Page 44 of Aria

"The green one?" She pursed her lips together. "It's nice, I guess. What's so special about it?"

"I don't know. I think it just reminds me of him." I lifted my fingertips to the glass, entranced. "It reminds me of his eyes."

There was a pause before Lisa replied. "Chelsie… Devon has blue eyes."

When the words sunk in, I yanked my hand back as if I had touched a flame. I stepped back from the window and looked down at my strappy, brown sandals, nibbling my bottom lip. "Yeah, I know," I said, clutching my purse in a tight grip before popping my head back up with a smile. "Never mind. Let's go get a Frappuccino."

We resumed our pace and the conversation picked up where it had left off. I filled Lisa in on my travels, the celebrity life, all of Devon's cute quirks, and just how happy I finally felt.

But when the day wound down and we hugged our goodbyes, I couldn't seem to shake an odd sensation. My mind wandered back to that damn watch. What was so special about it? It was just a watch. It meant nothing.

Only, it did—for when I’d spotted it, another man's eyes had flashed through my mind.

Noah.

I refused to make any sense of it as I jumped in an Uber, popping in my earbuds and drowning out my thoughts with my favorite playlist.

I knew that when I got home, I would climb into bed, snuggle my cat, and fall right to sleep. When I dreamed that night, Devon would surely be there.

And when I woke up the next morning, that watch would just be a watch.

CHAPTERTWELVE

CHELSIE

"You're on the front cover ofUS Weekly. Happy birthday!"

That was the voicemail I’d woken up to on the morning of my twenty-seventh birthday, and I had Julia to thank for bringing the ordeal to light. I was used to being tabloid fodder, but the fodder had turned to scandal with one innocent picture.

Crawling out of bed, I was careful not to wake the snoring man beside me. I locked myself in the bathroom and called Julia, anxious to hear the juicy details.

"Me and Noah? A scandalous fling? Huh?" I whisper-screeched into my cell phone. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I believe the word used wassalacious," Julia corrected. "It has a little more flavor. And yeah, apparently you guys are totally fucking and you're the bitch-queen of the universe for cheating on an unsuspecting Devon Sawyer."

My tiny apartment bathroom shrank half its size. The walls were closing in, the air becoming scarce. This was not the way the morning was supposed to go—I was supposed to wake up slowly to Devon's adoring arms around me and then gorge myself on birthday cake for breakfast. Instead, I was holding back hot tears, cursing the paparazzi for trying to ruin my life.

"Julia, what is the picture? I mean, it can't be horrible. There is absolutely nothing going on between Noah and me."

"Oh, it's nothing too obscene. The cover is an adorable family photo of the three of you eating ice cream together, while you and Noah make moon-eyes at each other. It's more the implication and corresponding story that really packs the punch. Here, I'll text you the cover."

I pulled up the photo and studied it through squinted eyes. "This is ridiculous. Did you see this headline?Girlfriend of Freeze Frame Front Man Gets Cozy With Sexy Bandmate— it's obviously all lies." Fury boiled my blood, the pitch of my voice rising with every heated word.

"Yeah, I read it," Julia replied. "I know it's lies, andyouknow it's lies, but the rest of America is surely going to jump headfirst onto that bandwagon. I feel for ya, Chels."

"Ugh…" I was about to continue my rant when a new text notification came through.

It was from Noah.

Noah:Apparently we’re front cover material on the gossip mags. I had no idea we were sleeping together, did you?

My sigh was long and weary. "Julia, I'll call you back. I have unnecessary damage control to take care of."

"Don't worry about it, babe. I'll see you tonight. Happy birthday!"

“Thanks.” I clicked off the call and dialed Noah.

His gruff, sleep-ridden voice answered on the first ring. "Hey, baby. I can call you that now since we're in a salacious relationship.”

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