Page 17 of Spite Crush

“You’re staying at the Rembrandt?” Zak asked. “So’s the team.”

“One of the perks of being a rock star is five-star hotels. I assume it works the same way for professional sports teams.” I forced my voice to stay steady, but my heart was hammering in my chest.

We were staying at the same hotel. That was…information that I now had.

“Does the band share the penthouse or something?” Zak asked.

“No, we get our own rooms,” I answered. “What about you? Does the organization make you double up?”

“They do,” he admitted. “I always bunk with my best friend, which is great. But he snores.”

That was more information that I now had. What were we doing here? Just spitting out facts about sleeping arrangements on the road? Was this flirting?

“That’s nice,” I said, my voice a little shakier than I’d wanted. “That you get to hang with your friend, I mean.”Seriously?I don’t know what I’d expected to happen when I’d sat down, but it wasn’t whatever this was. “I guess I should probably head out,too, actually. It’s late and like Tim said, we’ve got a show tomorrow. Night. In the evening. But you know…sleep is important.”

“You always do what your band mates tell you to do?” he asked.

“When it suits me.”

“Uh-huh.” Zak smirked. “Well, thanks for coming.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” The words escape my lips before I could think about stopping them.

“See you later, Fox.”

What did that mean? Like…later tonight? Or just like around? I felt like he would have said around if that’s what he meant. Ugh, why did this guy put my brain into such knots? I certainly didn’t need outside help with that. But Zak Dempsey seemed to make every one of my tics even worse.

I forced myself to stand up and walk out of the bar and thankfully no one stopped me on the way. Once I reached the sidewalk I sucked in a deep breath of cool air and let it out slowly. There was really an easy way to resolve my confusion.

I pulled out my phone and sent off the text that I was hoping Zak was waiting to receive.

Kellen

Room 946

Chapter Eight

~Zak~

I must have been out of my mind to be considering this, but as the elevator opened onto the ninth floor, I forced myself to step into the hall. Checking the numbers on the plaque on the wall, my feet felt heavy as I trudged toward his room.

It was ridiculous to be so nervous. He’d invited me up here. And no one had seen me, the corridor was deserted. No one would know but me and him.

And Josh, if I didn’t come back to the room that night. But that was a later problem.

When I reached his room, I was surprised to see it propped open, the latch for the manual lock sitting between the door and the jamb. I pushed it open and found Kellen sitting at a small desk, his feet restingon the top of it and his gaze locked on me.

The only lights in the room were the bedside lamps, which cast a deep shadow over one side of his handsome face, but I could still see the smile that tipped his lips as our gazes met across the room.

I stepped inside and closed the door fully behind myself, then gazed back at him, my heart hammering in my chest. I’d never done anything like this before…meeting a man in a hotel room. And I wasn’t even sure what I was here for. Talking? Fighting? Sex? We hadn’t discussed any of it.

“I figured it would be easier with the door open,” he said, getting to his feet but not moving toward me.

“Afraid I’d chicken out?” There was no anger in the question, I was honestly curious now which one of us might be more nervous about the situation.

“A little,” he admitted. “You want a beer?”

“Sure.” I walked over and sat down in a second chair that looked completely out of place in the smallroom, as he grabbed two bottles from the mini bar then returned and slid one over to me before retaking his own seat, leaving his feet planted on the floor.

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