Our Song

by Morse, Jody

  “Thank you. I’m excited to work with Colton, too,” I admitted. And it had nothing to do with the way I’d begun to feel about him or that heart-stopping kiss. I genuinely enjoyed co-writing with him.

  “I know you two will do great things.” Christopher turned to Colton. “Did Kylie tell you the good news yet?”

  “No, she didn’t tell me anything. What news are you talking about?”

  “Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything about it. She’ll probably want to tell you herself.”

  Colton glanced over at where his sister was standing. “Now you have me curious, so I think we’re going to head over there and talk to her.”

  “Okay. But you should probably warn Viola first,” his dad said with a wink before he walked away from us and headed over to a small circle of people.

  “Warn me about what?” I narrowed my eyes at Colton.

  “Well, I don’t want to scare you or anything, but I’m pretty sure my sister is your biggest fan.” He stared into my face, waiting for my reaction with a look of amusement in his eyes.

  I shrugged, not even bothering to suppress my own smile. “I’m sure that I’ve probably seen way worse. Trust me.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll find out in five seconds,” he replied as he led me over to where his sister was standing in the center of a circle, chatting away with her friends.

  As her eyes drifted over to us, she stopped mid-conversation, made a mad dash across the patio and threw her arms around me in a hug. “Oh, my God! You’re Viola Pierce! I’m your biggest fan ever!”

  I giggled. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Viola Pierce just said she’s excited to meet me,” Kylie squealed, hopping up and down excitedly, which made me laugh. “You’re seriously, like, the most awesome singer ever. I don’t know what you’re even doing here with this tool.” She motioned to her brother, feigning disgust.

  “Hey. I know I’m not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but…I’m not that bad,” he joked.

  “He’s good people,” I said, laughing again. “Happy birthday, by the way.”

  “Yeah, happy birthday, Ky,” Colton added.

  “Thank you.” Her glossy pink lips formed a smile and then she turned to her brother. “Did Mom and Dad tell you the news yet?”

  “Nope. Dad said you would probably want to tell me yourself. What is it?”

  “I got signed to Regal Records!” Kylie squealed.

  “Awesome. Congrats,” Colton said with a grin.

  “Congratulations,” I told her. “That’s so exciting!”

  “Thank you.” At that moment, a few girls who appeared to be about the same age as she was approached her. She glanced over at us apologetically. “I’ll see you guys later, okay? Enjoy the party.”

  “You, too,” I told her with a smile.

  “Yeah, don’t get too wasted,” he warned her, a serious expression crossing his face.

  “I make no promises.” She shot us a grin and then turned to her friends.

  As we walked away from her, I turned to Colton. “Your sister seems really nice.”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, she has her moments.”

  I laughed. “I didn’t realize she was a musician, too. Talent must run in your genes or something.”

  His face clouded over with a dark look that I couldn’t quite identify. “Yeah, she has a really good voice. Better than mine, actually. But do you see what I meant about her being your biggest fan?”

  I laughed. “Oh, please. If you think that was crazy, you should’ve been there when I’ve met some of my crazy fans.”

  He looked intrigued. “What, have you had a stalker already?”

  I shook my head. “No, no stalkers yet, knock on wood. But a taxi driver once asked me to sign his boxers.”

  His eyes widened. “Wow. Did you sign them?”

  “Well, I mean, yeah,” I replied with a shrug. “I figured that if he could go through all of that effort, signing them was the very least that I could do, you know?”

  “True.” He laughed. “I’m sorry about my sister, though. I’m going to need to have a talk with her about it later. She needs to learn to cool it. She can’t act like that around all of her favorite musicians if she wants to gain any sort of respect in this industry.”

  “Don’t apologize. It’s no big deal.” I paused and then added, “Besides, I guess it makes us even now, considering how big of a fan Skylar apparently is of you.”

  “Yeah, but that’s a little different,” Colton said.

  “How is it any different?”

  “Easy.” Meeting my eyes, his expression turned serious. “Skylar’s hot.”

  Jealousy washed over me like a tidal wave. I knew I needed to get away from him and fast, or else I was going to say things that would probably be better left unsaid.

  “Where’s the bathroom?” I blurted.

  He stared at me for a moment. “When you go inside the house, you go up the stairs. It’s the first door on the left.”

  “Thank you.” I quickly brushed past him. Straightening out my shoulders, I made a point of strutting my shit as I walked across the patio, trying to play it off coolly. Of course, in reality, I felt anything but cool.

  The whole time, the only thing I could seem to think about was the fact that I shouldn’t have let this bother me. It wasn’t like the two of us were an item. That kiss in the elevator? I don’t know what it had been about, but clearly it didn’t mean anything. Nothing about us had ever meant anything. We were just co-songwriters and maybe friends, nothing more or less.

  But no matter how much I knew I shouldn’t let it, it did bother me. Because, even though I knew all of these things, I wanted us to be more than just friends. I wanted to kiss him in elevators or anywhere I wanted. I wanted him to spend the night and not only because he felt the need to supervise me while I was drunk.

  I guess what it came down to was that I wanted him.

