Anya pointed at a door next to the bar. "There's a small green room for performers. He might be in there."
I thanked her and headed over. The door was unlocked and no one seemed to care that I was about to enter, so enter I did. It wasn't much of a green room. There was a lame cut-fruit platter and some bottles of water on the table.
A leather jacket was thrown over a chair. Feeling only moderately stupid, I sniffed it. Iron and musk, the unique pairing of blades and spicy cologne that was Rohan's signature scent. He'd been here, so where was he now? Another door led off this one. I checked it out, but it was a supply closet.
I was about to close the door when I heard Lily say, "Today has been perfect."
I slipped inside, keeping the closet door open a crack. Enough to spy on her and Rohan as they entered the room. I couldn't see him from where I hid, but I heard him teasing her about a cheesy set of souvenir magnets that she'd bought.
Lily, however, was in clear view. Close enough that I could reach out and touch her. She wore a super cool pink cocktail dress that looked as if it had been made from sari material. "I've missed you," she said.
"Me too, Lils."
My hand tightened on the door knob.
"If you're going to be jet-setting around the world now, the least you could do is come rescue me from my dissertation from time to time." She twirled a lock of hair around her finger. Her eyes without her glasses seemed huge as she blinked up at him.
"Take you to Paris for dessert?"
She laughed. I might have laughed too at the farfetched suggestion until she said, "You have no idea how much mileage I still get out of that story."
Excuse me?! He took her to Paris for dessert? From California? I thunked my head against the door but they were too busy chatting to hear me. Too busy engaging in a gentle flirtation that bore no resemblance to any interaction that Rohan and I had ever had.
I think I had late onset claustrophobia. I tugged on my neckline, desperate enough to get away that I considered texting Drio to come for Rohan so I could sneak out. I peered out through the crack.
Lily motioned for him to turn around. "You know the drill."
He chuckled but I'm guessing did as he was told as I still couldn't see him. "My pre-show check. You realize I haven't caught my shirt in my zipper in years."
"I concede that you might know how to dress yourself now."
"I'm much better at undressing."
Lily stilled, caught under the weight of his blazing gold stare. I didn't need to see Rohan to know what made her sway in toward him, her lips softly parting.
My phone hit the tile floor with a loud clatter.
Lily's head jerked up. I flattened myself back into the shadows and closed my eyes.
There was a loud knock on the green room door. "Rohan, I have some people I want you to meet." Bless Forrest.
Rohan hesitated before answering and I held my breath, certain I was about to be discovered. "Sure," he finally said. "Come on, Lils."
I waited an extra few minutes to make sure they were gone. And because my fist was stuffed in my mouth so I wouldn't scream. This was so stupid. I was so stupid. Rohan and I weren't dating. Big deal, I'd lose a fuck buddy. A phenomenal fuck buddy but it wasn't the end of the world. There was absolutely no reason for my irrational anger and even more irrational yearning and damn it! I yanked my fingers away from my lips.
Rohan and I had run our course and as the chic, confident woman I was, I wanted to be the one to end things. I smoothed down my dress, picked up my phone, and stepped back out into the green room.
"Spying?"
I screamed, fumbling my phone at hearing Drio's voice by my ear. He'd flash stepped to sneak up on me, and now leaned against the wall, looking cool and polished in a deep blue suit, his blond hair slicked back. Very Mad Men.
I shoved at his shoulder. "Give a girl a heart attack, why don't you? Who said I was spying, anyway?"
"You didn't leave with the rest of them. Where were you hiding?" He glanced around and saw the closet. "Ah. How close were you to getting caught?"
I grimaced. "If I'd breathed out at the wrong time, it would have been a threesome."
He threw back his head and laughed. I shoved him again, then headed back into the main lounge. Drio caught me around the waist, steering me in a different direction. "They're at the far end of the bar. Go this way."
"Will you get me a drink?"
"There's another bar." He pushed through the crowd. I lost sight of him for a moment, startling when he appeared at my side, holding a half-drunk highball, a cheeky grin on his face.