Page 32 of Red Hot Harmony

She didn’t lie about the pancakes. They were delicious. It was a nice meal, a glimpse into a possible future of how it could be if Camille still wanted me around…weeks, months,years… down the road.

“I’m pretty sure I just saw that guy take a picture of us,” Ally whispered later as we were leaving the restaurant. She motioned at the figure behind a car on the opposite side of the parking lot.

“Took them long enough.” I surveyed my surroundings. If the photos of Ally and me leaked to the press, it would greatly complicate things for her at school and in general. “Hey, how come you never told any of your friends we’ve been practicing?”

We walked past a throng of cars.

“Should I?” She looked up at me and squinted against the sun.

“Just curious.”

“I don’t know. I guess with you being famous and all, I didn’t really want the trolls to come at me on social media.”

“You’d get trolled for something like this?”

“Yeah.” She nodded as if this was obvious. “Have you met your fans?”

“Some.”

“Well, they’re very possessive.”

“You’re my student.”

“Trolls are trolls.”

“It’ll happen sooner or later.”

“Because you’re seeing my mom?”

“Yes, and because of the lawsuit. The reporters are going to be all over me. It’ll come out eventually, but it might be a good idea to control the flow of information on our end rather than let it leak.”

Ally was quiet, her small steps echoing my long ones as we neared my Camaro.

“What do you suppose is best?” she finally asked.

“I’ll talk to your mom about it.”

She grimaced.

“Give her a break, okay?” I fished the key from my pocket.

“Look.” Ally’s voice sounded strange.

I lifted my head and glanced to where she was pointing.

There was a thick trickle of smoke rising into the sky from behind the hills.

Malik was gone, and so were all his things.

But the reality of the situation didn’t really hit me until that evening when I found myself dining alone with Snowflake wreaking havoc somewhere on the terrace. His thin barking echoing through the empty house from time to time was the only reminder that I shared this five-bedroom mansion with another creature.

My phone sat on the table next to me. Malik hadn’t returned any of my calls and the text message I’d sent to Camille earlier—hours ago—remained read but unanswered.

Was she ignoring me?

Or was she simply busy?

Suddenly, my fear became a living and breathing thing. A snake that wrapped itself around my heart, squeezing and squeezing until all I could do was think about hearing her voice.

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