Stuck On You

Chapter 24: Everyone Knows About Everyone

The next day, I didn’t wake up until the last minute. I got up and got dressed. Hayden had been up for

hours before me but he let me sleep in. Practice was like a wakeup call. I wanted to just stay in bed

with Hayden all day, but here I was, around people. We stretched before we started. Sophia was still

here. We worked on lifts; today of all days. I hissed in a breath as Hayden pulled up on my waist for the

millionth time. My bruises were really tender. I balled up in the air before I pulled Hayden’s hands off of

me. I sighed and put my hands to my face.

“What’s wrong?” Hayden asked worried. I sighed and just lifted a corner of my skin-tight tank top that I

strategically wore to cover the bruises trailing across my flat stomach. My hickey was still showing

though. He chuckled and kissed my cheek. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” he said. I rolled my eyes and

looked at the others spread around the room working the same thing. I saw Sophia walking towards us.

She put her hands on her hips as she neared us.

“What’s the problem?” she asked loudly, drawing attention to us. “No more fire?” she smirked. Hayden

was practically glaring at her.

“This is hurting her,” Hayden seethed. The others were walking over now. I put a hand on his chest

gently.

“It’s okay,” I said softly. I turned back to Sophia. “I’m fine,” I lied. Sophia shrugged her shoulders and

took a few steps back.

“Let’s see it then,” she said. I sighed and took a beat before I spun into Hayden and leaped. His hands

held my waist and I winched again. I stopped and Hayden lowered me to the ground. I sighed and

rested my hands on my back as I looked away from the crew and Sophia.

“Jo, what’s wrong?” Quinn asked worried. I shot her a fake smile.

“Nothing, I guess I’m just tired,” I lied.

“I’ll take you home,” Hayden offered. I shook my head.

“We can just work the routine without the lifts for now,” I said. Luca walked over and lifted my tank top. I

sighed and closed my eyes briefly.

“What the hell?” Luca breathed. I pushed my shirt back down and took a step away from him. Everyone

was silent for a moment before Jason broke out laughing. Everyone looked at him confused. He

couldn’t control it. He was laughing so hard, tears were coming out of his eyes. He only pointed at

Hayden.

“Dude, you banged her, didn’t you?” he finally got out. Hayden smirked and looked away from

everyone, trying to hide it. “I was wondering where you got those scratches from,” Jason said as he

started calming down. Hayden looked at him curiously.

“When did you see that?” Hayden asked. Jason shrugged as he straightened.

“I saw earlier when you lifted your shirt on our water break. She did a number on you, dude,” Jason

said, raising an eyebrow at me. I felt heat creep into my cheeks as I looked towards the floor.

“Are we done here?” I snapped. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t like the idea of people knowing what I did in

my spare time… or who I did. Quinn, Luca, Lana, and Sophia started walking away but Jason stuck

around a little longer. He sprawled on the couch near us and smirked at me.

“How many times?” Jason asked Hayden. Despite himself, a tiny smirk crept across Hayden’s face. He

looked at me before he looked at the floor.

“Three,” he answered. It was then that I realized what the question was. I rolled my eyes and started

walking away from them. Hayden caught me around the waist gently and pulled me back to him.

“Ow Hayden,” I whined. He loosened his grip but he didn’t let go.

“I’m sorry, Jo. I know that you’re upset but it’s pretty common to know who slept with whom around

here. Like, we all know that Lana is sleeping with Lewis, Luca is sleeping with a girl named Crystal…

and Quinn is sleeping with Jason,” Hayden tried to explain. My eyes widened as I looked to Jason. He

shrugged as a satisfied smile spread across his face.

“I didn’t know that… I didn’t want to know that,” I said, covering my face. Hayden chuckled and kissed

my head.

“We can go home if you want to,” he said, changing the subject. I nodded, all too ready to leave this

disaster of a practice. Forget it, we could practice at home.

“We’ll see you tomorrow, Jojo. Hopefully tomorrow you won’t be so sore, but who knows? Maybe you’ll

go to round six,” Jason said smugly. I wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground. I settled for grabbing

my stuff and walking quickly out of the door. Hayden followed behind me, chuckling softly. My bag

bounced against my side as I walked but I didn’t care. I just kept walking until I reached Hayden’s truck.

I put my bag in the back and climbed into the passenger side. He got in the driver’s side a moment

later and started the car with a satisfied grin.

“How could you just… stand there so calmly when everyone was practically dissecting us?” I asked him

curiously. He only shrugged as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“I don’t care what they think, Jo. I just care about you. So what if they know?” he explained. I sighed

and closed my eyes briefly before I looked out the window at the passing scenery. His hand rested on

my thigh and he squeezed it gently. “I love you, and that’s all that matters,” he said. I sighed and looked

at him. He was smiling easily. I rolled my eyes and smiled too. I couldn’t stay mad around him.