by Morse, Jody
Well, I guess I couldn’t even consider us “hooking up,” since it had only happened once, technically.
No matter what the case was, a sick feeling had formed in the pit of my stomach.
I was about to brush past her, but she stood there. It was clear that she wanted to chat.
“I heard you’ve been working with Colton King,” Tessa said.
“Yeah, I am. Where did you hear that?” I asked dumbly. It was a stupid question, considering the information had already been announced.
“He told me.” Her eyes lingered on mine for a moment. “I think it’s great. You two seem like you’d make great music together.”
Was there a hidden meaning in her words? Something along the lines of: you’d make great music together, but that better be all you do with him, because I will cut you, bitch? I could’ve sworn that was the message that her steel eyes seemed to convey to me.
“Yeah, it’s going great so far. If you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to.” I continued into the building, exhaling sharply once I’d stepped inside.
On the bright side, at least she hadn’t questioned me about posting that picture of his ass on Facebook earlier. That would’ve been beyond awkward.
Continuing my way down the hallway, I knocked on the door to Finn’s office. He opened it a moment later, his green eyes full of surprise. “Vi, what are you doing here?”
“I just figured I’d come hangout. I was sort of bored,” I explained. Pausing, I added, “I just ran into Tessa DeLong. Is she one of your clients? Because I’m pretty sure she’s already dating Colton. Unless Colton’s your client, too, in which case you have some ‘splaining to do.”
I really would’ve been pissed. It seemed like he thought Colton and I should’ve been together, so if he’d set him up with someone that would’ve been a really low blow.
“Vi, you know I can’t tell you if Tessa’s a client or not,” Finn said with a sigh. “But Colton’s not a client.”
I tried to suppress a smile. “That’s all I needed to know.”
At that moment, my phone pinged with an incoming text message. It was from Colton. I opened it.
You have the honor of recording in the studio with me tomorrow at 10 a.m. Do I need to call you in the morning to make sure you won’t be late?
“Asshole,” I murmured out loud.
Finn raised his eyebrows. “Who?”
“Colton. We’re recording our first song in the studio tomorrow morning,” I explained. “And he seems to think I’m not capable of getting up on my own.”
Finn laughed. “He knows you really well already.”
Shooting a glare in his direction, I hit ‘Reply’ to Colton.
I’m a big girl. I think I can handle it.
His response came right away. Just checking. Handling things isn’t usually your strongest suit. You’re like a spider caught up in your own web.
Rolling my eyes, I texted back: What a coincidence. You’re as annoying as a fly.
*
“And that’s a wrap,” Jimmy said with a grin after the two hours we spent recording the song in the studio. “I’m proud of you, Viola. This is the best song you’ve recorded in a long time.”
“Well, it’s not just me you should be proud of,” I said pointedly.
“Yeah, Colton did good, too.” Jimmy didn’t have to explain himself. I knew what he was really thinking: Colton always does good.
Colton shrugged. “The important thing is it’s done, right? How many more songs do we need to write together? One or two?”
“The more, the merrier.” Jimmy glanced at the time. “I need to be going. I have a meeting in less than an hour. I’m looking to sign a new artist to the label.”
“Oh, who is it?” I asked, unable to hide my curiosity.
“Let’s keep it on the DL until any contracts have been signed, but just between the three of us, it’s Tessa DeLong.”
My stomach sank. I glanced over in Colton’s direction and noticed that his features had hardened. He lowered his eyes to the floor.
What was he, afraid that Jimmy was going to drop hints about his relationship with Tessa? I wasn’t even sure why he would’ve cared… unless they were really just trying to keep their relationship a secret. But he’d been doing a really bad job of it, in that case, considering I knew.
“I’ll see the two of you soon, I’m sure,” Jimmy said as he hurried out of the studio.
Colton glanced over at me. “Do you have plans?”
I shook my head. When did I ever have plans? Almost never.
“Do you want to go get ice cream?”
What the hell? He’d bounced back from his weirdness really quickly. Deciding that I couldn’t keep it a secret anymore, I blurted, “Sure, I’d love to get ice cream. Are you sure Tessa won’t mind?”
His light blue eyes fell on mine as his eyebrows rose. “Tessa? What does she have to do with anything?”
“Well, we’re business partners, right? And as your girlfriend, she has to be okay with that… but is she okay with you hanging out with me in your free time?” Not that she had room to talk, considering she was clearly one of Finn’s clients… but you know.
Colton let out a little laugh. “Is that what you think? That Tessa’s my girlfriend?”
“Well, considering you sort of ditched me at the park that day to hang out with her,” I said with a shrug. I didn’t care if he thought I was a stalker at this point.
“It’s not like that, Viola. Tessa’s an old family friend of mine. Her dad is my manager. He’s the entire reason I ended up where I am.”
I just stared back at him, wondering if he was telling the truth. “So, you don’t have feelings for her?”
“I used to,” Colton admitted. “When I was maybe sixteen or seventeen. She and I have gone through a lot together… more than you could ever understand. But there’s nothing going on between us. We’re just friends. That’s all we’ll ever be.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath and nodded, accepting his answer as the truth. Not that I was sure why it even mattered if it was the truth or not. It wasn’t like he owed me an honest answer; nothing was going on between the two of us.
