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I adjusted the strap of my dress. “Well he doesn’t.”
“Seems that he likes you just fine to me,” said Briar. “He fucked your mouth with his tongue, and he made no bones about it.” She folded her arms. “I think it’s about time you told us what the deal is between you and him.”
I scratched at my forehead. “I need a drink for this. And we should probably go somewhere a little quieter.”
As a group, we returned to the lounge and claimed one of the large sofas across from the bar. A waitress was quick to appear. We ordered drinks and a basket of nachos.
Once the waitress disappeared, I took a long breath and then began, “I first met Kaiser six years ago, shortly after I won the TV contest. I knew in advance that he’s shockingly rude but … As you know, my homelife was a little on the turbulent side.” I’d only told them dribs and drabs about it, not a fan of discussing it. “Music was my escape—whether I was singing or listening to it.”
Cat dipped her chin in understanding. “Books were mine. Still are, really. You go somewhere else in your head; block out the outside world.”
Yes, that was exactly how it had been for me—I’d closed my eyes and let the music drown out everything else. “I listened to Kaiser’s songs a lot growing up. For me, in a roundabout and weird kind of way, his voice and his music were there for me when there was no one else other than my grandmother. I know that doesn’t make sense—”
“No, it does,” Cat assured me.
I shrugged, not so sure I agreed. “Anyway, I had an embarrassingly huge crush on him when I was younger. And I meanhuge. I was pretty much obsessed with him.”
Briar’s lips kicked up. “You weren’t alone in that. Alotof women—old and young—developed an obsession with that dude.”
“It still makes me cringe a little.” Though I couldn’t blame my younger self for losing her mind over him. “Of course, my obsession with him died as I got older, but my attraction to him didn’t go anywhere. So, taking everything into account, you can imagine how nervous I was approaching him.”
“I’m not sure I’d have had the balls to do it,” said Izzy. “I’d have felt too awkward to look him in the eye.”
The waitress reappeared and set our orders on the table. We thanked her, and she then left with a smile.
I took a sip of my pink gin. “Knowing how rude he is, I wasn’t expecting anything from Kaiser when I approached him—not even a hello or a tip of the chin. But he did talk to me, and afterwards I kind of wished that he hadn’t.”
Izzy frowned. “Why? What did he say?”
I scraped my teeth over my bottom lip. “That, in so many words, I’d crash and burn because I hadn’t paid my dues and contest winners rarely achieve longevity.”
Briar gaped in outrage. “He didn’t!”
“He wasn’t trying to hurt me,” I said, putting down my glass. “He’s just a straight shooter who also happens to be naturally tactless. In his view, I was wasting my time and it was best I knew it.”
“That didn’t give him the right to say it,” Briar insisted, plucking a nacho out of the basket.
“It stung at first. Badly,” I admitted. “Partly because I’d idolized him for so long. But I shrugged it off eventually. And I went and proved him wrong, just as I warned him I would.”
“So he apologized just now for being a presumptions prick?” asked Cat before tossing a small nacho into her mouth.
I hesitated. “Not exactly. Well, not at all. I mean, headmittedto being wrong—I think, for him, that’s really as good as it gets. From what I’ve seen, Kaiser isn’t a man who makes apologies for anything he does or doesn’t do.”
Briar shook her head, fuming. “I can’t believe you let him kiss you. Well, Icanbelieve it—he’s mega hot. But he deserved to be shoved away.”
“I know, but the minute he touched me I started thinking with my pink parts,” I confessed, feeling my shoulders slump. “He’s just so …Kaiser.And damn he knows how to kiss.”
“It looked like one crazy hot kiss.” Cat took a sip of her neon-colored cocktail. “I half-expected him to take you right there.”
I felt my brow furrow as I grabbed a nacho. “I wouldn’t have let it get that far.”
Izzy picked up her drink. “Ha. You’re funny.”
“I wouldn’t have!” I protested.
“Bollocks, you’d have been all for it,” said Izzy. “That kiss was a bloody seven-bus pile up. Like years’ worth of sexual tensionexploded.It was a long time coming, if you ask me.” She paused. “I’ve heard he likes sex rough. Thought you might find that interesting.”
“I don’t.”
