But it was loud, so I kept walking as if I hadn’t heard.
His hand on my arm was unfortunately unavoidable.
I stopped. Turned. Looked down at his hand, which he removed with a slide, his fingers tasting the shape of my forearm before dropping away.
“Are you all right?” he asked, brows drawn.
“What do you care?” I asked back with a calm I didn’t feel.
“A lot actually.” A pause. “Listen, I know this isn’t easy—”
“Don’t pretend to understand how I feel. Now, if you’ll excuse me—”
“No, I won’t excuse you. Because I know you’re not okay, Lila.”
“Then why did you ask?”
“Because contrary to your belief, I do care.”
A humorless laugh shot out of me.
At least he had the decency to look remorseful. “I’m sorry for this. For all of it. I just wanted you to know.”
“You mean you wanted me to let you off the hook.” I stared at the stranger before me, finding the truth of that accusation all over his face. “I can’t believe you. You really expect me to clear your conscience? Because I may be a lot of things, but a liar isn’t one of them.”
Rather than flinching like I’d hoped, he drew himself up to his full height, eyes narrowing. “This … none of this is what I thought it would be.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“When she came to me—” He caught himself, pausing to reorient what he’d been planning to say. “None of the reasons make sense to me anymore, Lila. I can’t seem to understand how we got here.”
“I’d be happy to remind you. I’m sure Natasha wouldn’t mind either.”
His eyes narrowed. “Do you always have to be such a bitch? Jesus, Lila, I’m trying to apologize.”
“And I’ve already told you, it’s not accepted.” I tried to turn, but he hooked my arm.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I wouldn’t have even come tonight if I could have avoided it. But then again, I didn’t realize your fuckboy would be here, or I wouldn’t have felt so bad.”
For a moment, I stared at him with a storm brewing in my chest, knowing full well that if that storm came to fruition, I was going to get myself in trouble, more trouble than I was already in. “Are we done here? I need to go check on the cake and balloons for your girlfriend.”
His jaw locked, the muscles bouncing as he watched me for a handful of heartbeats. “Yeah, we’re done here.”
“Good. If there’s a problem, do me a favor and tell anyone but me.”
With a dizzying turn, I headed for the stairs, hands shaking as I made my way down to the main floor. The crowd was thick and bouncing, the music thumping at such a decibel, I felt it in my chest, in the air. I saw Kash from across the club, his smile fading as he looked me over. He straightened up as if to move for me, and that reassurance would have made me smile had Natasha Felix not stepped in front of me with murderous eyes.
I stopped, jolting back a little from the shock and velocity of my pace.
“Is everything to your liking?” I asked, praying to God that there was a problem I could actually solve.
“As a matter of fact, it’s not. I saw you talking to Brock.”
I stiffened, feeling the presence of a cameraman at my elbow. It’s a setup. “Then you also saw that he chased me down to talk to me. I have no intention of speaking to him again, if that makes you feel better.”
“It doesn’t,” she shot with enough force that she listed. I realized just how drunk she was, and my worry deepened. “It doesn’t make me feel better. You are not to speak to him.”
Rebellion flared. “Nowhere in my contract does it state that you can dictate who I speak to and who I don’t.”
But she smiled that wicked, cruel smile. “Rumor is, you don’t get along with Addison Lane. Wonder what she’d think if she heard you flirted with my boyfriend all night.”
That got my attention. My lips flattened, face stiff. “Maybe you should worry more about your boyfriend and less about me. He stopped me, Natasha, not the other way around. If you honestly think I want to even lay eyes on him again, you haven’t been paying attention. But really, I should be thanking you. If it wasn’t for you, I never would have realized what a pathetic shitbag he is.”