Ethan"Ethan! Damn, man. Just do the improv and let’s get rolling. It's a short skit to open you guys up emotionally. Come on already.""Fine," I barked and turned back to her. "I don't know what's going on right now, but I don't like it."She nodded and moved toward me, her expression shifting from something close to fear to the most loving look she'd given me to date. It had the power to melt me."I don't want you to go." Tears filled her pretty blue eyes.I reached out and touched the side of her face, forcing myself into character as bile rose up my chest. Something was ending between us. I couldn't let it happen. I'd rather die than miss out on whatever we could have together. For the first time in my life... I wanted love. Her love."Baby. I'm just going on a quick trip up north." I smiled and leaned down, kissing her cheek and brushing her tear away with my lips. "Don't be sad. I'll be back in a couple of days.""Will you?" She pulled back a little."You know I will, Eliza." I
EthanThe moment was surreal.Clayton and Frank standing at the edge of a small make-shift stage, Deza a few feet back, her eyes wide and tears running down her face. It was a moment I could never forget for the rest of my life.Riley's short strawberry blonde hair was matted to her beautiful face, and her lips were so red. Blood red. Sights and sounds echoed in my skull as my heart raced, my balance getting a little off as I felt so damn dizzy all of a sudden.She needed to know that I loved her, but what if I were being set up? Clayton played some part in all that was happening, but what part? Was she his puppet?No. Her eyes told me the truth. Somewhere along the way, she'd fallen in love with me, and not a fan-girl love. Real love. Deep, abiding love that could work to heal my wounds and save me from the destructive path I wanted to race down.I needed something to numb the pain of being alone. Anything. I blinked a few times, coming back into the scene as she lifted her chin and
EthanI glanced around the empty living room at my place, hating everything I'd picked out to decorate the white walls with. Memories blasted through me. So many good times with me and Deza cutting up and acting stupid. She'd saved me from myself and had been a mother, a sister, a best friend through everything I'd been through.Why was I pushing her away now?It wasn't like she'd staged the fucking kiss in front of Darren. She was hurting that day too and wanted to shove it in his big ugly face that she wasn't alone. She had me.The hot ball of regret sitting at the back of my throat stung, and caused tears to well up in my eyes again. I hadn't cried off camera more than three times in my life, and I sure as fuck wasn't about to do it then.A knock on the front door pulled me from my thoughts. I reached out and ran my hand over the back of my couch as I contemplated what to do. If it were Riley, I'd throw her over my shoulder and haul her off to the bedroom like a caveman, suffocatin
RileyThe look on Ethan's face haunted me as I drove home. Had I played into some sick game that Clayton was playing with the handsome playboy?No. I knew what I was doing, and it seemed that Ethan did too. I needed him to tell me that he loved me, and he stumbled over it three different times before finally blurting it out in a last-ditch effort to appease me.I knew what real love looked like. A sick smile lifted my lips. I'd seen it in the movies.Tears burned my gaze as I reached up and ran my fingers down my sticky wet hair. Too much hair spray, which I hated anyway. Why had I let them doll me up?Right. Because I belonged to them. They could do whatever they wanted to with me thanks to me signing on the dotted line, and all for what?Fame? Adoring fans that really didn't know anything about me?Ethan's attention?No. None of those things seemed to matter as I pulled into the apartment complex that Charlotte and I were renting. Jace's truck was parked in a visitor spot, and I tho
Riley"Hush." He sat down on the toilet, his eyes filled with loving kindness. "I came by to apologize. You're my best friend, and I'm really good with that title. I don't need anything else from you. Honestly." He shrugged. "I think watching you fall in love with someone else just fucked me up a little. I don't want to lose you."You might not have to after today. "I appreciate that." I pressed my head to the chilly tile wall behind me and kept the curtain in place to hide my nakedness. "I would never want to hurt you. You know that, right?""Of course I do." He glanced down at his hands as he fidgeted. "What happened today?" The hardness in his voice caused me to worry for a second. I didn't want to spill my guts and have him turn into a monster, going after Ethan and beating him to a pulp on my behalf. It was very much a Jace Dillon move."I don't know." I let out a sardonic laugh. "I saw a video of Ethan kissing his agent, our agent, and it fucked me up.""On a set or like really
Two Weeks LaterEthanI'd decided to take two weeks off, and Frank and Deza respected it and backed me up with the studio, which was a bit of a surprise. We were behind and most likely over budget for the film, but without me coming back, there wouldn't be a film.I would end up sued thanks to my contract if I didn't complete the filming, but I'd get it done. Eventually. After trying to text Riley daily for the first few days and getting nothing back, I stopped trying. There was only so much humility I could stomach.I hadn't done anything wrong, and over the fourteen days of sitting in my house and stewing on everything, she had actually been in the wrong more than me.Her and Clayton had something going on. The connection between them during that last scene we did was almost too much. Like she was a puppet on his string. That shit didn't happen overnight, and it certainly didn't happen without emotional connection underneath it all.What did she feel for him? Was there a battle ragi
EthanI needed resolution and the one good thing that had come from the last two weeks was that I knew without a doubt that I would accept whatever outcome. I might not be thrilled about it, but I'd figure it out. She would welcome me into her life as her man, and we could start building our dreams together, or she would reject me, and I'd call Jazz, buy a bottle of KY and get back to living.The hot spray felt good against my skin, and I let out a long sigh and ducked my head under it as memories rolled through my mind, some of them so good it brought tears to my eyes.Our first night together at my place. She'd wanted me to kiss her, hell, half-expected it from what I could tell. And I'd denied her. I smiled at the memory and held onto it."All right. I'm sorry for being a dick in the dressing room yesterday. I was wrong, and I shouldn't have said you were unprofessional." I slid my hands over her taut hips, her body so fucking hot it hurt. "It was me that was being unprofessional."
Riley"Thanks for coming." Frank stood as I approached the small table just outside on the restaurant's patio. Deza glanced up, her expression solemn.I'd spent the last two weeks moping around my apartment and jogging until my legs shook beneath me. With no job to go to, I was losing my grip on reality. Ethan had texted a few times and tried to call once, but I needed some space, and Jace had been right, Ethan needed it too. Although I loved him, we were miles apart in our maturity levels.He was a playboy with his head in the clouds, and I was a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks. What looked like a great love affair only had one way of working out in my mind... if someone scripted it to. Maybe seeing him over the two weeks would have changed my mind, or helped a little, but I hadn't let myself.He was pulling everyone's strings at Eon from what I gathered, and when he finally decided to put on his big-girl panties and bring his ass out of hiding, we would all get back to w