Turning to Stone (Heart of Stone: Book 2)

Chapter 18: Distance

Chapter 18: Distance

I hid out in my room for the rest of the afternoon, considering my own personal strategy for this latest publicity stunt. If Ed was still mad at me, maybe that could work in my favour. His attitude would annoy me in return, and it was much safer to dislike him than to like him under the current circumstances.

Pretending to love him in public while maintaining our usual friendship in private was a recipe for disaster. Saturday night's kiss had been a warning for me: I was getting sucked in again, unable to distinguish between my head, heart, and hormones. How could I keep romantic feelings at bay if we had no real barriers between us anymore?

A light rap of knuckles against the door interrupted my quandary. I waited to see if they'd leave, but the louder and longer knock that followed pulled me away from my bed to answer.

Ed stood on the other side of the door, fist raised as if planning to try again, and I cocked a questioning brow at him.

"Uh, hey," he said, having the decency to look sheepish. "Got a minute?"

"Not really."

As if knowing I was lying, he scratched the back of his neck and lowered his eyes.

"Sorry for snapping earlier. I shouldn't have reacted like that. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence."

"Well, it is a coincidence."

"Yeah, Helen explained."

I leaned against the door frame and folded my arms. "Helen explained? So if she hadn't, you'd still think I'd screwed you over again?"

With a soft sigh, Ed glanced over his shoulder before returning his gaze to me. "Can we talk inside?"

"So your men don't overhear? We're in a public relationship now, so why not start practising early?"

Shaking his head, he tugged my wrist free from my crossed arms and strode into my room, yanking me in with him. As he slammed the door shut, he whirled around to face me, eyes swimming with irritation.

"Is that what this is really about?" he asked.

"No, this is about you jumping to conclusions. I thought we'd moved past what happened last spring, but apparently you're still harbouring resentment and suspicion towards me."

Ed closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, and when they re-opened, the irritation had been replaced by something softer.

"Yes, I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I also believed we'd moved past it, hence why I reacted the way I did. I'd let my guard down with you again and thought I'd been bitten for it. It was an instinctive reaction driven by fear, and I can't do anything about it now other than apologise."

Stop. This didn't work with my plan. How was I supposed to hate the guy when he was being so reasonable?

Luckily for me, my silence prompted him to carry on talking, and this time his words genuinely did rub me up the wrong way, so I didn't have to pretend.

"I know Helen has asked you to join me at the awards ceremony. Obviously it's your decision, and nobody's going to force you either way, but you should know that I'll be performing Friends there."

"Why?" I furrowed my brow as a searing flush of angst rolled through me. "Do you already know you've won or something?"

He lifted one shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. "Not exactly, but it's the top streaming song so they want me to sing it live."

"Wonderful. I'd tell you to enjoy the trip down memory lane, but that conclusion you jumped to earlier suggests you're already partway there."

A muscle in his jaw clenched but he didn't fight back. "If this plan of Helen's is upsetting you, we'll talk to her about it and suggest an alternative."