Page 18 of Love You Like This

“I’m sure she’s going to love all the ways Stone reminds her that he loves her most.”

“As he should.” He pulls the elastic out of his hair, letting the platinum strands fall to his shoulders and finger combing it out.

A body plops down on the couch beside me. I don’t need to look to know it’s Xander. The warmth of his body is something I’ve never been able to shake the memory of. And his scent, always a hint of cedar mixed with the sea. Like he just walked out of the Pacific surf. It brings so many memories back to the surface for me.

Thoughts of my conversation with Darren earlier filter back into my mind. Knowing that he possibly has a baby out in the world, it feels like a thousand needles piercing my heart. I can’t handle it.

I shoot to my feet. “I should probably get back to the hotel, too, now that I think about it. Make sure I’m ready for Hazel tonight.”

“Wait,” Xander wraps his hand around my wrist gently halting my progress from him. “I was hoping we could talk?”

“No time.” I try to pull my hand away. The brush of his thumb over the pulse in my wrist is almost too much to take. “I need to shower before I go.”

“I’ll go back with you.”

“No,” the refusal comes out sharper than I intended.

He flinches but doesn’t release me. Electric sparks flow through my veins at the skin-to-skin contact between us. I finally pull myself free.

“Why?”

“I have some calls to make. They require privacy.”

His shoulders droop. “Okay.”

I leave him behind, ignoring the pang of guilt in my chest. He doesn’t get to worm his way back into my heart after all this time. I’ve spent the past few years since I’ve been working with him holding him at a distance. I’m not about to let him worm his way back into my heart now.

When Darren came up with the idea of bringing Hazel on the tour with us, I was hesitant. It meant that I’d have to travel with the band in a much closer capacity than I had before. Sure, I’d gone on tour with them before, but I was always on the crew bus and could easily put space between myself and Xander. But with Hazel, we knew she’d feel better if she wasn’t the only one locked on a damn tour bus with the guys.

Xander immediately took advantage of that decision. He slipped right back into our old dynamic without pause, chipping away at my walls with his dry humor and stupidly good looks. In fact, he might have been successful had the baby issue not come up.

I drop my head to the cool, leather seat back and release a long, shuddering breath as the driver pulls away from the curb. My phone vibrates in a rapid-fire sequence, which could only mean the group chat is going off.

Shan

I have news

Stephanie

Spill

Amber

Waiting

All present

Shan

Remember my neighbor?

Amber

The one who has a pet opossum?

Shan

No, she got evicted