Page 38 of Introvert

Izzy opened her mouth, but Santino shook his head.

"Okay," Taylor said with a shrug, "it was just an idea."

"And a social media manager's dream," Izzy added wistfully. "But whatever. No big deal."

"Really?" I said.

She nodded and threw me a wink.

To give them both credit, neither laid the guilt on too thick.Though I knew they had to be disappointed.AsFelix's hand left mine, our fingers glided slowly apart until nothing but our fingertips touched then finally disconnected.The small touch shouldn't have made me shiver. But it did.

"We've got a few hoursbefore tech," Taylor said and clapped her hands. "You're free to go out,take in the sights, have some fun.I'll see you later."

Needing to escape, feeling too many eyes on me, I grabbed my phone, laptop, and a book.

I didn't know where I was going.

Had never been in this town before.

But I had my GPS.

I wasn't scared to explore.

Loved it actually.

And I needed space and time to process.

I ended up in a park with plenty of sunshine, fresh air, and grassy areas to sit. The tree I hunkered down beneath gave the perfect amount of shade. At first, I tried to distract myself. Reading always helped me get out of my head. It was also one of my favorite pastimes besides music. So of course, I reached for the book Itookbefore leaving the tour bus. Unfortunately, I should've paid more attention. The paperback was a romance, one I'd read before and loved. The only problem: it featured a fake romance.

"You've gotta be kidding," I mumbled.

My eyes moved over the familiar text.

I remembered immediatelyloving the main characters. Their chemistry was off-the-charts.The writing was heartwarming, hilarious, swoony and sexy at the same time.It was fun too.I couldn't get enough.

This re-read, though,was not going as planned. It just put me right back on that bus.

With Felix and the others.

Talking about my own possible fake romance.

As if I could do that.

As if I was the kind of girl that had fun, cool, no-strings attachments.

I gave the book another few pages then shook my head. I was sure I'd read more later, but for now, I set it aside. My phone pinged with a text, and I looked over. Checking my messages might be a good distraction.

Mom had texted earlier.

Mom:Good Morning, Ror! I heard the show went well! Can't wait to talk later!I miss you and love you so much!

"Ah Mom," I said, typing out a quick response.

Luckily her and my dad didn't live on social media. They probably hadn'theard about the kiss, and for that, I was grateful.

Couldn't say the same about my cousins though.

I winced reading their texts.

---