Juliet waved her hand, imperiously. “I was talking aboutmusic, not who you were as a person.”
“It’s the same damn thing, and youknowit.” Passion surged through her as she leaned in even farther, as far as she could, making sure to keep her voice down at the last second. “I know you know it.”
SheknewJuliet was lying out of her fucking teeth by saying it was aboutmusic,but that it wasn’tpersonal. Maybe to Blythe, that would fly, because she was so damn secure, she never took anything personally. Maybe to someone else who didn’t care as deeply about this the way Darcy did, it could be palatable.
But Darcy put all of herself into her music; it was her identity. She’d put every ounce of time and energy she’d had, her blood, sweat, and tears had been poured into this since long before she’d ever been able to create something that could be considered good, something to be proud of.
Throughout so much of her life, it was one of the only things she felt shecouldbe proud of.
It was personal.
She didn’t have a real relationship with Juliet, so it was highly likely that certain aspects she’d inferred about her could be inaccurate. But if Darcy was certain about one thing when it came to Juliet? It was that she felt the same way Darcy did about the music they created.
If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have cared so much about their sparring in the media. If Juliet didn’t take comments about her music as comments abouther,Juliet-the-person, she wouldn’t have gotten that look in her eyes that she had in all of the video clips Darcy had watched on repeat.
Anger, frustration, hurt – all of those impassioned feelings simmering under the surface.
Darcy could see it in Juliet, because she felt it, herself, in the same way.
Juliet had that same look in her eyes right now.
Even as the rest of her expression was masked into something perfectly placid – god, Eliana would die for Darcy to be able to replicate that – that look in her eyes was anything but. Stormy and heated – yeah, DarcyknewJuliet fucking felt it.
“Even if that was the case,youwere the one who made things really personal,” Juliet snapped back, her voice just above a whisper. “You were the one who took the next step.”
Darcy reeled back, incredulously stabbing her index finger against her own chest. “Me?!”
“Yes,you. You’re the one who wrote a fucking song about me and posted it online.”
“You–” Darcy was so indignant, she stuttered over her words. “You started everything. I would never have taken some random shot at you. Never.You’rethe one who couldn’t stand it that I got an award and decided to bad-mouth me.”
No matter what else Juliet would ever try to say in her own defense, the truth about how this had started could never be denied. Darcy had beat her at the North American Music Awards. Juliet was bitter. The end.
Well, it had technically been their beginning, but – whatever.
Juliet opened her mouth, and Darcy was buzzing inside with anticipation. Ready for the fight about whatever Juliet was going to say this time. Her exhaustion was long forgotten, because the way her blood was thrumming through her veins made her feel so… alive.
Then Juliet’s eyes darted over Darcy’s shoulder, and her face did something so irritatingly impressive.
Her features smoothed into a beautiful smile, and itlookedso genuine, it was enough to throw Darcy completely off.
She really, really wished that the way Juliet looked in photoshoots and music videos and in televised interviews wouldn’t ring true to how she looked in real life.
Darcy now knew, first-hand, how much makeup and staging went into all that. It could have beensuperfeasible for Juliet not to be this attractive live, up-close, in-person.
But no.
Her skin looked just as soft as it did on a front-page, so apparently it wasn’t air-brushed. Her very light sprinkle of a few freckles over the bridge of her nose gave her a cute, delicate look that, somehow, was both at-odds with and complementary to her pouty bottom lip and that fiery look in her honey brown eyes.
“There’s paparazzi over your left shoulder, right outside the window –don’tlook. Are you kidding me right now?” Juliet hissed between her teeth, miraculously managing to barely move her lips as she was still wearing that sweet grin. “Don’t be so naïve.”
Darcy felt her cheeks heat because, fine, yes, shehadbeen about to turn around and look. She rolled her eyes. “Excuse me, but it’s normal human instinct to look when someone tells you there’s something over your shoulder.” It wasn’tnaïve.
“Get up,” Juliet muttered, nodding at her.
Taken aback, Darcy could only stare as Juliet smoothly pushed up and out of her seat. Paired with her top was, predictably, a cute, light brown skirt that – of course – didn’t reveal too much leg.
“What are youdoing?” She asked, totally lost, dragging her eyes up Juliet’s body to land on her face.
