Page 44 of 4-Ever

“He seems great,” Faise replied. “A cool guy.”

I crossed my arms. “Really? Was I the only one who saw what happened?”

The guys looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

I stared at Faise. “This is our first-time meeting with him and he’s flirting with you? The fuck is that?”

“You mean, that whole thing about dates?” Faise scoffed. “It was a joke. He was just teasing.”

“Uh, no boo,” I insisted, my heart pounding out of control. “Open your fucking eyes.”

“Right back at you.”

“What does that mean?” I asked and reached across the table for him.

He shrugged my hand off. “Nothing. And so, what if he did? This is the biz, yeah? Happens all the time. We’ve fucked plenty of people we worked with. It is what it is. If there’s consent, there’s no problem.”

“I don’t like him.”

“You don’t have to sleep with him,” Faise countered. “What’s it to you anyway? If I wanna flirt or fuck, it’s my business. He’s hot.”

Brodie and Holls murmured their agreement, and I gave them my best fingers as my mood nosedived.

“So, you’re gonna fuck with someone at our new label? Jesus Christ, are you nuts? We just signed our contract.”

“I can separate work and play,” Faise insisted. “And we work with our manager, not directly with Averell.”

“I can’t believe I’m gonna say this,” Holls interrupted. “But Ro does have a point.”

“Said the man who slept with his bodyguard. And don’t start either, Dee, given Van was our manager,” Faise snapped and held his hands up. “Look, I never said I was gonna have sex with the guy, all right? It’s harmless flirting. We all do it. Or, we used to, before everyone started pairing up. It’s no big deal, just chill. It’s time to head off to the studio to get our shots done anyway.”

“Maybe you can fuck the photographer too while you’re at it,” I bit out and stormed out of the room.

“Ro!” Faise shouted but I didn’t want to look at him right now.

A firestorm burned in my gut.

I stalked over to the elevator and slammed the button for the tenth floor. Suddenly Faise was there, and our bodyguards too.

“What’s going on with you?” Faise asked.

“I just don’t want you to make a mistake. Like Dean.”

A visceral jealousy burned through my veins, turning my rational thoughts to ash.

Even though Faise was right, he could fuck whoever he wanted, it ate away at me. Which was so fucked up since he and I weren’t… we were just… shit, I didn’t even know anymore.

Brodie and Holls walked over to join us, and our lead singer gave me the look.

No way was I going to spill my guts. Not here. Not now. Maybe not ever.

“Don’t Dee. I’m fine,” I insisted. “I’m just worried about optics, is all.”

Yeah, right. Because that was me. Always worried about what other people thought.

Not.

Faise wasn’t in the wrong. I’d fucked plenty of people at our old label—music execs, PR staff, hair and makeup, the list goes on. So, who was I to judge? But the thought of him with Averell, or, fuck, any guy, was making me feel shit I shouldn’t be feeling.

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