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And Van immediately cuts me off. “For fuck’s sake, since when do you give a damn about songwriting, Rhys? I’ve been going to this thing for years, and you haven’t found your way to it once.”
“Yeah, but we’re supposed to be, like, trying to be a legitimate band now, right?” I keep going with the lie. “So, it just makes sense that Cameron and I join in on the party this time around—”
“Rhys wanted to follow you here because he thinks you’re trying to make a move on Alyssa,” Cameron interjects, his tone completely detached. “He dragged me into it too, but trust me. I couldn’t care less about what’s going on between you and Alyssa. I just want to make sure he’s not going to do anything monumentally stupid.”
“There isn’t anything going on between me and Alyssa,” Van replies, but his words come out shaky, like he’s the one who’s lying now. “And even if there were, how is that any of your business? You think just because she slept with you that you own her or something?”
“No, and you know that.” I scoff dramatically. “I don’t associate ownership in the same realm as romance, but I know that I can’t say the same for you, and maybe that’s why I don’t want her getting involved in your bullshit—”
“Inmybullshit?” Van raises his voice. “Fuck you, Rhys! You’ve slept with practically every girl in fucking L.A.! Who the hell are you to talk to me about anything in therealm of romance—”
“At least I go for what I want!” I shoot right back. “At least I’m not too afraid to try and follow my bloody heart! But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, arsehole?”
“You two might want to lower your voices,” Cameron suggests. “That security guard in the corner is starting to eye us pretty hard, and I think he might have a taser—”
“I just don’t get you, Rhys,” Van continues. “I don’t get why you have to haveeverything. I don’t get why even the mere thought of someone having something you want turns you into such an unrecognizable piece of—”
“So, Alyssaissomeone you want then?” I press. “Jesus Christ, Van. You can’t even hide it for more than five fucking seconds, but I bet you still haven’t told her, have you?”
“Seriously,” Cameron quietly adds to the conversation. “I’m pretty sure if you two keep screaming at each other, we’re going to get kicked out of this hotel—”
“Is that what you want?” Van shouts. “You want me to tell her? Are you sure you’re really ready for that,asshole?”
“Ready for what?” I let out a dark chuckle. “What do you think is even going to happen, Van?”
“Let’s fucking find out!” Van shouts again, before he walks away from the table, heading back over to where Alyssa is still sitting. He then bends down toward her and without saying a word, presses his mouth against hers, gently leaning into her for a kiss.
And the room around us erupts in applause, almost like Van just proposed to Alyssa on bended knee instead of working up enough courage to kiss her for what I had to assume was the very first time.
And to my utter dismay, Alyssa doesn’t move away from him. Instead, she returns the kiss, letting it linger between them until Van eventually takes a seat beside her. The pair then go back to working on their respective lyrics sheet, as the rest of the room seems to return right back to normal too, as if nothing had changed in the air.
“…I’m sorry, Rhys,” Cameron offers his apology, patting me on the shoulder at the same time. “Even if it is your fault. You ready to head home now? Maybe work on that instrumental for the next song on the album?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“But Alyssa just kissed Van—”
“I can come back from this,” I mutter, starting to move away from the table. “I can still come back from this, Cameron.”
“Or you can just leave well enough alone—”
“You might not get it right now, Cameron, but you will someday,” I say, cutting him off with a grin. “And when you need someone to tag along as you potentially embarrass yourself over a girl, you’ll know exactly where to find me.”
“Honestly, you’ll probably still be checked into this hotel because you don’t know when to let go.” Cameron lets out a tired sigh. “Anyway, I’ll see you around, Rhys. I guess.”
“See you around, Cameron.” I nod down to him, hastily making my way out of the songwriting session, my mind running through a million ideas all at once, excitement and terror coursing through my veins in equal measure.
Chapter 10
Alyssa
“What was that about?” I ask Van, as we’re settling back into our hotel room. I lean against the wall and cross my legs, my hands on either side of my waist. We’d just finished with the afternoon’s songwriting session, and while the overwhelming majority of the event had gone off without a hitch, it wasn’t like I could pretend he hadn’t randomly kissed me out of nowhere in the middle of it.
“What was what about?” He’s staring down at his luggage, his voice distracted.
“Van, you know what I mean.” I frown. “Why’d you kiss me like that? Out of nowhere?”
“It wasn’t out of nowhere,” he replies, his words coming out slow. “It was…I was just…”