“Do I sense some jealousy?” Colton asked as we headed for the door of the studio.
“Me? Pft, never,” I said with the wave of a hand. I made a point of avoiding his gaze; just one look in his direction would probably reveal the truth to him.
“Uh huh. I bet.” He didn’t sound the least bit convinced, and who could blame him?
“I’m not jealous. Trust me,” I said as we stepped out into the hallway. “I make it a point of finding out who all my male business partners are dating.” That was technically the truth, since, um, he was the only male business partner I had, unless you counted Jimmy.
He pressed the button to call the elevator to us. “Sure.”
When we stepped into the elevator, I glanced up at him for the first time. His blue eyes locked on mine, making my heart stop.
He moved in closer to me until I was basically trapped in one corner of the elevator. “You’re very readable, Viola Pierce.”
“I think you’re just insane, Colton King.”
“Am I?” He was so close to me that I could feel his warm breath against my neck.
“Certifiably,” I whispered, just as he brought his mouth down on mine.
My heart pounded against my chest as our lips locked.
Gripping my cheeks in his hands, he kissed me hard and deep, moaning into my mouth. It was the sexiest sound I’d ever heard; it made me feel weak in the knees.
When the elevator came to an abrupt stop and the door flew open, our kissing came to a halt with it, but his lips remained pressed against mine for a moment longer. I stared up into his eyes, which sparkled in the dim lighting.
Then Colton stepped out of the elevator. I followed after him, feeling as though I was in some sort of daze. I’d gone into the elevator and had come out in the Twilight Zone or
something. The whole thing felt unreal, like it was some sort of dream, but it was the realest thing I’d ever felt.
At that moment, Colton’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced down at the caller ID.
“So, about that ice cream…” His eyes flicked up to meet mine. “I’m going to have to cancel. I’m sorry. It’s just that my Mom needs me and—”
“It’s okay. You don’t owe me an explanation,” I replied with a small smile. Seriously, that kiss was enough to keep me content for the unforeseeable future.
He stood there, looking reluctant to leave for the longest time before finally saying, “Raincheck?”
“Yeah, sure. I’m always down for ice cream. Remember, I love my carbs,” I joked.
He laughed as he headed off in the opposite direction.
I pulled my own phone out of my pocket and asked Eddie to pick me up. Then I called Finn.
He answered on the second ring. “Hey, Vi.”
“You wouldn’t believe what just happened.”
Chapter 21
The next day, I sat in the waiting room at the gynecologist’s office. Spin or Sin Radio was on, and they were playing “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt. Across the room from where I was sitting, brightly colored tropical fish were swimming around in their tank.
It was kind of funny. Every gynecologist’s office I’d ever been to had a fish tank. Maybe gynecologists just really liked fish, but I was convinced that they put them in there for another reason—to serve as a reminder to all the single ladies who’d recently just been dumped or who hadn’t had sex in for-freaking-ever that there were plenty of fish in the sea.
See, the thing is…I knew that. I knew there were lots of fish in the sea and that, when it came down to it, I could probably have any of them that I wanted. The problem was that I didn’t want just any old bass or guppy. I wanted the one fish I couldn’t have. I wanted Colton.
I never thought I’d actually ever admit that, not even to myself. But I just couldn’t deny it anymore. I had so much fun with him, even when we were doing absolutely nothing but bickering. He drove me completely insane, but he got my heart pounding in all the right ways. Everything about spending time with him made me feel alive, for the first time since Jake.
Not that it mattered how I felt about him, because I knew the feeling wasn’t mutual. Sure, we may have had our first sober kiss, but it didn’t actually mean anything. As far as he was concerned, I was just another girl who he’d had a drunken one night stand with—a one night stand that couldn’t turn into two one night stands, because I’d puked on his shoes. I had a feeling that once we were done with this whole songwriting thing, he would be done with me, too.
Sighing, I glanced away from the tank and down at the magazines that were piled neatly on a table. I picked up Cosmopolitan. My own face stared back at me and I frowned.
My skin looked pasty white against the awful shade of red they’d painted my lips with, and my boobs looked way bigger than they actually were in the white dress they’d made me squeeze into. It was totally false advertisement, but whatever. I knew I shouldn’t complain; I was lucky they’d even wanted to do a monthly feature on me, considering.
“Viola Pierce?” A nurse with chin-length dark brown hair and glasses who appeared to be in her mid-twenties and who I’d never dealt with before peered into the waiting room. When she saw me, she gasped. “You are Viola Pierce, the singer! I mean, we have celebrities come in and out of here all the time, but I still thought there might’ve been another Viola Pierce who lived in Los Angeles. Can I have your autograph? I’m, like, your biggest fan ever!”
“Only if you promise not to tell anyone my real height,” I joked. “I usually tell everyone I’m an inch taller than I really am.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” she promised with a giggle.
