Page 123 of Save Your Breath

What the hell was I supposed to say?

I didn’t know what last night meant or what happened next. All I knew was that in that moment when he found me at the piano, when he ran his hands through my hair and over my shoulders, I wanted him.

I wanted him and I didn’t care what the consequences were.

I didn’t care if I’d been confused, angry, hurt.

I just wanted to feel good for a while. I wanted him to turn all my thoughts off.

And he had.

The way he was watching me now, I knew he was worried. He was probably looking for signs that I was okay, that I hadn’t read too much into this, that I wasn’t suddenly planning arealwedding and kids and a whole life together.

I knew my best friend. I knew how long he stayed with the women he shared a bed with.

He needed to know we were cool, that this wasn’t going to ruin our friendship.

But he’d asked to ruin me, hadn’t he?

Wasn’t it what I’d asked for, too?

My phone vibrated in the process of me trying to untangle my thoughts, James letting me know he was waiting for me near the elevator down the hall.

I sighed, tucking my phone away before I looked back up at Aleks. He forced a smile and knuckled my chin. “Go. I’ll see you at the show tomorrow.”

I nodded, but didn’t move.

“Go,” he said on a laugh. “Break a leg, Strings.”

That actually did make me smile, and then I peeled away from him, slowly, reluctantly, like I wasn’t sure what the move was here. Did I hug him? Kiss him goodbye?

Were we back to just pretending for the cameras?

Aleks shoved his hands in his pockets, swallowing as he watched me back away. He didn’t make a move to kiss me, so I took his cue.

And then I sealed my title as the most awkward woman on Earth when I gave him two thumbs up before grabbing my suitcase and jetting out of his condo with my cheeks burning from embarrassment.

What the actual hell, Mia?!

I slid into the elevator, groaning a bit as I covered my hot cheek with one hand. I squeezed my eyes shut, shaking my head. I wanted to crawl right out of my skin.

Suddenly, the elevator doors stopped from where they were closing.

I gasped a little, James moving in front of me to protect me from whoever belonged to the hand we could see. But when the doors slid open, James relaxed, stepping aside.

It was Aleks.

He stood there for a beat, eyes searching mine, chest heaving like he’d sprinted down the hall.

Then, he swept inside the elevator, framed my face with his hands, and kissed me.

His lips were firm against mine, insistent, like he needed me to know something but couldn’t say what it was. I melted into the touch for just a moment before he pulled away, sliding out of the elevator before the doors could shut again.

“Tomorrow,” he said.

And then the doors shut and the elevator began to descend.

It was useless trying to untie the knots in my stomach as I rode down with James, letting him cover me as we hustled to the waiting car outside Aleks’s building. Fortunately, there was no paparazzi waiting — likely because Florida was in a state of emergency. I slid behind the tinted windows and pressed a hand to my chest, closing my eyes and trying to find my calm.