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We both burst out laughing.
“Wait, what were you doing in that hot tub in Phoenix at three in the morning? I assumed you were drowning your sorrows about that video of Malik getting head.”
“I was drowning my sorrows,” I admit, “but not about Malik. I mean, yes, that video of him did embarrass me. I’d been romantically linked to Malik online, thanks to that photo of me cheering him on at his game. So, yes, it was embarrassing to think the world was wondering if he’d cheated on me. But, mostly, I was sitting there thinking about you. Kendrick had invited me to your birthday party earlier that night, and I was sitting there feeling bummed that things had gotten so bad between us, I didn’t even feel like I could come to your birthday party. I was drowning my sorrows that my hot crush had turned out to be a rockstar cliché asshole who hated me, and I couldn’t understand why.”
Savage smiles wickedly. “You sneaky little freak. You let me think we had revenge sex that night.”
I return his smile. “That was your assumption, so I let you keep thinking it. It made the sex extra hot, didn’t it?”
His dark eyes flash with heat. “It sure did. Hot as hell.”
I run my fingertip up his forearm. “If it makes you feel better, we really did have hate sex that night. I didn’t fake that part.” I wink. “Or any of my three orgasms.”
“Well, duh.” He bites his lip. “I’m so hard right now, baby. I feel like a five-hundred-pound elephant has finally gotten off my chest.”
“Me, too.”
“Laila, I’m so sorry I punched a hole in the wall in your dressing room. It’s no excuse, but I’ve been slowly going insane since the tour, trying to understand why you didn’t want me the way I wanted you. Trying to understand pieces of a puzzle that just didn’t fit together. When I saw you with Colin, I thought I’d lost you for good. I promise I’ll never do that again, or anything else to scare or hurt you.”
“I know you won’t. I trust you, Adrian. But I do think you should get some therapy, like I said to Mimi. There’s no shame in that. You’ve been through a lot. Maybe a professional could help you work through some stuff.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to make this work.”
“So will I.”
“Please forgive me for all the ways I’ve screwed up,” he says.
“We’ve both screwed up. Please forgive me.”
“You were fighting fire with fire. I was the bigger asshole.”
“We were both assholes,” I say. “Can we please press the reset button, for real now?”
Savage nods and leans in and kisses me. And that’s all it takes to light our fuse. In a frenzy, we begin pulling our clothes off, both of us desperate to consummate our new beginning by fusing our bodies. Once naked, we tumble onto the bed and kiss passionately. We grope and grab and caress and stroke. Until, finally, Savage sinks himself inside me, all the way, and begins gyrating enthusiastically on top of me in a way that feels totally new. Now that we’re finally free of the past, it’s clear to me how much it was weighing us both down. How much it was holding us back. Speaking for myself, all my walls are down now. I’m no longer protecting my heart. In fact, I’m giving it to Savage in this moment, with both hands. Take my heart, Savage. Take me. I’m all yours.
“You’re the only one I want, Laila,” he whispers into my ear, as his body invades mine, over and over again. As our chests rub together with each thrust.
“I’m all yours, Adrian,” I whisper back. I grip his face and kiss him deeply as he comes. He’s the only one I want. The one I’ve wanted for so long. In fact, I can’t imagine wanting anyone else, ever again.
Twenty-Six
Savage
Even before opening my eyes, I sense sunlight on my face. Yawning, I roll onto my side and reach out next to me on the mattress, thinking Laila must have scooted to the edge of the bed in her sleep. But I feel nothing there—not even a warm spot.
I open my eyes. “Laila?” I look toward the bathroom, figuring she’s in there. But when I say her name again, silence answers me. I look at the time to find it’s a few minutes past seven. And that’s Chicago time. Laila’s body clock still thinks she’s in LA. So, what’s a night owl like her doing up so early, with nowhere she needs to be?
Mimi.
The thought hits me like a ton of bricks. Did Sasha knock on our door and I didn’t hear it? Shit. I leap out of bed, quickly brush my teeth, wash my face, and throw on a pair of sweats and a hoodie—fuck, it’s cold in this old house!—and then bolt out of the room. But when I enter Mimi’s room, what I find there makes me exhale from the depths of my soul. Calm. Quiet. Peace. That’s what I find in Mimi’s room, along with Laila holding Mimi’s hand at her bedside.
