the bar and pulled Dec aside.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“What did it look like, asshole? I was talking to an influential music reporter.” He looked over my shoulder and squinted. “I have to smooth this over. We need to be on her good side.”
I huffed. “Yeah, I bet you want to be on her good side.”
“Are you jealous?”
“Are you high?” I countered irritably.
He rolled his eyes dismissively. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“No. I’m going home and so are you. You’re done giving personal details to the reporter. And why the fuck are you smiling at me?”
“Because you’re ridiculous.” Dec’s gaze flitted to the bar. “Hmm. She’s talking to someone else. It would be weird to apologize for you now.”
I narrowed my eyes and growled, which he somehow found hysterical. Yep. I had to get the hell out before I hurt him. “Later, Dec.”
“Wait. I need a ride. Wanna take me home?” He laced his fingers with mine and tugged me out of the bar.
I smacked his hand away when we reached the wide corridor leading to the lobby. The lighting was brighter out here. And Declan was closer than necessary. I gave him a small shove and pointed at his chest.
“Cool it. Why are you following me?”
“I’m not, but…” Declan glanced over his shoulder. “Petra’s following us. I think she’s trying to keep her distance and get a few candid shots. We could get in a crazy-ass fight right now or make out against the wall. What do you say?”
I shot a “What the fuck?” look at him and kept walking. “I need to get out of here before I strangle you in public.”
Dec followed me through the corridor. “Ooh. Kinky. That would definitely make the headlines. Have you ever tried that with a partner?”
“I know what you’re doing. Stop.”
“What am I doing?”
“Trying to make me nuts. It’s working.”
“Glad to hear it. Do you mean nuts in a horny, sexy way or—”
“No. And quit messin’ around,” I said gruffly.
He winked, then snort-laughed when I gritted my teeth at him. “Okay, okay…I’ll be good. But c’mon, what difference does it make if Petra or anyone else in the world knows that you asked Mrs. Phillips if you could switch seats so we could sit next to each other in third grade?”
I stopped abruptly, pulling him out of the way of a few patrons heading toward the elevator. He leaned against a pillar and fixed me with a lazy grin. I told myself I wanted to punch him, but truthfully, I wanted things I couldn’t believe I had to remind myself I should never in a million years want with Declan McNamara.
“Here’s the deal, Dec. I don’t want anyone to know I ever knew you.”
“That’s stupid,” he scoffed. “They’re gonna find out when we’re famous.”
“What makes you think you’re going to be famous?”
“I just know it. You will be too…in a drummer kind of way. Not that it matters if—” He held up his hand like a stop sign. “Hang on. Are you saying no one knows we grew up together?”
“Only Justin.”
“What else does he know?”
I caught his meaning and shook my head. “Nothing.”
He opened his mouth so wide, he looked like fish feeding on plankton at the bottom of the ocean. “No way! You’ve never told your best friend that I was your first best friend and your first gay kiss?”
I raised my brows and countered, “What makes you think you were my first?”
“Really?” he huffed sarcastically. “I was there, and I have a good memory. Too good sometimes. It was obvious that neither of us had kissed a dude before.”
“That was fifteen years ago.”
“Fourteen,” he corrected. “So, you do remember.”
“Barely,” I lied.
“Well, we also had a discussion about it at that bar in Long Beach a few years later. Remember when—”
“Stop,” I growled, stepping into his space. So close I felt his breath on my face. I clenched my jaw and flared my nostrils angrily. “We don’t discuss the past for a reason. You know the rules, and you probably fucking blew it when you flirted with that reporter.”
Dec grinned. “Get over yourself, T. No one gives a fuck.”
“Just keep your trap closed.”
He made a zipped-lip motion and crossed his arms. His lips curled on one side. “One more question. Does Justin know that you and I were…you know?”
“Some things aren’t worth mentioning.”
“Ouch.” Dec’s features hardened. His full lips drew into a tight line, and his eyes looked like deep blue marbles. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe we should