Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
HAZEL
I’ve never been this undressed in front of anyone I’m not sleeping with, but my shirt keeps getting tangled on the pole. I’m having too much fun to quit, so I pull the shirt over my head and toss it to the side with my bag. If Sierra or Jade notice my scars, they don’t say anything.
Mary, the instructor, finishes showing Sierra how to lean back and spin using just her legs.
Jade and I clap for her as she completes the move.
The song switches over, and Jade leaps onto her pole.
This is apparently her workout of choice, and she’s been doing it for years so she climbs upward and completes a series of moves that leave me utterly impressed.
I grab my pole, placing my hands the way Mary showed me and use my core strength to lift myself off the ground.
She comes over and helps me position my feet and goes through the same motions she showed Sierra.
By the end of the song blaring out of the speakers, I’m spinning in circles holding onto the pole by only my legs.
The lingering darkness from my interaction with my father bleeds away as the joy of being surrounded by friends and silliness fills me.
I can only assume I have Pilates to thank for my ability to take to pole dancing as easily as I am.
Gripping the pole between my thighs I arch my back and extend one of my legs out while I spin to a Blue Sunday song.
Jade and Sierra hoot and holler their support. As I spin I notice Dan and Adam smiling, one of them holding his phone up to capture it. We instructed them to take photos and videos to send to the guys. If they’re going to rain on our girls' night, we’re going to tease them.
The class period goes by all too quickly. No one says anything about my scars. They don’t even look at them, even with the two under my breasts exposed between the band of my sports bra and high-waisted shorts.
“Thank you for planning this,” I tell Jade. “I did not expect to have so much fun.”
“Me either,” Sierra says as she pulls a brush through her hair. “I’m going to have to find classes in New York.”
“Same,” I say in agreement as I slip my feet into the heels I picked to wear to dinner.
After we finish getting ready in the gym bathroom, we walk out onto the sidewalk. The air has a bit of chill from the wind blowing off Lake Michigan. It’s crazy to think that in a few short weeks fall will be creeping across the country.
Dan opens the car door for us as we get into black SUV. He and Adam then climb into the one behind us. At least they hired two cars for us, so we can chat in private.
The restaurant we’re having dinner at is halfway between the hotel and the gym we just left, so the drive is relatively short.
My stomach growls as we walk through the side entrance of the Asian fusion restaurant.
The lighting is dim, but the atmosphere is lively making it the perfect environment for a girls dinner.
Off to one side is a sushi bar with offerings on a conveyor belt and bar-style seating.
The host leads us to a large booth in the opposite corner, the walls of which rise high over our heads, providing a good deal of privacy.
Dan and Adam are shown to the table between us and the rest of the restaurant.
After he explains the different menus, we settle into silence, each of us looking at the extensive offerings.
I’m probably the least adventurous eater of the three of us and pretty quickly settle on what I’m going to have.
While I wait for everyone else to choose their dishes, I pull out my phone to find two texts, one from Stone and one from Greg.
Stone: You look so fucking hot
Stone: Maybe we should put a pole in the back of the bus
He forwarded several of the photos and a video that Adam sent him of me. I watch as I spin around the pole, my hair flying and a wide smile on my face. I look happy. Carefree.
Gratitude swells inside my chest. Never in a million years did I think I’d find an entire group of people who already feel like family when Sierra told me about this harebrained scheme of the publisher and record label.
I know in Vancouver we’re doing our first joint interview about the experience so far, and while I had been nervous about it, I’m not anymore. This feels real. It feels right.
I’m not afraid to sit down beside the guys and answer questions.
The last thing I expect is to walk into the hotel lobby and see Greg, but that’s exactly what happens. He stands from the wingback chair he was lounging in, a hesitant smile on his face. I wait for the usual ache I feel when I see him after a long absence.
But there’s nothing.
“What’s he doing here?” Sierra asks with blatant distaste.
“I have no idea,” I say honestly. “We haven’t talked much lately.”
“Who is that?” Jade asks.
He doesn’t get more than five feet from me when both Adam and Dan step between us. His brow furrows as he looks between the two towering men at me. I step around Dan and set my hand on his arm.
“It’s okay. I know him.” I turn my attention back to Greg. “What are you doing here?”
Greg’s eyes turn glacial. “Hello to you, too. Is that really how you’re going to greet me after weeks of being apart?”
I shrink into myself. “I’m sorry. I just wasn’t expecting you.”
