Page 49 of Little Monster
Yeah.
Great! Come on over.
chapter 17
I’D USUALLY BE NERVOUS ABOUT hanging out with someone new like this, and I suppose I am a little unsure, but mostly I just want to talk to someone who might understand. In the time it took me to shower and get ready to leave, my notifications maxed out again. My inbox is overflowing with messages, mostly from other women asking me who I think I am and telling me I’ll never be good enough for Dex Reid—some even sentvideosof themselves belittling everything about me.
And what they don’t know is that I’ve been thinking the same thing this whole damn time.
But I can’t turn this off now. Dex has touched me, beeninsideme, yet I want him now more than ever, like a taste of him wasn’t enough. I need all of him.
Jordan texted me her address, because I’m terrible at directions and would never have been able to find her house again.I pull into the driveway, careful not to park my Civic too close to her glossy Mercedes, then step out and head for the front door. She opens it as I climb the steps, and Nala and a few other dogs run out to greet me, tongues lolling and tails wagging.
Smiling, I kneel to greet them, and they jump all over me and give me kisses while Jordan hurriedly offers a slew of apologies.
“It’s fine,” I say, standing back up and wiping slobber from my chin. “I thought you only had Nala.”
Jordan shrugs. “Sometimes I bring a few of the dogs home for a vacation from the rescue; I don’t like leaving them in the kennels, you know?” Her eyes light up. “Maybe you can adopt one from us!”
The idea makes me smile. “As soon as I get a place with a yard, I’ll take you up on that.”
“It’s a deal,” she says, nodding as she leads me into the house amidst a clattering of paws on the hardwood floors.
I peel my shoes off and leave them near the door, then follow Jordan deeper into the house. It’s impeccably clean, and I think to ask her how she keeps it so spotless with all the dogs running around, but I’m immediately distracted when I step into the kitchen and she shoves a beautiful orange smoothie into my hands.
“Orange juice, pineapple, mango, and banana,” she explains. “Toss it all in with coconut milk and ice cubes, and voila!” She slips a stainless steel straw into the smoothie with a flourish. “Perfection.”
I take a sip, and my eyes go wide.
“Told ya.” Jordan takes a sip of her smoothie, then waves for me to follow her into the backyard. It’s a warm day—whenisn’t it in LA?—and we sit in two chairs on the sunlit back patio while the dogs play in the grass.
Jordan pulls her bare feet up under her, looking perfectly put together in her cream leggings and oversize white sweater. Her nails match the pearl studs in her ears, and I can’t help but look down at mine, which are partially ragged from my anxious nail biting earlier today.
Ugh.
“So,” she says, leveling a blue-eyed stare at me. “I saw the implosion on Tribe today.” She wrinkles her nose. “Are you okay?”
“I... don’t know.” Moving my smoothie to my opposite hand, I reach into my pocket for my phone. After pulling Tribe up, I hand it over to Jordan. “It’s been like that all morning.”
Her eyes go wide, then narrow, and I can see the micromovements as she rapidly reads through my comments and messages. A deep furrow forms in her brow, a look of disgust crossing her face.
Finally, she lets out a sigh and passes the phone back to me. “The internet is a toxic cesspool. I’m so sorry.”
“I guess I should’ve expected some of it. It’s not like people weren’t going to find out who I am once the song came out.”
“Sure. But this really isn’t about you. All those haters don’tknowyou. This is about their unhealthy obsession with Dex.”
His name sends heat curling through my belly and into my cheeks. I glance away and take a sip of my smoothie, but Jordan has way too keen an eye for that.
“Speaking of... Is there something going on between you two? You didn’t message me after you left Velvet.” One of her sculpted hazel brows arches inquisitively.
For a moment, I consider skirting around the topic, but then I remember Michael saw Dex kiss me on the porch, and there’s no way he’d keep that from his wife, so she must knowsomething.
“Kind of,” I say, still trying to avoid eye contact with her.
“Kind of?Nora, are you going to make me drag it out of you? Because I will.”
My gaze shifts to her, and her lips are puckered into a serious pout. Looking at the fire in her blue eyes, I imagine Michael can’t get away with anything.
