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“Really,” I say, making no attempt to hide my skepticism.
Her eyes narrow further. “Yes. I absolutely could.”
Does she even know what that is?
“So you go around seducing people in order to put them in dangerous situations and immanent peril?”
“What? No! Ew.”
I grin, and she smacks my chest.
“Don’t be sassy,” she quips. “The point is, I want you, but I can’t have you, so that’s what it is. If we’re caught in any kind of relationship, the label won’t let us work together anymore—or worse—and I need you. My music needs you, so, I guess…”
She waves over her hips.
I don’t know what that means.
“We need to wear belts?”
“We need to keep it in our pants.”
Ah. Right.
Another smile flickers over my lips.
Femme fatale, my ass. She’s every literary archetype except that one. Actually no. She’s just a straight-up mythical goddess. How else would she get me to smile even while she’s crushing my heart?
“So that’s it, then?” I ask after a long silence.
She looks how I feel as she deflates against the couch, back to where we started.
“I guess so,” she sighs out.
“Do you feel like shit right now?” I ask. She snaps a look to me, and I soften the comment with a weak smile. “Because I do. Wanting what you can’t have sucks.”
“Yeah, it really does.” Her frown lifts as something works through her head. “Actually, I would go as far as to say ‘wanting what you can’t have doesn’t count in the game of love,’” she sings.
“Damn. How long have you been sitting on that melody?”
“Since the meeting this morning. You want to play with it?”
“Hell yeah. I’ll grab my laptop. Meet you back here in ten?”
She nods and grabs my fingers as I push to my feet.
“Val?”
“Yeah?”
“If I could, I would.”
I clench my jaw and force a nod as she lets go.
5—OKLAHOMA CITY (STILL LARINDA’S BUS)
LARINDA
Wow. Now that was a kiss. Five minutes after Val leaves, I’m still collapsed on the couch, tingling and quivering everywhere. Kissing him made me feel… authentic. Safe and free. Val takes the performance out of my existence and lets me be me when we’re alone. I wasn’t even sure who that was until we started exploring the possibilities together. There’s nothing hotter than someone who truly sees you.
