Page 9 of Hayden's Stalker

“No, not tonight.” I frown as I say it.

“Why not?”

I can practically see the pout on his handsome face, and I’m frustrated because I already told him I wouldn’t be available tonight.

“It’s my first night with Tatiana—”

He cuts me off and says, “Oh, and she’s obviously more important than I am, I guess.”

I sigh because I can see how this conversation is going to go already.

“No, Blake. We just need to talk and run through things,” I say in an effort to placate him.

“Do you think she’s sexy?”

I shake my head, and I’m not sure why I’m surprised when he gets jealous like this because I should be used to it by now. “It doesn’t matter.”

“That sounds like a ‘yes’ to me. Come to Club Delirium with me tonight, sexy,” he purrs at me.

He’s pissing me off now because I’ve already told him no. His comment about me thinking Tatiana is sexy is annoying as well. Partially because I think she is, but mostly because I would never cheat on him. I’ve been cheated on in the past and I would never do that to someone else, which is part of why it hurts so much when Blake accuses me of it because he knows this.

“Blake, no. I said that. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.”

I hang up the phone and drop it back on the table a little too forcefully. It immediately begins buzzing with another call from Blake.

I press the red button to reject the call, embarrassment at having had this conversation in front of her flooding through me, and say to Tatiana, “Sorry about that.”

She doesn’t say anything in response, and the silence is awkward, so I feel like I should address the elephant in the room.

“Obviously, things aren’t brilliant between Blake and me. I’d been hoping that he would come on the tour, but he’s not.” I sigh, frustrated once again that Blake refuses to come on tour with me.

I understand that he does work in his father’s company, but he happily bragged about taking a month off to party throughEurope a while back. Even when I suggested meeting up in different cities the way Heather does with Harrison, he said he could only possibly do New York or Los Angeles.

“That’s unfortunate,” Tatiana says as my phone lights up again with a text from Blake, and I cringe as I read it.

Since you won’t answer my call. Just to be clear. You could be out at a club with me, your boyfriend! Instead, you’re choosing to spend the night with some woman? You also didn’t say NO to my question about if you think she’s sexy or not…

My stomach churns as I read the text and I’m dreading the conversation we’ll have the next time we talk. I know from past experience not to respond to texts like this, but I’m on edge every time this happens, waiting for Blake to get over whatever infraction I’ve committed in his eyes.

“Yeah. He also thinks that I’m going to sleep with you tonight instead of going out to a club with him.” I roll my eyes.

Tatiana’s eyebrows raise. “He does?”

“He gets jealous, and because I’m bi, he doesn’t trust me around literally anyone.”

It’s exhausting. I know my friends hate Blake, and the jealousy thing is frustrating, but when we’re together, he’s fun and sexy, and the sex between us is explosive. I know I should probably end our relationship because of the way we argue all the time. With me going on tour soon, I’m not sure I can live with the constant tension of waiting for the next time he calls to accuse me of something. It was me being on tour that killed our relationship the first time, but I keep hoping that he’ll get past it and be the amazing boyfriend that I know he can be.

“Seems like fun.” Tatiana shakes her head, and it’s obvious that she doesn’t think it sounds like fun at all. “Especially since I’m sure you meet a lot of people given your career.”

Yeah, like her. I cringe internally and feel guilty because Blake was right about one thing. I do think she’s sexy as hell. There’s a whole host of reasons why I can’t get involved with her, though, first and foremost because I am already in a relationship.

“Exactly. I’m not a cheater, though. I never have been, and I never will be,” I tell her seriously, and I’m not sure who I’m trying to convince, her or me because she seems to make it hard to remember that I have a boyfriend.

I would never want to cheat on someone, so if I were going to have sex with anyone other than Blake, I would break up with him first. Not that I’m going to have sex with Tatiana anyway because she’s my bodyguard.

She nods. “I respect that. It also makes my job easier, that’s for sure.”

“Worked for a few cheaters, then?”

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