Page 31 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘Pipe down, you two,’ Cal says.

‘I agree with Aidey,’ Miller says and I bristle.

‘She’s here, mate, you may as well give her a chance,’ Cal adds.

‘Why?’ Aidan snaps at Cal. ‘Why should we? You heard her, she literally knows nothing about us.’

‘That’s not true,’ I argue, this time keeping my tone even.

Ravi looks uncomfortable. J.B. scrolls through his phone.

‘Chill, Aid. She’s not here to infiltrate the band. She’s not trying to break us up. Now can we please raise a drink to Rebel Heart learning bloody Korean!’ Cal shouts.

The tension dissipates for a moment as they toast the band’s success. I raise my glass. Ravi gets up to speak to the South-Asian guy, the same man who’d been carrying costumes on the first day I met the group in Tokyo.

Sitting there, I feel like a buzzkill, but I remember my hidden body camera and try to remain still.

Opposite, Miller is staring at me. ‘So, you got a boyfriend at home, Lexi?’ he asks.

I feel heat spread up my neck and onto my cheeks. It’s a simple enough question. Duncan is nearby, watching me.

‘No, I’m single.’

‘Welcome to the club.’

‘Would you like a girlfriend?’ I ask him.

He produces a wolfish smile. ‘You offering?’

‘That’s not what I meant.’

‘Come on then. If you’ve done your research, what do you know about the Rebel Heart girlfriend situation?’

‘I know you’re all single right now.’

‘J.B. wishes he wasn’t,’ Miller says. ‘Royally messed things up with Audrey.’

J.B. hisses something at Miller in French, shaking his head, running his hands over his scalp.

‘And Cal wishes he’d slept with Bianca Lawson.’

‘I fucking hate Bianca Lawson,’ Cal says.

‘I’ve never known a guy talk so much about a girl he supposedly hates,’ Miller argues.

‘Yeah, well, in Sydney, when our track comes out, she’s got it fucking coming.’ Cal helps himself to some food and lapses into a sulk.

‘And Aidan…’ Miller teases.

‘I swear to god, Mill,’ Aidan says in a low tone.

‘What do you know about Aidey’s dating history?’ Miller asks me.

I swallow the lump that has inexplicably appeared in my throat. ‘I’ve read a few things.’

There’s a lot on the internet. A lot. But I did look up their history of girlfriends. It would seem Aidan’s most significant other was a woman called Samara Al-Noori, daughter of a British-Emirati entrepreneur based in Dubai.

Aidan’s still scrolling through his phone. A muscle pulsates at the base of his jaw.

---