  Chapter 24

  Once I’d splashed some water onto my face, I stepped out of the bedroom and nearly collided with Colton, whose blue eyes were full of concern. “Everything okay?”

  “Everything’s fine.” I darted my eyes away from his, not wanting to face him. I hadn’t expected him to follow me to the bathroom and question my actions.

  When I looked back at him, his eyes were staring back at mine knowingly. “You’re lying.”

  Something inside of me snapped then. For some reason, I got really ballsy. “Okay, you know what? Fine. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am lying. Maybe everything’s not okay. So what?”

  “So, if you’re lying, we need to talk about what’s on your mind.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to talk about it.” I folded my arms over my chest and stared at him with narrowed eyes.

  “Maybe. But I don’t think you’d be confessing to lying if you didn’t want to talk about it,” he said matter-of-factly.

  Damn. He was good… really good. Whether I wanted to admit it to myself or not, all I really wanted to do was pour my heart out to him.

  “Fine. We can talk about it.” I glanced around, noting the people who stood downstairs, laughing and chatting away. I didn’t want any of them to overhear me—not just because I didn’t want what I was going to say to get released to the press but also because I was a private person when it came to my feelings. I wasn’t about to announce them for the whole world to hear. “But let’s go somewhere quiet.”

  “Fine.” He turned on his heel and led me down the hallway. We walked across a second living room and then he pulled me inside a room, closing the door behind us. “What is it?”

  Trying to gather my thoughts, I glanced around. Judging from the light blue paint and the posters of rock bands that hung from the walls, I was pretty sure it was his old bedroom.

  “It’s just…” I took a deep breath, trying to put my words into thoughts without making myself sound completely crazy, even though I was pretty sure that I was completely crazy.

  “It’s j
ust what?” He stared at me intently.

  “It’s just that I thought we were… friends.” I shook my head, trying to conceal my anger.

  Even though I made a concentrated effort to avoid his gaze, I could still feel his blue eyes pouring over me. “We are friends. What would make you think we’re not?”

  “Well, I know our situation has been complicated from the get-go, but friends don’t have drunken one night stands with each other and then call their friends’ roommates hot.”

  There. I’d said it. If he hadn’t known I was jealous of him calling Skylar hot already, he knew now, but I didn’t even care. He needed to know how I felt.

  “Wait, hold up. Is that what you think happened between us? You think we had a one night stand?” Colton asked sharply.

  I glanced up at him, shocked by his tone of voice. “Well, yeah, considering that is what happened.”

  He shook his head. “No. You’ve got it all wrong, Viola. We’ve never had sex.”

  “Then why did we wake up in bed naked together?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  He just stared back at me with a dumbfounded look. “You really don’t remember anything about that night, do you?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “I probably should have figured as much.” He sighed. “We were both at the club and you were really drunk. You already told your security guard to go home for the night earlier, so he wasn’t even there to keep an eye on you. You were dancing on tables and it was just… it was bad.” He shook his head at the memory. “A few photographers got pictures, but I paid them off to get rid of them.”

  “Really? You did that for me?” I whispered. Prior to that night, the two of us had never even really spoken. I wasn’t sure why he would’ve done something so generous for someone he barely knew—unless it was to get in her pants. That would’ve been the most expensive sex ever.

  “Of course I did. A picture lasts forever. It has the potential to destroy an entire career,” he replied, as though what he’d done should’ve been obvious. “So, after that, I just knew I couldn’t leave you alone at the club without security. We left together and went to the hotel—”

  I cut him off. “Why didn’t you just take me back to my apartment?”

  “I was afraid of what might happen to you if I left you there. You were so drunk. The last thing I wanted was for you to drown in your own vomit or something. So, I figured if we got a room… if we spent the night together… I could at least keep an eye on you. I chose the hotel that I knew I was going to have a meeting at with the label the next morning.”

  So, it wasn’t by fate or coincidence that I’d woken up at the Luxe; it had been planned, premeditated, by someone who’d apparently actually read his email about the last-minute meeting. “Did you know I was going to be at the meeting, too?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I didn’t know any of the details.”

  I stared at him for a few moments, allowing myself to absorb everything he was saying. “Even if all of that were true, it still doesn’t explain why we were both naked when I woke up,” I pointed out.

  “You told me you were hot and wanted to sleep naked. I told you to go for it, but you insisted that I take my clothes off, too, so you wouldn’t feel weird about it.” Colton stared into my eyes with the most genuine look ever. “I know that probably sounds really shady, but it’s the honest truth, Viola. I never would have taken advantage of you while you were drunk. I’m not that type of person.”

  “I see.” I swallowed hard, unsure how to feel. On the one hand, it was a good thing that he hadn’t taken advantage of me while I was drunk. It meant he was a decent guy and let’s face it—it also meant that I could stop wanting to kick myself in the ass over not remembering the details of that night.

  But then there was another part of me that was bothered by the fact that I’d been wrong about the way things had played out. I just felt…empty.

  Colton seemed to pick up on that empty feeling. “You seem disappointed.”

  “Why would I be disappointed? Because I didn’t have sex with you? That’s crazy.” I forced a laugh, which didn’t sound convincing even to me. I guess that was because, when it came down to it, for some crazy reason, I actually was disappointed about not having sex with him. Something about knowing that Colton King wanted to have sex with me made me feel awesome. And I needed that, after what had happened with Jake.

