Chapter 9 #4
My hand curls into his shirt, pulling him closer so I can tangle our tongues once more.
I’m just about to pull his shirt off to feel his lean abs underneath when there’s a sudden sound, a mingling of loud voices coming from the hallway.
They get louder and louder, and my brain catches up a moment too late when I hear the door clink loudly in warning.
I pull back, my eyes wide. Jamie looks back at me with just as much panic.
I don’t even think before I make my next move because any minute, my bandmates are going to be crowding into the living space of this hotel room and I’ll have one of our rivals standing right in the middle of it, and I cannot deal with coming up with an explanation right now. Not after that mind-altering kiss.
My fingers dig into his shirt as I pull him off the stool and to the nearby hotel closet.
Instinct has me shoving him inside of it without a single thought.
I only see his slightly disappointed expression for a moment before the closet is shut and the door to the hotel is open, spilling in my friends as their loud voices feel like an earthquake entering our quiet sanctuary from before.
“Josie!” Cleo exclaims, her eyes light and happy. “You should have come out with us. This place is fucking amazing!”
I force a smile onto my face, wishing I could enjoy the elation I see in my friend’s features, but I can’t. It’s artificial, brought on by her drunken state, and I can’t find it in myself to even pretend that it’s not.
“Sorry, I felt like a quiet night in. How did it go?” I respond, specifically looking to Lark for a response.
She looks tired, like the night out was a lot for her after our concert, but she looks at me intently all the same. “It was chill,” she tells me, and I wonder if it’s some kind of code to let me know nothing happened. “Good booze, and good music.”
“Good,” I repeat, happy to hear it.
“And the best part was there were no Rogues there!” Cleo says happily, her smiling taking over her whole face. “Gosh, if they had ended up there, I would have freaked, but they didn’t, so we’re good!”
Something squelches in my stomach, my body suddenly sick as I think about Jamie hearing that in the closet I just unreasonably pushed him into.
“You need to get used to them being around, or we’ll be in for a long ten months,” Lark reprimands her.
She opens her mouth, likely to say something else insulting about our co-headliners, but then Nicola gasps in the kitchen.
“Damn, Josie! You must have been hungry!” she teases, looking at all the food that’s still on the counter.
A nervous laugh escapes me. “Yeah, I didn’t know what to order so…”
She jumps on the only empty spot on the counter so she can sit with her legs crossed. “Ooo, mochi! Can I have one?”
I nod, and she pulls out the pink rice cake and munches on it drunkenly.
“You hate mochi,” Lark says from across the room, her eyes narrowing.
I puff out my cheeks because she’s right. I hate the texture, but I still find the courage to shrug and say, “I thought it might be different this time. It’s been so long since I last tried it.”
Her brow lifts. “And?”
“Nope,” I respond, knowing I won’t be able to hold onto that lie for the rest of my life. “Still don’t like it. You can have some too, if you want.”
Half an hour later, after all the girls go to bed, their drunken adrenaline expiring after eating their fill of mochi and hibachi chicken, I tiptoe to the closet. Guilt grips every organ in my body as I hold my breath, preparing to see a very pissed-off beta on the other side of the door.
But Jamie doesn’t look frustrated. His expression is soft, almost understanding.
His mouth parts like he wants to say something, but closes it once he sees the panic on my face.
Instead, his hand comes to my cheek, and the light, feathery feeling of it over my skin makes me sigh.
I relax into his soft touch, suddenly released of all the burdens from the last half hour as he conveys every bit of compassion he feels.
Then he kisses me once more, and I wrap my arms around his neck to get closer, wishing more than anything that he could stay so we could continue this feeling… this glorious morphing of energies.
The kiss is over way too soon, and an omega whine slips up my throat. He admires whatever expression he finds on my face following the magical embrace. It’s probably full of bliss, an almost stupid dazed expression that I can’t be bothered to feel embarrassed about right now.
We continue to look into each other’s eyes, not saying anything as the moment draws on and on. When a loud noise comes from one of the girls’ rooms, it jolts me out of it, but he stays locked in. He nods, and then kisses my cheek, stopping to whisper in my ear. “Goodnight, Petal.”
My feet stay frozen in place as I watch him approach the exit, my body urging me to move forward, but my fear forcing me to stay still.
His hand wraps around the doorknob, and he turns back, looking at me with this boy-ish grin that sends happy jitters all the way to my toes.
Instead of saying goodbye, he trails over my body, his hazel eyes taking in every bit of me before he heaves a happy sigh and goes on his way.