Falling Into Love with You (The Hate-Love Duet #2) - Lauren Rowe Page 0,55

to lunch together?” I ask, thinking I’ll invite myself and Kendrick to join Laila and her group, whether Laila likes it or not.

“No, Colin and I are going to grab box lunches and eat in my dressing room, instead of joining Fish and Aloha in the cafeteria. Colin wants me to give him the 4-1-1 about each of my contestants before he meets them after lunch. Hi, Kendrick.”

“Hi, Laila.”

“I’m so happy to see you. Let’s catch up later.”

“Sounds good.”

Without a word to me, Laila heads off with Colin, leaving me watching her departing frame like a dog pressing his nose against a window as his owner heads off to work.

“Ooph, she’s definitely pissed at you,” Kendrick whispers once Laila is out of earshot.

“I told you. I thought she’d understand what I was trying to do for her. I actually thought she’d be grateful for what I did, but she’s gone off the deep end.”

“Well, it’s not like you came into today with a clean slate.”

I turn my head sharply to scowl at Kendrick. “What the hell does that mean?”

Kendrick looks unfazed by my death glare. “It means the stunt you pulled this morning was the same kind of shit you pulled throughout the tour. Maybe she’s thinking the past weeks were a blip—an act—and now you’ve reverted back to true form.”

I roll my eyes. “That can’t be it. Laila’s been living with me, night and day, Kendrick. She’s seen me sing Mimi to sleep. We’ve had deep conversations and watched movies and eaten meals together. She knows who I am. She knows what I’m really about. Or, at least, I thought she did.”

Kendrick shrugs. “That was my best guess. I mean, Laila’s not crazy. Passionate, yes. Does she have a bit of a temper? Yes. But she’s not legit nuts. So there’s got to be something logical behind her reaction.”

I look toward the exit again and exhale, feeling every cell in my body vibrating with the need to understand what’s going on. To fix it, whatever it is. “I’ll go to her dressing room now, and ask her—"

“No, no, not now.” Kendrick sighs from the depths of his soul. “I wish I had a recording of me saying that to you, so I could press a button and save my vocal cords.”

“I can’t sit here and play it cool, KC. Laila is in her dressing room with Colin, feeling far more pissed off at me for what I did than is logical. God only knows what that crazy woman is thinking—what she’d do to torture me, if she thinks I’ve got it coming. For all I know, she’s blowing Colin in there, as we speak!”

Kendrick rolls his eyes. “Would you stop being a jealous lunatic for a minute and listen to me? I swear, when it comes to Laila, you’re a madman.”

“Yes, I am,” I admit. “That goddamned woman turns me into a madman. But even so, I’m not crazy this time. I can feel in my bones Colin wants her. He didn’t suggest they eat lunch in Laila’s dressing room, alone, to talk about Laila’s contestants. He asked her in there so he could finally make his move.”

“Oh, for the love of fuck. Even if you’re right about that, don’t you trust Laila? She wants you, man. Not him. You.”

I run my hand through my hair. “But does she, though? Right now, I feel the same way I did when Laila didn’t come to my room during the tour! I thought she wanted me then, too, Kendrick. I would have bet any amount of money. But she never came to me and ignored me and blocked my number, and to this day, I can’t understand why! And now, here I am wondering why she’s spinning out of control, simply because I invited Charlie to our house—”

“To prove she’s a liar.”

“To help her get into character!”

“Okay, calm down.” Kendrick sighs. “I’m sure she’ll explain herself tonight. But for now, let’s get some lunch and let the girl do her job, okay? She and Colin are up first after lunch, so they really do have work to do before then. Let’s let them do it.”

I place my elbows on the table and my head in my hands. “I swear, that woman has taken years off my life.”

Kendrick pats my back. “At some point, you’ve got to decide to trust her, Savage. That’s what this all boils down to—you finally deciding to trust a woman, completely. To let your guard down with