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Savage runs his hand over his chin. “Laila, I waited up all night after that Vegas show, positive you’d come to your senses and come to me. Every noise I heard in the hallway made me leap out of bed and peek through the peephole. Every time, I was positive you’d be standing there. But you never were. Rinse and repeat, in each new city. I’d lie awake in bed, alone, every night, praying you’d finally show up. When you seemed so cozy with Charlie, I figured that had to be the reason you didn’t want me. Otherwise, I couldn’t understand. How was it possible that night in Phoenix hadn’t rocked your world the way it’d rocked mine?”
My heart is crashing my chest. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’ve been a madman, Laila. Totally and completely obsessed with you, and trying to understand the enigma that is your brain. I’ve been so confused. Feeling so rejected.”
“Oh, baby.” I touch his face. “You sat alone in your room every night for the entire last month of the tour?”
“Not only the last month. I did the same thing the first two months of the tour, as well.” He smiles. “Sweetheart, I haven’t been with anyone but you since I laid eyes on you at Reed’s party.”
I gasp. “But . . . what about that waitress in New York?”
“I didn’t even call her. And all those groupies were a set-up, too. I sent them packing right after you caught me with them. I was an asshole, Laila. Pissed I’d decided to step aside for Kendrick. Jealous you wanted an asshole like Malik, instead of me.”
“No. I only wanted you, from the second I saw you at Reed’s. I lied about Malik. We never had an actual relationship. Just one date before the tour and some texting. We never even came close to having sex. You’re the only one I’ve been with since I first laid eyes on you at Reed’s. The only one I’ve wanted for so long.”
Savage looks like his brain is melting. “But . . . you and Malik couldn’t keep your hands off each other in New York—and you were constantly on the phone with him after that.”
I shake my head. “My ‘relationship’ with Malik was a lie that kept snowballing on me. On day one of the tour, I could tell Kendrick was interested in me, but I already had my sights set on you. So, when he mentioned he’d seen a photo of me at Malik’s game, I went with it. I said Malik was my boyfriend. But it wasn’t true. That game was our only date. During the tour, Malik texted me pretty persistently, but I wasn’t interested. And then, he told me he was coming to the show in New York—and not because I’d invited him, by the way. So, I said he could be my plus-one at Reed’s dinner party afterward. But I only brought him there to get a rise out of you. I couldn’t understand why you always ignored me. Why you never hit on me. I thought maybe if you saw a guy like Malik all over me, it’d finally spur you into action. But all you did was get that waitress’s number and scream at me to give Kendrick a shot.”
“Oh, fuck.”
“Babe, I kicked Malik to the curb right after dinner—literally, during the car ride from the restaurant to our hotel.”
“No!”
I nod furiously. “I told Malik to fuck off and never contact me again. And I haven’t spoken to him since.”
“You faked all those phone calls with Malik after New York?”
“Every single one. The same way you faked all those groupies, apparently.”
“Holy fuck,” he whispers. “Kendrick said we’re the same person in male and female forms . . .”
“I thought for sure you had sex with that waitress in New York!”
“Nah, I only got her number to piss you off. After our fight on the sidewalk, I stumbled back to my hotel room, punched a hole in the wall, barfed my guts out, and passed out.”
“And then dragged your sorry ass to Alessandra’s music video shoot the next day.”
“Only because I knew you’d be there, without your asshole boyfriend. That’s the only reason I showed up, Laila. Not for Reed. Not for Alessandra or Fish. But to see you, without Malik hanging all over you. I kept my word and showed up because I wanted you to like me.”
“How was I supposed to like you when all you talked about when you got there was the hot sex you’d had all night and day with the waitress?”
“I was fighting fire with fire! You went on and on about your hot night with Malik!”
“Because I was jealous about the waitress!”
“Well, I was jealous about Malik.”
“I’m positive you bragged about the waitress first.”
“No, it was the other way around.”
