Page 193 of While You Were Trending

But more than fear, there’s irritation.

Annoyance.

Anger.

Yes, I made a mistake, but if I hadn’t been notorious already because of what my mother made me do as a kid, it wouldn’t have been half as bad.

It wouldn’t keep coming back.

I deserve to get to live my life in peace, dammit.

And I deserve to get to go out on a date with a guy who makes my heart do backflips.

Who makes me believe that I deserve love.

“Not you, Ginny. My attention-hog brother.” Zander smiles as he says it, also back to looking mostly like his non-stage persona.

“Big trending or small trending?” Declan asks.

“Small, but you’re not small anymore, so it might not stay small long. We should get to the hotel,” Zander replies with a glance at me.

“I’ll get the clipboard,” Lou says. “You two go ahead. I’ll follow with Ginny.”

I huff.

Declan slips his hand in mine. “You okay with that?”

I huff again. “Yes,” I grumble.

It’s the smart thing to do.

And honestly?

I want the privacy.

I want the privacy to go to a hotel with Declan without the world knowing about it.

I want him to be something that’smine.

Something I don’t have to share with the world.

I lean in and kiss him, this time hard and desperate, holding him by the ears while I swipe my tongue over his lips and he groans softly into my mouth, then grips my nape and kisses me back.

Kissing Declan is like finding where I belong.

I already know I belong at the winery, but with Declan, it’s like—like I’ve found a secret door in my home that opens into a beautiful garden that’s been waiting for me.

Beautiful and new and all mine.

Except for the parts of him now owned by the world.

Goddammit.

38

THE SECOND-BEST MAN

Declan