  “Are you sure it’s crazy?” He studied my face. “Because you seem pretty upset.”

  “Of course I’m sure.” I rolled my eyes. “Come on, we should probably go back to the party.” I headed for the door when I felt his hand come down around my elbow.

  “You’re lying. I can see right through you.” Colton stared down into my eyes and swallowed hard. “You should know that I wanted to be with you that night, Viola. I still want to be with you. The more time that I spend with you, the more that feeling just seems to intensify.”

  I just stared up at him, completely shocked by what he was saying. I hadn’t expected him to say it—any of it. And it didn’t even make sense. “If you feel that way about me, then why did you call Skylar hot?”

  “Oh, yeah, about that... I mean, yeah, she’s a pretty girl and all, but she’s not really my type. I just wanted to get a reaction out of you,” Colton explained, his lips curving up into a smile. “I just wanted to see if it would make you jealous. I didn’t think you’d go to this extreme.”

  I smacked him on the shoulder playfully. “I can’t believe you would trick me like that!”

  He grinned. “I can’t believe you would fall for it. In case you haven’t noticed, there are over a hundred women here at this party, and it’s your ass that I’ve been staring at all night.”

  “Okay, doofus. How would I know if you were staring at my ass all night? That would mean you’d be behind me, so I wouldn’t actually see you.” As I said the words, the full realization of what he’d just admitted to hit me. Colton freaking King had been staring at my ass all night. Score.

  “Good point,” he replied with a laugh. “Do you want to head back to the party now?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. The last thing I would’ve wanted his family to think was that the two of us had snuck off somewhere to do the dirty. The idea didn’t sound half-bad, but come on… I wasn’t that disrespectful. I had morals and values and all that good shit.

  I could get through the rest of the party tonight, just as long as it meant taking my clothes off with Colton later on. And that was exactly what I intended to do.

  Chapter 25

  “Oh, look, there’s my mom,” Colton said once we’d gone back outside, pointing his chin at a woman who wore a long, navy blue gown. Her dark hair was pulled back into an eloquent bun, and even though she was talking to an elderly couple, she was gazing in our direction. There was a cold look in her golden brown eyes.

  Deciding I was probably just being paranoid, I tried to push the thought away as Colton led me over to her. Why would she have been giving me a dirty look? We’d never even met.

  The couple had just walked off in the other direction as we approached her.

  She smiled warmly at her son, but didn’t even look at me. “Colton! There you are. I’ve been looking for you all evening.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been…around.” He shrugged. “I wanted to introduce you to Viola Pierce. Viola, this is my mom, Elizabeth.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Viola,” she said, her lips remaining in a tight line. When her eyes fell on mine, I knew I wasn’t just imagining it—there was definitely a look of coldness behind her stare. What the fuck?

  “It’s nice to meet you, too.” I shifted in my shoes nervously. I hated when people hated me for no damn reason.

  At that moment, Colton’s cell phone rang from inside his pocket. He pulled it out and looked down at his caller ID.

  “Shit, I gotta take this. It’s my manager. I’ll be right back, okay?” He glanced over at me for my approval.

  “Ok
ay,” I agreed with a nod, even though it wasn’t okay. The idea of being left alone with his mother made me uncomfortable… like, really uncomfortable. It felt like the equivalent of being left in a room with a pack of hungry wolves while wearing Lady Gaga’s meat dress. Nothing good could possibly come of it.

  Once he’d walked away from us, Elizabeth turned to me. “So, I’ve noticed that you and my son have been spending a lot of time together lately.”

  I couldn’t help but note the almost accusing tone in her voice. Was she one of those overprotective mama bears who felt threatened any time their son had a new girl in his life? I realized I didn’t know all that much about Colton’s relationship with his mom.

  “Yeah, well, it takes a lot of time to write songs,” I explained. “It’s such a long process.”

  “I understand that. I just hope your intentions with my son are genuine.” She stared at me from behind her gold eyes, which were framed heavily with makeup. “The last thing I would want to see happen is another Rosalynn situation.”

  I blinked. “I don’t know what you mean by that.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you read the tabloids.” Elizabeth waved a hand at me.

  “No, I actually make a point of not reading them.” I decided not to tell her the reason I didn’t read them. I didn’t want her to get the idea to go digging up dirt on me, assuming she hadn’t already.

  “Hmm.” She stared back at me, seemingly unconvinced. “I suppose if Colton hasn’t said anything to you about Rosalynn, he must not want you to know. But, as his mother, I can tell you my son’s had his heart yanked around enough. Please don’t do the same.”

  Without saying another word, Elizabeth walked away from me, her heels clicking against the patio as she went.

  I stood there alone, wondering if this Rosalynn person was Mystery Girl…and what she had done to hurt him so bad.

  *

  When Colton slid his car into the parking lot at my apartment complex, he got out and walked around to the other side of the car. He opened my door for me.

  “Is this weird for you? Coming back here with me after an event where there was alcohol and me not being drunk for once?” I joked as I climbed out of the car.