Just as I rose to my feet, I heard the DJ say over the radio. “Yo, here’s a fresh new track for you. This is the new one by Viola Pierce and Colton King. It’s going to be on Viola’s new album, which is set to be released this September. The song’s called ‘Blowin’ Up My Phone.’”
I froze in my tracks, just as I heard Colton’s voice begin to sing over the radio speakers.
“How funny! You’re here and it’s time for your appointment, and your song is on the radio, too! Isn’t that ironic?” the nurse asked, acting like this was the craziest thing to have ever happened.
“Yeah, it is pretty ironic, I guess, considering we didn’t even release that song yet,” I said with a sigh.
She stared at me with a confused deer-in-headlights look. “Really?”
“Yeah, it must’ve gotten leaked somehow.” At that moment, I felt my cell phone vibrate a bunch of times from inside my purse. Pulling it out, I glanced down at my caller ID. New text messages from Mads, Nat, and Colton.
I didn’t even need to open my texts to know they were all messaging me about the song getting leaked. Deciding that it could wait, I shoved my phone back inside my purse and followed the nurse.
*
One autograph, an awkward Q&A about why I felt the need to be tested for STDs and pregnancy, and a pelvic exam later, I was good to go.
As I stepped out of the office, I finally pulled my cell phone out and read through my text messages. Mads had written: Blowin’ Up My Phone got dropped. This wasn’t supposed to happen yet. How did this happen?!
I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Mads to freak over something like this. I mean, yeah, it really sucked that the song had gotten leaked before we’d wanted it to be released, but it wasn’t like there was anything anyone could do about it at this point. It was a little too late. The song had probably already gone viral.
Deciding not to answer her, I deleted her message from my phone. The last thing I needed to deal with was additional stress from her right now.
The next text, from Nat, read: OMG I love the new song, Vi! This might be your best yet!
Smiling, I texted back: Thanks girl.
I realized that I’d subconsciously saved the best text message for last and opened up Colton’s and read the words he’d written on the screen.
I need to talk to you. Can you come over? 125 Sunshine Lane.
At that moment, I reached the limo. Eddie was standing outside waiting for me. He opened the door to me.
As I climbed inside, I told him, “I need you to take me to Colton’s house.”
He nodded. “You got it.”
Hitting ‘Reply’ to Colton, I texted back: I’ll be at your place soon.
As I sunk back into my seat, I wondered why he wanted to talk to me in person. A gut feeling told me that it must’ve had to do with the kiss.
*
Colton King’s house was just as impressive as one would’ve expected. It was a Spanish-style home with a well landscaped property.
When I rang the doorbell, he flung the front door open right away. He looked hot as ever in a white t-shirt that showed off his muscles and a pair of jeans. “Come in.”
He led me into the living room, and I’m not going to lie. I barely even noticed what the interior of his house looked like, because my gaze was fixated on his ass the entire time.
When we reached the living, Colton plopped down onto one of the leather sofas. He motioned for me to sit down next to him.
Sitting down, I glanced over at him. I was positive that I knew what was coming: he was going to tell me that he regretted kissing me. He would probably tell me that there was already someone else and that what had happened between us had been a mistake that couldn’t be repeated in the future. As usual, it was just too good to be true.
“The reason I invited you here is because there’s something I wanted to ask you in person,” Colton said, staring down at me from behind his blue eyes.
I sucked in my breath. “What is it?”
“Do you want to go to my sister Kylie’s twenty-first birthday party with me?”
My eyes widened. That was definitely not what I’d been
expecting him to say, not at all. “I guess that all depends. Are you asking me to go as your date?”
He hesitated for a few moments. “Will my answer to that question determine if you’ll go with me or not?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged, trying to play it off coolly. “So, is it?”
“Only if you want it to be.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want it to be.”
“Okay, then, it won’t be.” He shrugged.
“I don’t want it to be a date, because you’re going to have to work a little harder than that if you want to go out with me,” I told him matter-of-factly.
He glanced over at me, his light eyes gleaming with amusement. “Well, you don’t sound like you have high expectations for a first date or anything.”
“Me? Never.”
“Uh huh,” he replied.
Pft. If he only knew how low my first date standards actually were. Jake had taken me to this hamburger joint with a two and a half star rating. He’d claimed it was because it was a quiet place, but I seriously doubted that it would’ve been good enough for a first date with Miss Victoria’s Secret Model. He’d probably taken her to some fancy French restaurant for their first date.
Well, I hoped he’d choked on his escargot.
“Anyway, the party’s on Saturday night.”
“This Saturday?” I gaped at him. “As in two days from now?”
“Yeah.” He nodded.
“Way to ask me last minute,” I muttered.
“I just found out about it myself,” he replied.
Of course, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was lying. Maybe he’d been planning to take Tessa, but she’d cancelled on him or something. Maybe I was just his last resort.
“Do you already have other plans?” Colton eyed me curiously.
“No, I’m free.” That was the truth, but I was silently panicking. Two days barely gave me any time to get my shit in order. I needed to figure out what to wear. I also needed to schedule an appointment with my stylist, Lauren, because my dark roots were way too noticeable and my eyebrows could really use a good waxing.