“Levi?” Blondie let her fingers slide against my jaw, demanding my attention. “It’s our turn.”
“Oh yeah, and what are we playing?”
She leaned over and grabbed another shooter, bringing it to her lips. Taking a sip, she held the liquid in her mouth for a second before swallowing. “You have to guess the flavor.”
“Oh yeah?” I drawled. “And just how am I going to do that?”
She leaned in, letting her mouth slide against mine. When I didn’t push her away, she licked the seam of my lips, plunging her tongue deep inside. Sour cherries exploded in my mouth, but Blondie didn’t let up. She practically climbed onto my lap, kissing me like a porn star. I heard Hudson’s cheers of encouragement, alongside Damon’s groans of frustration, but I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t.
She was too eager, too hot and soft. Her lips were pliant and skilled. Her tight little body felt too good rocking against mine. I drowned in sensation, letting my hands run over her slim curves.
Eventually, she pulled away, cheeks flushed and eyes alight with lust. “That was... wow.” She dabbed the corner of her lips before dropping back into the space beside me. “I guess we got carried away, huh?”
“Something like that.”
I didn’t know what to think. Her body felt good pressed up on me, too fucking good. But she wasn’t Phoebe.
Not even close.
“We could take this somewhere a little quieter?” She purred in my ear, letting her hand drift down to my crotch.
I glanced over at Phoebe, watching her until she finally looked my way. Her expression fell, her lips parted on a shaky breath. She cared.
She fucking cared, so why was she doing this? Why was she denying us both what we wanted?
Pick me, I wanted to scream. Choose me.
But she didn’t. She gave me a sad smile and then looked away.
Pushing me right into the arms of a woman who would never be her.
Phoebe
I watched Levi leave with Hudson and their harem of women. They all worked at the club, but apparently, the chance to sleep with a rock star negated work responsibility. Or maybe Levi had handled their boss.
I didn’t like to think about that.
“Everything okay?” Dougie asked me. He was a junior manager at Cantor Records. He and his colleague, Paul, had spent most of the night entertaining me with stories from their intern days. It was nice, normal.
At least, it had been until he returned from the restrooms a little while ago. Levi had gone out of his way to be rude to Dougie, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of me.
Guess it didn’t matter now. He’d left with the blonde. If that wasn’t a giant ‘fuck you’, I didn’t know what was.
I suppose it had to happen eventually. If it wasn’t tonight, it would be one night. Levi was a young, hot-blooded male. He had needs, and according to his reputation, he liked to get those needs serviced at regular intervals.
The pit in my stomach carved a little deeper.
“Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” Dougie touched my arm making me startle.
“S- sorry.” I forced a smile. “I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.”
“Yeah, we should probably call it a night,” Paul said, shooting Dougie a strange look.
“Yes, Dad,” he chuckled. “It’s been nice chatting, Phoebe. If you’re ever in town again and want to get together, here’s my card.” He slid his wallet out of his pocket and handed me the foil embossed business card.
“Strictly professional?” I eyed his wedding band.
“Of course.” His smile suggested otherwise, and disappointment washed over me. I’d spotted his ring immediately, but our conversation had been nothing but innocent industry talk. We were all professionals in the same field.
I’d obviously misread the situation. Stuffing the card in my purse, knowing I had no intentions of ever looking him up, I smiled. “Excuse me, I need to check in with Letty.”
His eyes burned into me as I walked away.
“What’s wrong?” Letty asked when I reached her, Eva, and Rafe.
“Guy in the gray suit. He’s married.”
“And let me guess, he wasn’t just talking for talking’s sake.”
“He gave me his card for if I’m ever in town again.”
“That’s so disappointing,” Eva said, cuddling into Rafe’s side.
“Men are dogs,” Letty added.
“Hey, guy standing right here.”
“You’re an exception to the rule.” Eva beamed up at him. “At least, you’d better be. Because if I ever find out you’re giving your number to random girls across the country, I’ll—” She tugged him down to her and whispered something in his ear.
Rafe chuckled. “Okay, I think it’s time to get you back to the hotel, Starshine.”
“Can we do that thing again? The one with—”
“Okay.” He clapped his hand over her mouth. “I’m going to have Travis bring the car around. Are you two riding with us?”
“Might as well.” Letty shrugged. “Since the others already left.” Her eyes flicked to mine, but I ignored her.
I didn’t want to think about Levi back at the hotel with Blondie.
“He’s hurting.” Letty squeezed my hand as we made our way out of the club. “When he hurts, he lashes out.”
I mumbled some inaudible reply. Because for as much as I told myself it didn’t matter, that this was the best thing for us both, it didn’t change the fact that my heart—my stupid, foolish, fickle heart—didn’t believe me.
The next morning, I was up early. I couldn’t sleep, imagining Levi and that girl together. I knew Letty would be up and at it early too, so I decided to go in search of coffee for us both.
As I left my room, I didn’t expect to come face to face with Blondie. “Oh, hi,” She rubbed her bleary eyes. “You’re with the band, right? I need to go. Do you think someone can give me a ride?”
Just then, Johnson appeared around the hall. “Miss Halstead,” he greeted me.
“Levi’s friend,” the words were like ash on my tongue, “needs to get home. Can you make the necessary arrangements?”
“Of course. Please Miss...”
“Miss Bass. Darcie Bass.”
“Very well, Miss Bass. This way please.”
“Oh, before I go,” she dug around in her purse and pulled out a notepad and pen, scribbling her number on it, “can you give Levi this and tell him I’d love to finish what we started sometime.” She thrust the note at me and skipped off down the hall as if she hadn’t just decimated my heart.
I stared at the digits, anger swelling inside of me. These girls, they only wanted the rock star. Their five minutes of life in the spotlight. They didn’t care about the guy underneath.
My fingers began closing around the note, crumpling it into nothing, when Levi’s door opened again. He ground to a halt, his eyes red and bloodshot. “Intern?”
“Your little friend just left. She asked me to give you this.” I threw the note at him and stormed off down the hall.