Page 84 of Kiss & Collide
“You’re right. I will.”
Madison reached out and gave him a gentle shove. “So what are you still doing in LA? Drop me off at this dumb party and go get her.”
“That’s not the way my mom raised me. I’mnotditching you. At least not until our publicists have broken us up properly.”
“Okay, one more date for the media and then you and I are doneforever.” The words were full of melodrama, but she was laughing as she delivered them. He and Madison weren’t going to happen, but he was pretty sure they’d always be friends.
35Mexico City
It was Wednesday night before he finally found himself outside Violet’s hotel room. His agent had booked a full day of meetings with PR agencies while he was in LA—Violet had been on him to hire his own person. The wait had been agony. He couldn’t think about anything else but talking to her.
But now that he was here, he wasn’t sure what to say or how to say it. He hadn’t actuallydatedanyone since Sophie, and he’d basically still been a kid then. This felt like entirely uncharted territory.
And he still didn’t know whatshewanted. So if he was hesitating about knocking on her door, maybe it was because he feared it might be the last time he ever did.
Finally, he told himself sternly to fucking man up and rapped on the door. She took her time answering it, eventually cracking it open just enough to see him over the security bar.
The surprise showed in her eyes. “What are you doing here? I thought you said you were flying in tomorrow.”
She had music on inside, something angry and loud that he didn’t recognize.
“I came early. Can I come in?”
Wordlessly, she closed the door enough to release the bar lock then swung it open. He was relieved she was alone. In the back of his mind, he’d been dreading finding Ian there.
Her room was dim, just a couple of lamps lit in corners. Violet was in her black silk robe, and barefoot. She’d washed her face, so the smoky black eyeliner and blood-red lipstick were gone. She looked much younger and almost vulnerable without them.
As he closed the door behind him, she crossed the room to a small bar under a mirror and hit pause on a portable Bluetooth speaker, plunging the room into sudden silence. She retrieved her half-empty glass of vodka and turned back to him, leaning against the bar, one arm wrapped around her midsection.
“How was LA?” Her voice was flat and uninterested.
He sat on the edge of the bed, across the room from her, and leaned forward, forearms braced on his knees. “Fine.”
“And Madison?”
Her tone was the same, but he felt the chill emanating from her all the way over here.
“Also fine.”
“The response on social media was great. People love you two together.”
“We’re not together,” he replied automatically.
She’d been looking into her glass, down at her blood-red toenails, anywhere but at him, but now her eyes shot to his. But she said nothing, so he decided to prod the sore spot, just to find out once and for all what the deal was.
“How’s Ian?”
Violet visibly startled. “Ian?”
“He was in Vegas, right?”
She paused before nodding slowly. “Reece hired the band to play his stupid party without telling me. He left me with multiple shit shows to clean up, as usual.”
He hadn’t even been aware of the tightness in his chest until it released.
“Reece hired him?”
“Did you thinkIinvited him?”
