he’s probably still half-drunk. Just ignore him. You’re so my type, those women don’t even register.”
She finally lifted her gaze to make eye contact. There was uncertainty and pain, and I hated it that they had replaced the light and lazy satisfaction from earlier.
“I saw you step back from them, but…” She sighed, her shoulders sagging a little. “I have issues, Killian.”
“I’d have issues if I were in your place,” I said. “And unlike you, I would’ve broken Dev’s nose.”
Her lips were pressed nearly white, but they twitched. Just a little. Hopefully she wouldn’t get more upset about Devlin’s stunt.
“Um. Why are they filming this?” Emily said, her gaze flicking beyond my shoulder.
Filming? My body stiff, I spun around and saw the six women with their phones out, Dev watching them.
“What the hell, man?” I shouted, and then at the women, “Are you livestreaming this?” I was going to murder them all if they were. Then I’d murder Dev again just because I could. He knew how much I hated having my private life broadcast everywhere. The public got to see the slices I chose to share, not everything.
And I’d be damned if those women were going to use me and my life for their agenda. To get more likes. To get more followers. To get more publicity and adoration from strangers on the Internet. So they could somehow turn them into profit and even more spotlight.
“I wish,” the black-haired one said. “We’re just recording it. In case you want to let us post it later.”
The pink-haired girl pursed her lips. “Now I have to edit the video, though. I don’t like you turning around and yelling at us. It doesn’t make for a good sharable experience. People are going to think we aren’t friends.”
“We aren’t friends, and you absolutely cannot put that up!” My blood pressure shot up with anxiety and fury that their thoughtlessness might ruin the peace and quiet—the normalcy—I was enjoying in Kingstree. “Nobody gets to put stuff about me on social media!”
“But don’t you want people to see the real you? Do you know how many likes I’m going to get?” the brunette said. “And new followers. I’m close to a quarter million.”
“I don’t give a fuck!” I shot back. “If you want to be famous, go do it yourself and keep me out of it.”
“Come on, Killian,” Dev said. “Calm down. I already told them they couldn’t post stuff without talking to me first. Their phones don’t even have GPS on. I made sure before coming here.”
It made me feel better. But only a little. “Delete the damned video. And the pictures,” I said tightly. “Everything. Or you’ll hear from my lawyer.” I paid a shit-ton in retainer fees. He could think of some reason to sue.
“You’re no fun!” The purple head pouted.
