“What was that?” I ask, grabbing the warm fabric from her hands.

She stares at me, confused, crossing her arms defensively.

“Well, we were burning with desire. That thing of wanting what we shouldn’t... Now we’ve kissed, got that out of our system, and moved on.” She laughs, shrugging and trying to put her hands in her back pockets, but the pajama pants don’t have pockets, so she settles for crossing them again.

I shake my head, processing the information, and run my hands over my face before pulling the shirt over my head

“So you attacked me yesterday for nothing?” I let out a dry laugh.

“I wouldn’t call it nothing...” She gives me one of those shameless smiles that had me all tangled up last night.

I feel like the biggest idiot, and she doesn’t even know why. My chest tightens, and I almost laugh. Flirting with Alexandra at first was just a whim—she was beautiful, and I wanted to be with a beautiful girl.

Time passed, we became friends, partners... But my desire for her? That didn’t go away. Something tells me that even now, my desire for her won’t fade. It felt so real, so good, and I could do it for hours, days, months, years... but Alex looks at me like I was just a fling in the middle of the night

I want to understand how she does it, how she can turn off her feelings so quickly.

“And for you, this means waking up, pretending nothing happened, and treating me like a...”

“I’m not treating you badly, A.J.!” she cuts in.

“No?” I take two steps back, stunned by her nerve. “Because it sure feels like you’re just calling me an Uber, Alexandra.”

“Sorry?” She takes a deep breath. “I really enjoyed yesterday. A lot. It was good, amazing... and you really are everything they say.” She pauses, glancing away for a second. “And more,” she adds with a soft breath that makes me scratch the back of my neck. “But I don’t want things to get weird between us, I told you that yesterday. I didn’t want to see you upset with me.”

“I’m not upset, Alexandra. And there’s no weird vibe,” I lie blatantly. “But we kissed, you said things, wedidthings, and now you’re telling me to act like nothing happened. I’m just processing...”

“Think of yesterday like... a fan in One Last Kiss,” she suggests, sitting beside me.

“I can’t do that, you’re not like them...”

I gather my hair into a bun, unable to believe I just got played by a pocket-sized human.

“That’s not a compliment as good as guys think,” She mutters.

“You’re no different in this way, girl. You’re... my friend, and I like you, you’re important.”

“And that’s why I’m glad we sorted out the tension between us.”

“So for you, that was it? A moment?”

She sighs, and for the first time, she seems uncertain. Alex walks around, almost staying in place, hugging herself. My shoulders slump. I don’t want to fight with her. I just wish we could’ve decided this together.

“A.J., I’m going to be really honest with you, really,” she warns before swallowing. “You’re right, I was jealous of Brittany, I wanted you yesterday, and maybe I still do now.” I open mymouth to argue, but she silences me by raising a finger. “But I told you at my house, months ago, that I’m not the girl of the band guy, remember? I married music, and it’s the most important thing to me... So yesterday was just a moment, yes. But not because of you.”

“Oh, Alexandra, I don’t know what ‘the girl of the band guy’ means to you, but in case you didn’t notice, you’ve been the Vicious girl for a long time.” I cross my arms, breathing deeply under her unreadable gaze. “Everyone talks about us. So that story won’t fly, it’s easier for you to say you didn’t like it.” I laugh, shrugging.

But Alexandra walks toward me and pulls my arms down, breaking my posture.

“All of this is amazing, A.J., really,” she says, getting close, looking into my eyes. “But aside from our friendship, how much I care about you and your family... nothing is real. My career is back in Brazil. When I read those headlines, I laugh because they’re speculating about something they don’t know.”

“They treat you like my girl, and that doesn’t seem to bother you.”

“If it made a real difference, it would bother me. But, in six months, you guys will still be the biggest band in the world, and I’ll be performing at my shows, for one, two, or five thousand people at most... back in Brazil... Your fans won’t even remember I exist. This is a dream, but that’s it, my real life is elsewhere.” She shrugs and touches my face with tenderness in her gaze. “You’re an amazing guy, I want to keep you in my life forever, really. But love, for me, is a solo career.”

I swallow hard, nodding. If the only way to have her close is as a friend, then so be it. I’ll swallow every word, every want, and try to hold on to what we still have. Because losing Alexandra would be an irreparable pain. Still, I make one last attempt.

“I didn’t talk about love.” I get up again and walk toward her.