“When will your break start?” She traced my lips with her finger.
“We still have a few things to finish up this fall and winter, so probably after the new year.” I sucked the tip of her finger into my mouth. “But we have no more tours planned. We just need to record some songs for a movie and a few one-off shows here and there.”
“Hmmm.”
I figured I’d throw what I was hoping would happen out there. “You and I should come out of the closet, so to speak.”
Alex animatedly rolled her eyes. “Um. The band already knows about us.”
“They think hookup, if anything. They don’t know that we’re a real couple, Poppy.” I regarded her seriously. “We promised no more games, and now that we are in a committed relationship hiding it is beginning to feel like a game.”
“Yeah—”
“I don’t want to hide anymore.” I couldn’t quite get a read on how she felt. “For anyone. For any reason.”
“I know you’re right.” She sighed. “Zoey is doing great. You know she set up my rescue, right?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“She’s at a big law firm specializing in setting up non-profits. Carter actually DM’d me to get her number.” Alex wrinkled her nose. “They had coffee, and she is going to help him with some project he has going on.”
“Huh.” I looked up at the ceiling. I had little interest in talking about Ty and Zoey, it had impacted my own relationship with Alex for too many years.
“Well, anyway.” Alex seemed to get it and waved her hand in front of my eyes. “About us going public—”
We lounged in bed talking for a few hours before emerging from her bedroom. Jen and Becca were making dinner. After much teasing, we managed to make it through dinner and settled into the living room to watch a movie on the most comfortable, cushy couch known to man. It wasn’t long before both Alex and Becca were sound asleep.
“So, is she the one, Jace?” my sister asked quietly so we didn’t wake our mates.
I nodded and kissed the top of Alex’s head, she stirred but didn’t wake up.
“I need to ask you something,” she whispered so softly I could barely hear her. “Did Cassie ever get ahold of you?”
“She texted me a while ago, I blocked her.” I shot her a pointed look and brought my finger to my lips. I didn’t want to talk about Cassie in front of Alex.
Easing Alex off of me, I motioned for Jen to get up and go into the kitchen. I figured it was far enough away from the living room to have this conversation privately.
“Yeah, I ran into her around Christmastime,” Jen continued in a whisper. “She had a newborn baby.”
My eyes must have widened. I know that suddenly I couldn’t breathe.
“Um. Uh. Um . . .” I stuttered.
“Relax. She told me to tell you it wasn’t yours.”
“She said that? Why would she assume you’d think it was mine?”
“There might have been some mention of the hook-up in LA.” Jen’s squeamish expression said it all.
“If you could call it that. I’m pretty sure she roofied me, Jen.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “It was over a year ago. I hung out with her and her sister. They came to a show, and I brought them backstage thinking enough time had passed that it would be nice to have old friends visit. Friends who knew me before I was famous. Alex and I still weren’t even speaking at that point. Frankly, I was lonely. The next thing I remember was waking up naked in bed with her feeling really groggy.”
“Jesus.” Jen was horrified. “You could press charges.”
“What? God no. Really?” I crossed my arms protectively around myself. “I got myself tested a dozen times because even though I’m sure that she fucked me, I wasn’t sure if she used protection.”
“Oh shit.” Jen pulled me into a hug. “Have you spoken to anyone about it?”
“What do you mean?” I was confused.
“Jace, she violated you.” Jen’s sisterly protectiveness was fierce.
“Huh. I didn’t think of it like that, I really just worried about getting some STD or that she was trying to get herself pregnant.” Suddenly it felt like I couldn’t swallow. “It’s probably why I’ve ignored her calls and blocked her. She scared the shit out of me.”
“Scared about what?” Alex padded into the kitchen behind me.
“Nothing.” I fake-smiled, giving Jen a pointed look to STFU.
Alex crossed her arms looking disappointed in my response. “There is no need to keep secrets. I heard you talking.”
Fuck.
“Well, then you overheard what happened. Which, by the way, was months before we got back together.” I felt super defensive.
“I’m not mad at you for sleeping with someone else while we were apart, Jace.” Alex moved toward me. I held up my hand, not wanting her touch right now.
“I wouldn’t call it that.” My head was spinning into a vortex.
“Little J, this is so fucked-up.” I allowed Jen to give me a side hug, which didn’t go unnoticed by Alex. “Are you okay?”
Cloaking myself in an invisible protective layer, I tamped down my panic and assumed my calm, in-control demeanor. “Sure, I blocked her number months ago.”
“Jace . . .” Alex said empathetically. “That’s not what she meant.”
“I’m fine.” I dismissed them both. “It’s over, she’s out of my life.”
“You should make her do a paternity test,” Jen crossed her arms, regarding me.
“Nah. Why would I want to open that can of worms?
“Because, if that child is yours you will want to be in their life,” Alex said softly.
“She already told Jen it wasn’t mine,” I spat. “Believe me, if there was a chance of it being mine, she’d have been shaking me down months ago.”
“Hey. Let’s drop this for now.” Alex went to the fridge and poured herself some orange juice. “There’s no need for us to get upset over something that isn’t in our control.”
Relieved to postpone the inevitable discussion, I was grateful for the out. “I’m tired anyway, I haven’t really had a good
