Still Jaded (Jaded #2)

I nodded. I still couldn't understand why this was happening again.

"Middle of the night, you can call me. I mean it. I'll be awake." She chuckled to herself. "That's how sad my life is. Take care of yourself, Sheldon. You got someone coming to pick you up?"

"Yeah, sure."

When she left, I grimaced as I grabbed the small bag and headed out. No one was coming to pick me up. No one knew that I was cleared to go home, but now I couldn't go home. So I called the one person I never thought I would call in my life.

Bryce's agent answered with a suspicious hello.

"Mathias, I need a favor."

"What kind of a favor? Thanks for not scratching Guadalupe's face, by the way. I know her agent. She would've ripped me a new one."

"What hotel is she staying at?"

"What? No way. No way, Jose. You stay away from her, Sheldon."

"Relax."

"You relax. I'll tell Bryce. I'm hanging up right now to call him."

"Stop!" I rolled my eyes. He was such a pansy. "I know you don't want any trouble from me, but I want to apologize to her. I won't even see her. I'll leave a note at the front desk, but I need to know which hotel so that I can do that."

When he started to argue some more, I groaned. "Come on, Mathias. I don't trust anyone else to do this. You know how things end up in the media's hands. Just give me the name. That's it."

There was a long silence, but he asked, "Are you sure? That's all you're going to do."

"I promise." Why did people always ask that of me? Did they not really know me? Of course I was lying.

"What do you think? Do you think that's a good idea? I thought Bryce would know that I'm not too jealous of her then."

"Well…okay. She's staying at the Wilshire, room 618. Don't—just…don't mess things up with Bryce. He's close to Guadalupe. I know you don't want to hear that, but they're close. They're friends, Sheldon. I know Bryce would be upset if she were upset."

Bryce would be upset? This guy really was stupid. I was barely able to stop myself from snorting in disbelief. "I'm going to make things right. Just watch."

"Okay." I heard his relief over the phone. "Good. This means a lot to me, Sheldon. It's nice to see that you're making an effort." He started to say something else, but I ended the call abruptly.

I couldn't stomach anymore of his stupidity.

Wilshire, huh? I grabbed my bag and went to check out. After I signed my last sheet of paper and had taken care of all that business, I hailed a cab. I didn't want to go back to the mansion, not yet. Officer Sheila made it sound like I didn't have any clothes left, so I stopped at a store for some new ones. I bought a couple of basic hooded sweatshirts and jeans. Then I got a big pair of sunglasses and went back to the cab. Once we were at the Wilshire, with my hood up and sunglasses over my face, I asked for room 617.

After I got to my room, I sank down on the bed. It was a beautiful room with white blankets, white tiling on the floor, and a patio that overlooked their pool. I didn't care. That's when reality started to hit me. What was I doing? No matter how bad everything was, I had always had Bryce and Corrigan to back me up. Then Grace came along too, but now I couldn't turn to any of them. It was just me and me alone.

Hell. I studied the liquor cabinet, grabbed a bottle of vodka, and guzzled. Halfway through the bottle, I heard the door open across the hallway and stumbled over to look out my peephole. Guadalupe emerged with two other people. One guy wore a tuxedo and he held her hand as another girl patted down her hair.

When they started down the hallway, I grabbed my purse and followed down the stairs. I waited near the door as they stepped off the elevator.

"And where are you off to, Miss Guadalupe?" The clerk handed them a packet and smiled graciously.

The tuxedo dude spoke for her. "Miss Bennett has a very important meeting. Thank you, Concierge." Then they headed out. The tuxedo guy held his hand on her back. I watched through the glass doors when they ducked inside a limo.

Should I follow them? Should I become the stalker this time? My gut sank as I remained there. I had become pathetic. When had that happened?

"Are you a fan of hers?" The concierge asked me. He was over six feet tall with classic handsome features. There was a hint of Latin heritage. He seemed friendly, but I saw eagerness in his eyes. I didn't like that he was eager.

"Not really."

"She's beautiful, isn't she? I have a friend of a friend to her make-up girl. They're going to have dinner with Bryce Scout right now. Have you heard of him? He's a big soccer star. They both just moved here. She came for a movie, and he followed her here. She could do so much better."

"Like you?"

"Maybe." His shoulders lifted in excitement. He couldn't contain the glee on his face. "I have plans. This is only my day job, and I think she likes me."

She did, huh? I wondered if he had shared this delusion with Guadalupe herself?

He leaned forward and whispered, "I got her number. She slid it over the counter to me."