“Fuck,” Dex mumbles behind me.
“Ugh, not these guys.” Sebastian steps out of the club last, looking drunk and exasperated. “How’d they know we’re here?”
“Dex! Dex!” the paparazzi scream, and the rapid clicking of their camera shutters makes my head spin.
I’m still blinded by the lights, and the chaotic energy makes it difficult to tell up from down. The flashing is going to make me sick.
But then an arm slips around my shoulders and pulls me close, shielding me from the light. When I glance up, Dex is looking down at me.
“Don’t make eye contact,” he says, guiding me up the sidewalk to where the Rover is parked.
I couldn’t make eye contact if I wanted to; the flashing cameras are so bright that I can barely make out the horde of figures pressing in around us.
“Who is she?” someone yells, and the paparazzi start following us along the sidewalk, some running into the street to get ahead of us.
“New girlfriend, Dex?”
“What happened to Serena? Is it really over?”
“Does Serena know you’re out tonight?”
The questions make my stomach clench. They’re referring to Serena White, Dex’s most recent high-profile ex. All I know is they broke up, or so the tabloids and internet posts say.
“Hey, wait for me!” Sebastian calls from behind us. I don’t turn around, but I imagine he’s stumbling drunkenly along the sidewalk, failing to keep up with Dex’s pace and long strides. Even I have to almost trot along with him, he’s walking so fast.
The paparazzi continue screaming questions at Dex, and he continues ignoring them, his arm still firmly around my shoulders, my body tucked safely into his side. When we get to the Rover, he leads me around to the passenger’s side and opens the door, ushering me in and blocking some of the camera angles with his body. Then he closes the door, and the world gets quiet, the flashes now dimmed through the dark tinted glass.
Dex gets in on the opposite side at the same time Sebastian finally makes it to the car. The open doors let in more light and sound, and I turn my face away and close my eyes until the doors close and lock.
“Fuck,” Sebastian says, his head falling back against the headrest. “I think I’m gonna puke.”
“Do not throw up in here,” Dex snaps. “I will kick your fucking ass.”
Sebastian just groans.
Dex starts the Range Rover and has to pull out slowly to avoid running over the paparazzi, who are now swarming alongside the vehicle. Finally, we get free of them, and silence settles for a few minutes as we cruise through Downtown LA.
“I’m sorry,” Dex says suddenly, one hand on the wheel and his narrowed eyes trained straight ahead. “I’d hoped they wouldn’t bother us tonight.”
“It’s fine,” I say, though a headache is starting to blossom behind my eyes from the flashing lights. I was still feeling drunk and a little high while Dex and I were dancing, but now I’m sobering up, and fast. “Do they do that a lot? Chase you around?”
He lets out a quiet sigh, and his hand tightens on the steering wheel. “All the time.”
Dex drives right past the recording studio, and I realize with a jolt that my car is still parked there.
“My car,” I say in passing, spotting it in the lot under the streetlamps.
“I’ll bring it by tomorrow.” He glances over at me, and the stern expression on his face softens. “I don’t think you should drive.”
Relaxing back against the heated seat, I giggle. “Yeah, probably not.”
“Where do you live? I’ll take you home.”
I’m not sure if I expected to go home with him—maybe a little?—but what I do know is that I’m disappointed he’ll be dropping me off. Alone.
Thanks, Sebastian.
I give him my address anyway, and thirty minutes later, thanks to terrible evening traffic, we finally pull up in front of my condo. Dex eases the Rover into the narrow one-car driveway, and I glance back at Sebastian before opening the door.
“Feel better,” I say.
“I love you, Nora,” he mumbles, slumped over in the back seat. “Don’t go.”
Shaking my head, I shift to look at Dex and am surprised when he pushes his door open and steps out. I follow suit, slipping out of the car and closing the door gently behind me. This is a quiet neighborhood just outside of the city, and all I hear as I walk to the front door is a dog barking distantly and mumbled laughter from a couple walking the other way down the street.
I pause at the door, and butterflies swarm in my stomach when Dex stops at the bottom of my front steps. I’m almost his height now, and it’s easy to look into his eyes and see the different shades of blue encircling his irises beneath my warm yellow porch light.
He holds out a hand, and I glance down at it in confusion.
“Your car key,” he says.
“Oh!” I reach into my purse and scramble to twist my car key off the key ring. Then I hold it out to him. “Thank y—”
Dex grabs my hand and tugs me in. His mouth comes down on mine, and then his free hand is in my hair, and I’m melting for him all over again. I clutch his baggy tee in my fists, wishing I could pull him closer, drag him into the house and—
“Dex!” comes Sebastian’s whiny voice from the car. His window is rolled down, and he’s hanging his head out like he took too many turns on that spinning teacup ride at the amusement park. “Dex, I need fries. Please. I won’t survive much longer.”
Dex’s hand tightens around the back of my neck, and he presses his forehead against mine. “I’m gonna kill him,” he whispers. He pulls away, leaving me breathless and hungry for him. “I’ll bring the car by tomorrow. Probably in the afternoon, if that works?”
