Blame it on the Tequila by Fiona Cole (the reading strategies book txt) 📕

skyrocketed, and Sonia hadn’t hesitated to use me as much as I used her.

I didn’t hate it because every once in a while, Sonia and I fucked after our dates and the release without any pressure of what came next was nice. It didn’t hurt that her hair looked a lot like Nova’s.

Not many women had that deep red hair, but I did my best to find them all and fuck the desire for redheads out of my system. Spoiler alert: it didn’t work. I just got labeled as having a type. Which I guess I did.

Anyone who reminded me of Nova.

Aspen being the businesswoman she was, turned it into a contract that strangled me more than helped.

“It’s dinner at a restaurant opening, so maybe get the scowl off your face,” Aspen reprimanded. “It should be nice.”

“Yeah, nice,” Ash scoffed, imitating a blow job.

Brogan made humping motions, and Oren wrapped both arms around himself like he was mid-make-out session, adding breathy moans for effect.

“You guys are gross,” Aspen sneered. “I’ll see you in the morning. Don’t be late.”

Before I could object, she turned away. Usually, I didn’t mind the arranged dates, but ever since seeing Nova—even for that quick flash—a date with Sonia was the last thing I wanted to do.

“Thanks for doing this,” Sonia said as I helped her into her jacket.

“Of course. I was just happy it wasn’t a shopping trip again.”

She turned, pulling her sleek hair out from under the collar, her full lips stretched into a perfect smile. She was on. Probably because we stood in front of the restaurant we just ate at with a glass wall between the lingering paparazzi and us.

“I’m at your mercy whenever you need me.” She stared up at me from under her lashes as best as she could when she was only three inches shorter in her heels and closed the gap between us. She gripped the lapels of my coat and adjusted them before resting her palms on my chest.

The moves came naturally as we’d done them time and time again. I even knew when to angle a few degrees away from the window, making sure she stood in the perfect spot lined up for a photo that got her good side.

“Unless you’re not ready for the night to end,” she murmured. “You know I’m always up for a quickie.”

I remembered the last quickie when she’d sucked me off on the drive back to her apartment. She’d paid the driver two-hundred dollars to not tell anyone but secretly hoped he would to beef up our lie.

But even that memory couldn’t block out another redhead, and when Sonia leaned in to close the gap, I gripped her biceps, holding her back, making it look more like an embrace rather than a rejection. Even with only a moment from Nova and that was all it took to remind me of what we had. With those memories came the ones of how I hadn’t needed to work so hard—hadn’t needed to go on arranged dates I didn’t want to go on.

“Not tonight.”

Her eyes narrowed only a fraction before the coy smile slipped in place. “Oh, Parker,” she said on an exhale. “Are you seeing someone?”

I laughed. “No.”

But I was thinking of someone I desperately wanted to see, and the thought of putting my lips on Sonia’s when all I could do was remember the few sparing times I’d put my lips on Nova’s, rubbed me the wrong way. Everything in me screamed no.

“I’m just not wanting to put on that much of a show.”

“But we always kiss at the end of the night.”

“Just…not tonight.”

She studied me a little longer before relaxing and sliding her hands down my chest, pulling away to turn to the door. “Okay. I can respect that.”

She reached her hand for mine, and I dutifully grabbed on, pulling back on the affection I usually delivered with every smile. We stepped through the doors, and cameras went off. Normally, I blocked them out, not really caring what I looked like. But tonight, my hair stood on end, every muscle on high alert of how I positioned myself around Sonia, wondering what the pictures looked like to an outsider—to Nova.

Sonia’s car pulled up, and I opened the door for her, waiting for my own right behind hers. Before getting in, she turned to me one more time, stepping close and brushing her fingers along the scruff on my cheek. It was the only warning I got before she closed the few inches between us and pressed her lips to where she’s just touched, dangerously close to my lips.

My hands tightened on her hips, barely fighting the urge to shove her away. Before she pulled back, she whispered, “A deal is a deal, Parker. Be happy I didn’t go for a full kiss you couldn’t pull away from.”

I ground my teeth, not liking the walls closing in around my natural reactions, trapping me into a role I didn’t want to play tonight. She pulled back, stroking her thumb along the red lipstick I knew marred my cheek.

“Hopefully, next time, you’ll be more willing to play. It was the best bonus of our deal.”

And with that, she smiled at the camera one last time and got in. I waited until her car drove away before I moved to mine, collapsing into the back seat, grateful for the blacked-out windows.

Four

Nova

For the seventh time, I dropped my book on the mattress beside me, unable to sleep. Abandoning trying again, I readjusted to my back, bringing my head to the edge of the mattress to peek out at the stars beyond.

I wouldn’t be able to keep the back doors of the van open much longer. As the days crept deeper into fall, the nights got colder, even in Georgia. Peeking out of the corner of my eye, I stared at my phone, the urge to pick it up hitting me like a ghost haunting my body.

It always did.

But I never gave