My lips part, but I don’t get the time to form an answer. “Don’t. He’s not worth your time. When I see him again, I’ll give him a big ole slap to teach him a lesson not to threaten women.”
She makes an obvious fist even though I know for sure that if she did manage to muster up the courage to do it, he probably wouldn’t even flinch.
“He knows he’s bad, and he doesn’t care,” she says. “Now you know why I said what I said.”
“What’s that then?” I ask as she throws her arm over my shoulder.
She smirks. “That Cole Travis is a giant fucking bastard.”
Chapter 7
Cole
I readjust my mic and fiddle with my guitar, but it won’t tune the right way, and it’s pissing me off to the point that I tear it off my shoulder and throw it on the stage.
“Cole … really?” Tristan sighs.
“Yeah, fucking really,” I growl back. “Nothing works.”
“Maybe if you focused, it would work,” he says, running his fingers through his ruffled blond hair that always looks like he just rolled out of bed. “Look, just because it’s just the two of us today since Michael’s still in class and Benjamin had to go to the hospital with his mom doesn’t mean you can slack off.”
“I’m not slacking off!” I snap. When the look on his face changes, I sigh, and say, “Sorry. I don’t mean to snap at you.”
“I don’t think you’re here, to be honest. Is it because of those texts?” he asks, sitting down on the stage.
I nod and sit down beside him. “Yup. You know how it goes. One minute, I’m flirting with some girl, and the next thing you know, it’s all over social media and the entire school knows.”
He pats me on the back. Not gentle, more like a slap. “When are you gonna learn to ignore all that noise?”
“Never,” I say, glancing at him over my shoulder. “It’s impossible.”
His brows rise. “Because you play into it.”
“Do they ever write about you like that?” I ask, throwing him the same look back.
He knows damn well it’s a rhetorical question, yet he still answers. “No, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what it’s like to be in the spotlight. I’m in this band too, remember?”
“I know.” Rolling my eyes at his obvious dig. “Forget it.” I avert my eyes.
I can’t say it to his face, so I won’t say it at all … but we’re not alike. People look at him, and they see a cute drummer. People look at me, and they see a rock god. Someone they want to get to know just to feel good about themselves. Not to really know me … but to be popular, and I fucking hate it.
Maybe that’s hypocritical of me.
I’m a douchebag, and I enjoy it most of the time.
But sometimes … I just wish girls would want the real me. The guy underneath all that fame.
I sigh to myself and get up from the stage. Right then, I notice that same girl from the concert, the one I made out with, standing in the room. She’s been watching us … or me … but for how long?
“Wait a minute,” I mutter. Her eyes widen as I march toward her, and she tries to flee, but I’m quicker than she is, and I block the door with my body. “Eavesdropping?”
“No, I swear, I wasn’t.” She tucks her hair behind her ear. “I was just … looking for you, that’s all.”
My eyes narrow. “Why? What do you want?”
“Nothing, I just … I wanted to tell you how much I liked being with you after that concert.” Her eyes trail off. “You know, the kiss.” A blush grows on her cheeks.
“Okay,” I reply. It does nothing for me. That kiss meant nothing to me except a momentary distraction from what was really on my mind … the new girl. And I honestly do not care about this chick. “That’s it?”
“Yeah,” she says. “If you want, I can come see you again.” Oh God. I don’t like where this is going. “Maybe we can—”
I hold up a hand. “Look, I’m gonna say it up front. I don’t date.”
Her eyes widen, and she looks around as though she’s seen a ghost. “I was … I thought—” she mutters, stumbling through her words.
“You thought what? After one kiss?” I frown.
“Well, we had such an amazing time backstage, I figured—” She starts to blush, which is my cue to put a stop to this nonsense right this minute.
“No, sorry,” I say, averting my eyes. I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was drunk on the music … and on the need to kiss someone instead of that girl staring at me from the crowd.
Monica.
Just thinking about her makes me want to storm out of here and find her.
And I don’t know why.
Why the hell am I so obsessed with a girl I don’t even know?
I shake it off when the girl in front of me sighs. “And here I was, thinking I could tell everyone.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you know, you … the greatest rock star in school and little ole me.” She giggles with a slight uptick in her tone halfway through. “It would surely be a good story.”
My eye twitches, and my lip curls up. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
“I just … like you a lot, you know. Everyone does.”
“So that’s it, huh?” My fist balls, and I lower my head to hide my rage.
“No, not all, I mean, you’re good looking, you’re sexy, you’re popular.”
“Popular,” I repeat. “That’s why you wanted me to kiss you?” I look at her. She’s smiling gently, unaware of the coils inside my heart, twisting it into a knot further and further until no one can break the bonds. “Because I’m popular?”
She tries to grab my hand, but I pull back.
That’s when it hits me.
The rumors.
They weren’t started by Ariane or her friends.
They were started by her.
“It was you,” I growl.
“What?” she mutters.
“You spread those rumors,” I growl.
“Rumors?” She gasps. “But I—”
“Don’t,” I hiss. “I don’t wanna fucking hear it.”
“Cole,” Tristan mutters from the back, trying to intervene, but I don’t even care anymore.
Yes, I’m a fucking hypocrite. I fuck and kiss girls for fun, but for them to go around my back and spread rumors about shit that didn’t even happen takes the cake.
“You wanted everyone to know, didn’t you? To be popular,” I spit. “Get out.”
That kiss didn’t mean shit to me. It was just a fun thing to do. But these girls … they’re only in it for the fame.
“But I can give you what you want. I know you like them easy, and I’m always available. I don’t mind sharing, and—”
“GET OUT!” I yell, pointing at the door.
She sucks in a breath and immediately runs off.
“Cole!” Tristan barks, sighing out loud.