“Didn’t you see my text?”
Realization sinks in, I did see it, I just didn’t think to read it yet.
“I was out with Sierra and Jade.” I motion for them both to come over. “You remember Sierra, and this is Jade. She does the PR and social media for Blue Sunday.”
“Nice to meet you,” Greg holds his hand out.
“This is my mentor, Greg Martin.”
“Likewise.” She shakes his hand and then looks at me. “We’ll see you later.”
Sierra glares daggers at Greg, not bothering to mask her distaste. “I can wait for you,” she says to me.
“It’s okay. Go relax, it’s been a long day.”
Adam accompanies them, but Dan stays a few feet from my back.
“Can we go up to your room to talk?” Greg looks over my shoulder, clearly irritated.
“I’m not sure you want to do that.”
“Why?” He reaches out, pulling me in for a hug. His familiar scent wraps around me while I loosely return the gesture. “I miss you, Hazel.”
I drop my arms and nod in the direction of the lobby bar. “Let’s grab a drink.”
A server stops by our table as soon as we sit. I order an iced tea while he asks for a beer. When she steps away, he reaches across the table for my hand, and hurt flashes in his eyes when I don’t give in.
“Why are you being so cold?” he asks in an accusatory voice. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
“I’m just surprised. How did you even know which hotel I was at?”
“You gave me your tour itinerary,” he says the words slowly, like I’m some sort of idiot for forgetting. “Can you tell him to leave?”
I follow his gaze and turn to see Dan standing off to the side of the room, against the wall. “I could, but he won’t listen,” I say, turning back to Greg. “The band has assigned him to me when I’m out in public.”
Greg scoffs. “Why? You’re just a debut author. It’s not like you’re a celebrity.”
“I’ve had a few run-ins with paparazzi on the tour. They don’t want me to get swarmed without security.”
His brows raise as he looks around the bar in mock concern. “I don’t see any paparazzi here.”
My body stiffens. It feels like every muscle has gone taut. A toxic mixture of shame and embarrassment fills me. I used to find his sarcasm so attractive.
Did it always have this edge to it, though?
“Why are you here, Greg? To see me or berate me?”
“Why are you acting like this, Hazel?” he volleys back at me. “Do you think you’re some sort of big shot now that you’ve had a taste of success? I would have thought you’d have more appreciation for me.”
“I do appreciate you.”
“Then act like it.” His voice snaps at me like a whip.
My skin flames as my body goes numb. Cracks form in the happiness and confidence I’ve been building the past few weeks. “I’m sorry.”
His face softens. “It’s okay. We’ve both had a long day.” He reaches out and tries to cup my cheek.
I flinch away.
His lips press together in a line. “What is it?” he asks, exasperated.
“I’m seeing someone.”
He cocks a brow. “Who?”
“Stone.”
“The guy in the band?”
“Yes.”
He laughs. A full, mocking belly laugh. I see nothing of the man I used to care for in his scornful face.
“Hazel,” he says my name like I’m a child. “Are you sure you’re not just conjuring up a relationship in your mind? He’s a musician for fuck’s sake. He’s probably fucking a new girl every night.”
“He’s not.”
“How do you know? Are you with him all the time?”
“Pretty much. He’s moved me into his hotel suite.”
That sobers him. “Hazel.” He pours concern into his voice. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“What are his intentions?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you sure he’s not using you for something? Good publicity or something?”
“What?” His words hit me like a truck. “No. Why is it so hard for you to think that maybe he likes me? That maybe we have a lot in common and get along well? That he’s attracted to me?”
“I’m sure he enjoys having a warm body in his bed every night, but there can’t be much you two have in common. Isn’t he a drug addict? What are you thinking?”
I grab my purse, pulling a twenty out and slapping it on the table. “I’m done here.”
His hand wraps around my wrist. “I thought you were smarter than this.”
“Get your hands off her,” Dan is at my side immediately.
Greg drops his hand from my wrist with a scowl. “Call your rent-a-cop off and sit down.”
“No.” Dan helps me off the stool. “I don’t know why you flew all this way to just be an asshole, Greg.”
“You’re being used, Hazel. Don’t expect me to still be here when you come to your senses.”
“I’m being used? How so?”
He sneers at me. “Hazel. You can’t really think he cares about you. You’re here. You’re convenient. He has his pick of women, and you think you’re the one he would choose?”
My eyes burn, but I refuse to let a single tear fall.
“Goodbye, Greg.”