Refusing to look into the lobby, she kept her eyes on the stickers that covered her case. Singapore, London, Istanbul. This. This is what I should be focused on.
Instead of being embarrassed at being a Lollipop, she needed to be grateful for the experiences and opportunities it had offered. She needed to—
“Hold up.” Cassian’s muscular arm sliced between the closing doors, and he leapt inside.
“Careful,” the man said. “You don’t want to risk that throwing arm.”
“Some things are worth it.” Cassian shot her a dimpled grin.
Screw you.
“You gonna make the Super Bowl next season?” the man asked.
“Or die trying,” Cassian said.
“You know,” the older man said. “As much as everyone loved Ben—and I’m a diehard Chargers fan, and even I loved him—he didn’t win. You…” He wagged a finger at Cassian. “You’re a winner.”
“Yup,” Gigi said. “He scores big on and off the field.”
Oh, that’s nice. A bitter Lollipop.
Can you just keep your mouth shut around him?
No one responded, and the tension between the two couples—although she and Cassian weren’t an actual couple—was loud.
Cassian edged closer to her, and the older gentleman stood beside his rigid wife.
“You could have defended me,” the woman whispered harshly. “You never defend me.”
The gentleman, in a suit, watched the numbers light up on the panel over the doors.
More anger radiated out of his wife. “You should have said something.”
Gigi glanced at Cassian, who gave her a look that said, Uh oh.
Bristling, the elegant woman looked at her husband, waiting for a response. When he didn’t acknowledge her, she stepped away from him.
His arm looped around her waist, and he tugged her back. Into her ear, he said, “She’s an old, bitter woman. I chose you forty years ago. I still choose you today.” He nuzzled into her. “I will always choose you.”
A shudder went through the woman’s body.
The doors opened, and the couple walked out. As the woman turned to go down the hallway, the man reached for her hand, pulling her up against his body and—
The doors closed before Gigi could see the kiss. She lowered her gaze so Cassian couldn’t see her smile.
“What’s on your feet?” he asked.
“Slippers.” She said it like, Duh.
“Those are the ugliest things I’ve ever seen.”
“They’re not ugly.” She lifted her foot to show him all angles. “My mom had them made for all of us. They’re Teddy.”
“I can see that. But, objectively speaking, Teddy was ugly.”
Their family dog had been a mutt with a tongue that flopped out of his mouth. Just like the little pink felt tongues sticking out of her slippers. “I don’t mean to hurt your brain or anything, but some of us see beyond superficial beauty.”
“Okay, but who wants to wear the dead family dog on her feet?”
“Oh, I can answer that.” She used a fake cheerful voice. “I know it’s a ridiculously hard concept for a cold-hearted asshole to understand, but we actually loved our dog. He was hilarious and loyal and snuggly and…literally the best dog ever.” She pressed the button to their floor.
“That’s not going to get us there faster.”
“Yeah, but it’s better than trying to explain the cuteness of these slippers to a man without a heart.”
The elevator stopped, and Gigi reached for the handle of her guitar case. She walked out, tugged in two directions. She needed to get away from him as badly as she wanted more time with him.
Time to lash out at him, banter with him, yell at him, but this tour was not the right place for any of that. God, she hoped his room wasn’t anywhere near hers.
But, of course, she could hear his footsteps right behind her.
“I have a heart.”
“I know you’re a jock, and you probably had tutors and fan girls doing most of your work in college, but if you do a quick search of the human anatomy, you’ll see the heart and the penis are actually two different things.”
He chuckled.
It was his laughter that did it, pushed her over the edge. She whirled around to face him. “Do you care about anything? I mean, other than winning a football game, do you actually care about anything? Or anyone?”
“Yes.”
There was something in his tone that made her pay closer attention. And, even though they were in the hallway of the Marriott in St. Louis, it felt like being in their tree house all over again. It made her heart beat faster.
But it was all a lie. Cassian Ellis was a liar. She turned and continued her march to her room. “Goodnight. Don’t forget to cover your stump before you hump.” Oh, God.
Oh, my fucking God.
Dear Universe, please suck that last sentence into some kind of black hole.
“Tonight’s hookup is hot, by the way.” She kept her tone jovial in an attempt to cover her lame comment.
“I’m not hooking up with her.”
“Oh.” She shook her head with an expression that said, I’m such a dummy. “Of course. You’d already scheduled tonight’s fun earlier in the day. Which nurse? Or is it a patient’s Mom?” And then, feeling particularly mean, she said, “Or Dad. Whatever.”
“Come on. You should know better than anyone not to believe what you read in the media.”
“I don’t care who you sleep with, my point—”
“You sure about that?” Whatever softness she’d seen a moment ago turned hard. “You seem very interested. Almost like you’re keeping tabs.”
At her door, she swiped her keycard. “You have a girlfriend, and I watched you flirt with women right in front of her. Sorry, but even if I didn’t once know you, watching your blatant disrespect makes me a little ragey. Not that I feel sorry for your girlfriend, because it’s her choice to stay with a philanderer, but you really should pull your head out of your ass and think about how it feels to her when you do it in front of everyone on this tour.”
“I don’t know, Gigi, rage is a pretty strong emotion. You sure there’s not something else going on? You wouldn’t have feelings for me, would you?”
Because that would just be sad, wouldn’t it? To still be obsessed with the guy who’d treated her so cruelly? “Obviously I still have feelings. How could I not? I loved you, you jerk. And you knew it the whole time. You preyed on it.” The truth rang like shattered glass, jarring her bones. “That’s how you get off, isn’t it? You turn on all that charm, lead women to believe they’ve got something special with you, and then let them know exactly how you really feel by messing around with someone else right under their nose. You enjoy hurting them. That’s where you get your power. How did I never see it before? Wow. That’s…you need help. I thought you were just careless, but you’re sick.”
Anger crackled off him like static electricity. “You don’t know how wrong you are. But, maybe, instead of analyzing me, you might want to take a better look at yourself.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”