Page 134 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘That’s true, they did,’ Aidan says.

‘Bon soir, chérie,’ J.B. says, kissing both my cheeks.

‘Hey,’ Miller grunts with a shrug, keeping his distance. ‘Again.’

‘You’re getting a hug, Miller,’ I say, putting my arms around him, ‘whether you want one or not.’

He gives me a lop-sided smile, seemingly appreciating the gesture, hugging me back. The bruising on his face is only slightly visible.

‘Did you do all this?’ I ask Paige, who is the last person I embrace.

‘I may have taken very great pleasure in bossing them all around a bit,’ Paige says.

‘Paige, can youpleaseenlighten Lexi as to why I wasn’t allowed to message her the moment I saw the documentary,’ Aidan chimes in.

‘Because I confiscated his phone,’ Paige grins with delight. ‘He’s literally only got it back tonight. I decided he needed to make amends.’

‘And we agreed!’ Cal adds. ‘We weren’t even supposed to be on that show today. We had to persuade them to boot off another band, and get Duncan to make sure you were home—’

‘But the song—’ I say.

Aidan takes my hand. ‘We’ve been working on the song for a while.’

‘Aidey wrote pretty much all of it,’ Ravi says with a grin.

‘I loved it,’ I say to Aidan.I love you, I want to say. ‘J.B., I loved the guitar solo,’ I say instead.

J.B. blows me a kiss.

‘Plus, we had to hope that Miller’s face would lose most of the bruising,’ Cal adds.

‘Oh sure, because that was all my fault,’ Miller grumbles, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

‘Maybe you should watch your mouth next time,’ Aidan chides him, before putting a supportive hand on his shoulder and I feel relief at not having permanently come between them.

‘Do you guys want to come in?’ I ask, as Duncan and Meredith appear at the main entrance to my building, greeting everyone at the door.

‘Nah, you’re alright, we’re all going our separate ways,’ Cal says. ‘Plus, Aidey wants to get unprofessional with you.’

I smile and shake my head, feeling my cheeks burn, Aidan’s arm snaking around my waist.

‘Well, say hello to Bianca from me,’ I tell him.

‘I will. I fly to NYC tomorrow.’

‘And to Audrey, and to Tun,’ I say, as Ravi and J.B. thank me.

‘Miller, you know you’re going to need to find a girlfriend now,’ Ravi laughs, Miller producing a thin-lipped smile in response.

‘Hey, Paigey, you wanna volunteer to be Miller’s girlfriend?’ Cal asks.

Paige pulls a disgusted face. ‘We all know Miller couldn’t handle going out with a girl who’s a better dancer than he is,’ she says.

‘You want a competition, McArthur? I’ll beat youandyour brother,’ Miller shoots back.

‘I’d like to see you try.’

J.B.’s gone to the van. He comes back with a backpack which he tosses Aidan’s way. Aidan catches it.

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