More of Us ( A Love You More Rock Star Romance #3) - Laura Pavlov Page 0,35
maybe he actually has. But that doesn’t mean he won’t hurt me again,” I admitted.
“Well, no one can guarantee they won’t hurt you, Jade. Even Mr. Perfect, Richard. He’s capable of hurting you too.”
But he wasn’t. My heart wasn’t Richard’s to break. Only Cruz could do that, because he still had it. I just wouldn’t give him the rest of me.
“Go try it on. It’s so much better than the cheap one you showed me online.” Ari laughed as I put a frozen lasagna in the oven for dinner.
“Alright. I’ll come show you in a little bit. Dinner will be ready in forty-five minutes.”
“Ah…I love when you slave over the stove for me.” Ari laughed as she hopped off the counter.
I walked to my room and reached for my phone and texted Cruz. This was the first time I was initiating the conversation.
Me ~ Hey. I just got the suit. Thank you. That was beyond thoughtful.
Cruz ~ No problem. You’re going to kill it. I’m going to be in town later in the week and I’d like to see you.
I twirled the ring on my necklace.
Me ~ Of course I want to see you too.
Cruz ~ Cool. I’ll text you when I get in and we’ll figure it out then.
Me ~ Okay. Sounds good.
He was playing it cool, and that surprised me. He’d backed off asking about Richard, and he’d stopped pushing about us getting back together lately. As if he were completely respecting my wishes. So why didn’t I feel happy about that?
“So, big interview next week for both of us,” Richard said as we walked to class.
The weather was starting to cool down, as fall approached. He had his Harvard interview and I had my interview at NYU. We’d both been invited to interview at Northwestern next month, which was very exciting.
“Right? I’m sure I’ll be nervous when I get there. Right now, I’m just excited to go,” I said.
“Jade?” a familiar voice called out and I turned around.
Cruz Winslow sauntered my way, and my head wasn’t the only one to turn in his direction. Two girls in front of me whipped around and gaped. He wore dark jeans, a T-shirt, and an army green-colored sports coat. His hair was styled to perfection, overgrown and sexy. He took my breath away. His honey-colored gaze locked with mine.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were getting in tonight?” I hoped he and Richard missed the tremble in my voice.
His fingers intertwined with mine and he leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “Yeah, I flew in early. I was in touch with the university about graduation, and they asked if I’d consider speaking to Professor Watt’s creative writing class about writing lyrics this morning. I was going to call you after to see if you want to meet up for dinner. You know, just to catch up.”
I was dumbfounded, and I’m sure I didn’t hide it well. Richard cleared his throat beside me, and I pulled my hand away from Cruz, missing the contact the moment I did so.
“Yeah. I can do that.”
He smiled and then moved his gaze to the boy beside me. “Oh hey, Dick.”
Richard chuckled. “Hey. What’s up?”
“The sun, the sky, my career, your luck at the moment. That’s a loaded question, Dick.”
I shook my head and laughed. I couldn’t help it. “You know you’re ridiculous, right?”
“I do. I better run. I’ll text you about dinner.”
I didn’t want him to go. I wanted to wrap myself around him and keep him here. I bit down on my bottom lip and nodded. “Yeah. Sounds good.”
He leaned down once again and kissed my cheek. His hand grazed my chest as it skimmed the front of my shirt and my body started reacting in all sorts of ways. He laughed and tossed me a wink. “See you soon, bestie.”
He glared at Richard before turning on his heels and walking away.