Page 61 of Love You Like That (Excess All Areas 4)

“I have to go,” he said. “See you at the arena later?”

She attempted to nod while he kissed her goodbye but they both ended up laughing. “Definitely. Willow and I are walking to the train station to grab Chaya and Iz.”

Nine hours later, Alex stopped swinging his arms in circles, something he always did to warm up his shoulders before a gig. He’d been waiting for Zoe, but the person in front of him was definitely not her.

“Hey, Alex.”

“Ollie. How did you get back here?”

“The good old-fashioned way. I slipped one of the security guards a hundred quid, but it was totally worth it to surprise you. Look at you, rock star.”

Before Alex had time to respond, Ollie had stepped into his space and smashed their lips together. And his only thought as he shoved Ollie away was they weren’t Zoe’s.

“What the fuck, Ollie?” Shock etched Ollie’s features as Alex wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

“I care about you. I missed you. I thought you might have missed me.” Ollie’s voice softened, and he placed his hand on Alex’s bicep.

Alex exhaled slowly. He didn’t like bad break-ups, but Ollie had pushed him too far. Glancing around, he checked for Zoe, hoping he could deal with this before she arrived. Steve, one of the burly stadium security guards, had been dispatched to get the girls.

“I was clear, Ollie,” he said, patiently, but firmly. “I’m not looking for a relationship—”

“I’ve seen the rumours online. That you’ve been hooking up with people on tour.” Ollie tried to slide his wrist into Alex’s fingers. The few times they’d been together, he’d loved when Alex restrained him that way. And to be fair to Ollie, it had sexually excited him too. But that’s all it had been. Sex.

To avoid any confusion, Alex released him and folded his arms across his chest. “If you need me to be blunt, I will. I’m not looking for a relationship…with you. I don’t know what the fuck the rumours are because they are just that, rumours. But for the record, I’m now dating someone.”

Ollie’s eyes went wide. “But you didn’t want anything…”

The words hung in the air. “What, Ollie?”

“Permanent,” Ollie said quietly. “You said a casual hookup worked best. I thought that we could progress, that you might—”

“I was crystal clear with you who I was, what I was looking for, and what I am Ollie. And I’m fucking fed up with people who aren’t me deciding what my relationship status should be. I didn’t want anything permanent when I was with you, now I do. This whole conversation is fucked up. I’m going to make sure the security guard who took cash to let you in gets fired. You shouldn’t have come here.”

His voice was getting louder, and Ollie’s eyes began to fill with tears. But Alex didn’t care. “And another thing…you sure as fuck shouldn’t have kissed me without my consent. That’s disrespectful at best and illegal at worst. That isn’t caring about me.”

“But I love you. And I just wanted us to have a chance to be together before you…”

“Before I what?”

“Before you choose someone else.”

Alex took a deep breath. “I already chose her, Ollie. And I already didn’t choose you. Go home.”

“Please, Alex. Let me come to the hotel with you, let me join you on this wild ride you are on. We had fun. I can remind you how good it—”

“Ed,” Alex yelled, relieved as the tour manager appeared in the corridor.

“Yeah?” he said, walking over.

“This guy bribed security to let him back here. He doesn’t have a backstage pass and isn’t on our guest list. Can we get him out of here and then revise our security processes for the next gig, please?”

“Alex,” Ollie said, bringing his palms together as if praying. “Please, I didn’t mean to upset you. Can’t we just talk? You know how much you mean to me and…”

Ollie’s words faded into the background as Alex strode toward the corridor leading him back to the rest of the band.

When he turned the corner, he had to look twice. Because the women were walking towards him like heroines in some art heist movie. Izabel looked cute in a dress that had a long tulle skirt. Willow wore a dress with wide sleeves and a belt above her bump made her look close to popping. Chaya looked pretty in a fitted strapless dress and silver heels.

But Zoe.

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