How to (Not) Date a Popstar |✓|

5.2 Just Listen

We snuck from the bedroom an hour later, looking both ways before darting from the room. If anyone saw us, they would know we were to blame for the mess in the bathroom. Still high from a night in each other's arms, we took refuge in a dim, empty hallway on the first floor.

W paused in a dark and shadowy corner. Hands in his pockets, Tyler chased my lips with tiny biting kisses. "You, are very flexible."

"So's my schedule."

"I guess, that means, I can call you?"

"I guess."

My phone vibrated. Though Aunt Trina seemed to have recovered from her injuries, Hudson and I still waited on her hand and foot, much to her annoyance. I checked my phone, just in case she ran out of Pepcid or was in danger of spontaneous combustion. I frowned at the name on the screen.

Tyler nuzzled my neck. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Robin texted me."

"Interesting." He straightened, eyes on his feet as he shuffled in place. "I thought you two weren't friends."

"We're not."

"Cool-cool-cool... What did she say?"

"Whatever it says, it's not as important as this." I tucked the phone away, balancing on my tiptoes as I draped my arms around his neck. Tyler lifted me off my feet, blowing raspberries beneath my chin. I snorted with laughter. Tyler's love language had always been physical touch. He needed hugs when he was sad, he loved cuddling during movies, and when he kissed you, he traced your body like lines on a map. In Tyler's eyes was a world where I chose him over everything. With all that dopamine in our system, how would we ever know if we were doing the right thing?

"I should go home," I whispered, brushing the hair from his butterfly stitches. "Quinn's coming over tomorrow so we can practice for the talent show." I groaned, retrieving the phone vibrating in my purse to check her second text in a row. "Robin never quits. She's like the evil Energizer Bunny, I swear—"

I blinked, trying to make sense of the video on my screen. Something about the couple having sex in a hotel bed made my stomach lurch. A boy with emerald green eyes was straddled by a gorgeous girl with long, honey waves interrupted by a single strip of crimson.

Shaking, I deleted the video.

"You really shouldn't leave your phone lying around." I backed away from Tyler. I had never seen Tyler so pale and nervous. "Robin's words, not mine."

"Aaliyah, that video... You weren't supposed to see that—"

"Too late. You're underage, Tyler. Which means Robin committed a crime when she sent it and I just committed a crime by watching it—what the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't, that's kind of the point," he muttered, lowering his voice as someone passed us in the hallway. "Believe it or not it wasn't my idea. But you're right, Aaliyah, I shouldn't have said yes. I-I should have deleted it a long time ago. Aaliyah, will you please just look at me, please?" He cupped my face with both hands. "I can explain."

"You've had plenty of time to do that." Nudging his hands aside, I walked past him in disgust. Tyler followed me down another hallway, back to the brightest, busiest parts of the mansion. My vision blurred by boiling hot tears, I ignored Tyler's pleads. I navigated my way to the overly large foyer, where my sweater hung in the closet. Out of the dozens of kids around us, Quinn and Declan weren't hard to pick out.

Declan's tall frame was positioned behind her, hugging Quinn from behind as they laughed with a classmate. Feeling eyes drilling in the side of my head, I glanced across the entrance hall, where Robin smirked, watching her evil plan come to fruition. Eric wasn't far behind. Avoiding my gaze, he took a bitter sip from his cup.