Author Note at the end

Chapter 9 - Jealousy After Nobu

All this love, I'm so choked up

I can feel you in my blood

All this lust, for just one touch

I'm so scared to give you up

Valentine, my decline is so much better with you

Valentine, my decline, I'm always running to you

•Valentine, Måneskin

BPOV

James David, who I always preferred to refer to as David, decides he wants to splurge and take me to Nobu. I'm never not craving sushi, so I dress in a risqué jumpsuit, leather jacket, and heeled boots and take a town car to meet him.

I'll admit the nerves have my stomach in knots. After everything with Edward, the call with Jacob, and now running into David again, with whom I've burned about as hot as I can post-divorce, I'm wondering why the universe has decided to throw everything at me all at once.

Nobu is busy, packed with celebrities and couples and celebrity couples. David stands to greet me, kissing my cheek while holding onto my hip in a way that is anything but friendly.

"You look so good," he praises, eyes hooded. I blush. So does he, in black slacks and a silky button down that's unbuttoned nearly all the way and tucked into his trousers. His loafers are gucci, with sunglasses in his pocket to match. My face must tell him what I'm thinking because he laughs.

We sit down and he immediately pours me a glass of white wine from the bottle on the table.

"I thought you might cancel," he confesses as I take off my jacket.

"And why would you think that?"

"You seem to have a lot going on," he smirks, and I groan.

"You gonna tell me how that's going or am I gonna have to force it out of you? I can get more wine," he offers. I sigh, but divulge anyway.

James David was one of the only people I told about what happened with Masen. He used to be a huge New Moons fan, and recognized my name somehow when we met. After a few hookups, we had established a level of intimacy I hadn't felt in a long while. Nowhere near what Edward and I had, but more than the fleeting feeling of simple care I felt for other men I had been with. It was easy to talk to David as he gazed at you with soft bedroom eyes, and tonight was no exception.

When I finish updating him, he sighs.

"Now I need a drink."

I laugh and finish my glass of wine. David looks at me intently, elbow on the table casually as he swirls his wine glass.

"Please stop looking at me like that," I say softly.

"I'm just coming to terms with the fact that I'm never going to see you naked again."

I look at him wide-eyed, laughing incredulously. "You don't know that," I insist.

David looks at me knowingly. "Bella. It's Edward Masen. The love of your life. You have a long way to go - lots of work and talking and probably therapy - but you can't let this go. You never got over him, as much as you try to hide it."

I look down, fiddling with my napkin. "But I want to. I want to be over him."

"But you aren't. And I don't think he's going to give up again too easily. So it's time to put on your big girl panties and make him work for it."

At this moment our food is delivered. I sit back to allow my plate to be sat in front of me, and I can feel David's eyes on me. Once the waitress is satisfied we are happy, he grabs my hand, playing with the skin in between my fingers.

"A few more dates and I wouldn't have let him have you," he says wistfully.

"You don't mean that."

He smiles, and I can see he does.

"I'm sorry, David," I whisper, and I am. "You're too good for me. I would've broken your heart."

"I was born with a broken heart, my love," he tells me. "I'll get over it."

As we're leaving David drapes an arm over my shoulders. I look up at him, questioning, and he laughs. "I can't fuck you, but I can fuck with him. Make him jealous, he'll work a little faster."

I roll my eyes and let him help me into his car, ignoring the white flashes at the corners of my vision.

"Do you have a magic pussy?" Alice demands over the phone. "You must, because how the hell do you barely interact with people and still have two majorly famous rockstars fawning over you."

"Aren't you my boss?" I ask dryly.

"Oh, shut up," she grumbles, then continues to ramble.

After our night out, photos of James David and I looking very, very close hit the internet, in addition to a fan video of us leaving Nobu circulating on Tik Tok. Not to mention he posted a photo on his instagram of our meal last night with my distinctly feminine hand holding a wine glass in the corner and the caption "born with a broken heart" to promote his new song, the bastard. Now I'm in the airport waiting for my flight in the airline lounge, sunglasses over my eyes and ball cap low. I'm probably paranoid but it feels like eyes are on my every move.

"James David and I are just friends," I tell Alice, interrupting her spiel.

"Just friends, my ass. He was staring at your ass in those photos."

He was. He really was.

"We haven't always been just friends," I said slowly. I have to hold my phone away from my ears with how loud she screams.

"I knew it! Oh my god, you're a legend!"

I roll my eyes at her. "Okay, Ali. I've gotta go. My flight boards soon."

As I hang up, my phone buzzes and I glance at the incoming notification. It's a text from James David.

I open it and see a screenshot of an instagram DM. My eyes bulge and I flip my glasses onto my head, clicking on the picture to make sure my vision isn't failing me.

And it's not. Because he really has a message from @masen.

enjoy it while you can.

A/N: thanks to all of you still here with me. slow burning, but we are closer!! some of you noticed inconsistencies, that's on me. I started this so long ago, it's embarrassing. but your comments mean everything, and I love hearing some of you are enjoying the songs. music is so much of my soul. and finally, yes, James David is definitely inspired by Damiano David. I've been listening to his songs too much, please forgive my corniness. xx orionsnights