Page 49 of Tailored for Them

“Come visit!” Violet whispered. The camera blurred, and her wide green eyes filled the screen again, “I need a bestie’s day.”

“I’ll check my schedule,” Nicole trailed her fingertips along my thigh, out of sight from my phone’s camera. Goosebumps erupted on my exposed skin, and I suddenly had the urge to rip my athletic shorts off and ask Nicole to tease me with her fingertips everywhere.

I craved her physical touch more than anything.

Violet asked me a few more questions regarding her phone call with Gracie’s school district before we said goodbye.

Instead of inquiring about breakfast, Nicole snuggled into me some more. She adjusted her position so her back was mostly against my side, so she could mindlessly scroll on her phone with both hands.

I stared at her.

Casually lying on me like this.

It was a form of cuddling we’d engaged in more and more over the last few weeks.

Casual. Intimate. Safe.

Suddenly, the sound of Joshua Madey singing filled the quiet space. I thought it came from my phone, since sometimes he’ll break into song on a call. I was just starting to wonder how my phone answered his call without me noticing it, when I realized the song wasn’t coming from my phone at all.

It was coming from Nicole’s.

My body stiffened under hers.

Oh.

One look at her phone, gave me a clear visual of a video clip of Carbon Cut performing years ago.

It was a clip of Josh swallowing a bug at an outdoor event mid-song.

I’d seen it numerous times, because, after it happened, I shoved it in Josh’s face every time I could. I constantly teased him about it. I would walk into the townhome without a word, just my phone out, showing him messing up his biggest hit mid-song by swallowing a bug and hacking up a lung in front of thousands.

I would randomly cast it on their TV mid-conversation.

I played it in front of him so often after it happened that baby Susie had learned how to fake cough to get a laugh out of the adults around her.

What was the point of being best friends with the most famous rock star in the world if I couldn’t give him shit when he messed up on stage?

Nicole glanced up at me with her dark eyes, smiling widely, before seeing my face. Something she saw made her smile dim.

“Sorry, sorry,” she turned the volume down on her phone, but let the video replay again. Her body shook with a restrained giggle at Josh turning away from the audience and loudly smacking his chest. Garrett, the lead guitarist, pointed and laughed at Josh as the rest of the band paused the song to mock him.

“Are you a fan?” I asked, desperately trying to act casual about it.

A small voice in the back of my head was a little concerned.

Did Nicole want to just use me to get to my friend? It wouldn’t be the first time.

To be fair, it only happened one single time a few years ago, but still.

No, I scolded myself,Nicole likes me.

She’d been adamant about finding her own friends outside of dating me. She wouldn’t use me to get to Josh. Nicole was not that kind of person.

“Yeah, I like loud heavy music like this.” She giggled again as Tom, the bassist, calmly stepped forward to smack Josh on the back to help clear his airway, “I forget this guy’s name, but he’s lowkey my favorite. He seems like he’s tolerating the rest of the guys most of the time.”

I lifted an eyebrow.

She wasn’t wrong.

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