“It’s okay. It’s not a big deal. Listen, I’m sorry if I offended you. I guess I assumed you would know what tonight was about and how it would play out. It never occurred to me you wouldn’t be ok with it. You’re still new to the business, I guess. So, I apologize.” She paused, looking me in the eyes again, only this time the happiness was gone altogether. “But you need to understand I did you a favor back there. You might not think so right now, but you’ll see.”
She turned and walked away from me, leaving me speechless. She was right, I was new to the game, but I wasn’t dumb. It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand why she did what she did, I just didn’t like the way it made me feel. Used, and a little fake. I never wanted to be anything but myself. I was an honest person. And this was far from honest.
I exhaled loudly, realizing there was absolutely nothing I could do about it at that moment. The damage was done. In fact, there were most likely already posts on social media speculating about our relationship status. I wanted to leave, to bail on this whole evening, but I didn’t know how to get out of the building without walking right back down the red carpet, and I didn’t have a way home anyway. So I decided to ride the evening out. I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and went to find Lexi in the sea of celebrities and hangers-on.
Chapter Three
He’s Not Hard On The Eyes
Kalli
It was a Saturday morning, and the first Saturday in weeks I didn’t have to work. I enjoyed sleeping in, but woke up hungry, so I padded down the stairs toward the kitchen. As I neared the first floor I could hear Ella talking to the baby and smiled when I came into the great room and saw Mattie happily sitting in her bouncy chair while Ella spooned something into her mouth. The TV was on in the background and Ella watched it as she fed her daughter.
“Morning, Kal,” she said cheerily, looking over her shoulder as I came into the room. “I didn’t think you were here.”
“I got a Saturday off. It’s a miracle,” I answered, my voice still a little raspy from sleep.
“Really?” she asked excitedly, turning to face me. “I was going to drive to Portland to see Megan and have lunch and go shopping. Wanna come with me?”
“You aren’t spending the day with Porter?” That surprised me. Generally on the weekends they were together all the time.
“He has to work in Lincoln City today and then is having dinner with his mom. It’s a girls’ day!” she exclaimed, turning back to Mattie, using her mom voice again.
“You know what? That sounds like a lot of fun. I think I will go with you.” I grabbed a banana, then moved to sit on the couch facing Ella, who was parked on the floor.
“Really? That’s great. We’ve really missed hanging out with you,” she stated. She wasn’t looking at me as she said the words, but I could hear the underlying meaning. I’d closed myself off from them for a while. Not because they did anything wrong, but because I wasn’t emotionally ready to let myself feel anything but sadness and loss. I was staying with them, living in their houses, but I wasn’t the same person I used to be. A small smile crossed my face and I decided it was as good a day as any to try to enjoy myself with my friends.
“I’ve missed me, too,” I replied honestly. “And thank you for not giving up on me. I’m trying, every day, to get back to normal. I’m just not sure what normal is anymore.”
“Oh, sweetie, you’re doing fine. And we’ll be here to help you as long as you need.”
I smiled at her, grateful for my friend in that moment, but my attention was pulled to the television as I heard a woman speak a name I’d tried for months to avoid hearing.
“Riot Bentley made quite the appearance last night at the Hollywood premiere of Midnight Ride when he showed up on the arm of none other than pop superstar, Lexi Black.”
My breath snagged in my lungs and my heart skidded to an immediate halt at the mention of Riot, and my traitorous head turned toward the television, where my eyes landed on his image. It was the first time I’d seen him in months, thanks to avoiding the Internet all together. My first thought? He looked amazing. Handsome and delicious in a suit with no tie, top buttons of his shirt undone. It wasn’t jeans and a t-shirt, but it was a look he wore well.
“Oh, shit,” I heard Ella mumble, then from the corner of my eye I saw her scrambling for the remote control. She speed-crawled across the floor to the coffee table and grabbed the remote. Just as she lifted it to change the channel, I stopped her.
“No, wait, I want to watch this.” Obviously, I was into pain.
“Lexi Black, who’d been rumored to be dating famed director George Lebowitz, showed no shyness as she planted a kiss on her leading man right on the red carpet.” I sucked in a sharp breath as they showed a slow-motion replay of Lexi leaning in and planting her red, luscious lips right on Riot’s. “Fans might remember Bentley as the hot hunk in her most popular music video to date, which was, coincidentally, directed by Lebowitz. Bentley, the current heartthrob on the hit show Shield to Shield, looked slightly uncomfortable in front of the cameras, but this was his first red carpet event so we’ll give him a pass.”