Under the Lights

Either way, I have to get out of here. I have to talk to Zander, I have to make Jade fix this, and I have to make sure that Bri knows it’s complete and total bullshit. Not necessarily in that order.

“I think Josh is still asleep,” I tell Ally, “and I have to get out of here. But all I have is the dress I wore last night. It won’t exactly help anything if I walk-of-shame out of here.”

“What’d you sleep in?”

“Clothes that are obviously Josh’s. No better. What do I do?”

I can practically hear Ally’s brain working on the other end of the line. “Got it! What about Bri?”

My grip on the phone turns to iron. “What about Bri?”

“Ask her to bring you something. She can sneak it in her purse, pretend she’s at Josh’s house on official business or something. Then you guys can leave together, which at least ups the innocence factor a little, no?”

There’s so much irony in that idea, but on the surface, I know this makes the most sense. Bri and I just need to put everything else aside for now. She’s on my publicity team; she’ll get it. This morning, I need her in a professional capacity. We’ll deal with the rest when this ridiculousness dies down.

Plus, this way at least I can get to her early, before any of these lies reach her.

“Yeah, okay. I’m gonna give her a call. I’ll text you when I get out of here. Thanks, A.”

“Always. Keep me posted.” We hang up, and I quickly check the text messages that have gathered on my phone. Most of them are frantic ones from Zander, who unfortunately is a morning person, and a few are seething ones from Jade. Nothing from Bri. I wonder if she’s even awake.

I take a deep breath and dial her number, though a part of me hopes she doesn’t pick up. If she’s still asleep, it means she hasn’t been exposed to any of this train wreck yet. I like to think she’s still enjoying a good night’s sleep, maybe even dreaming of a certain petite Korean chick. But after two rings, she picks up, her voice thick and raspy and sexy as hell. “Hey. Woman of the hour.”

“You saw.”

“I did. Not really where I thought you were gonna go after I left last night.”

I duck back into the guest house and close the door behind me. “Bri, please tell me you know everything in that article is complete crap. There’s nothing going on between me and Josh. You’ve been to the set, and you know that’s where the pictures are from.”

She takes a deep breath and exhales. “I know. It’s just…you really freaked out last night, and then when you didn’t call…” She laughs, and the nervousness in it is so cute, my bare toes curl against the slate tile. “God, I swear I’m not usually this insecure. You do weird things to me, Park.”

“Not as weird as you do to me, Harris,” I murmur, heat rising into my cheeks.

We’re both quiet for a moment, letting our weirdness sink in. Then I remember I actually had a reason for calling her in the first place. “So, I actually have a huge favor to ask you.”

“I’m intrigued. Shoot.”

“I’m still at Josh’s, and I need to get out of here so I can deal with things.”

“You need new clothing and an escape plan,” she fills in.

“Man, you really have learned a lot from working with Jade. Anyway, yes. Please. Desperately. I don’t know how many more messages from Zander I can ignore. But I need to break up with him in person, like an actual human being.”

“Can’t argue with that,” she says, and the smile in her voice puts one on my face. “I’ll be there in thirty.”

“Thanks, Bri. And if you talk to your mom—”

“Oh, trust me, I’m avoiding her like the plague. I got read the riot act at 5:00 a.m. for not keeping a leash on you last night. I don’t even know if I still have a job.”

Crap. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that going rogue for a night could put Bri’s job with Jade in jeopardy. “Oh, no. Bri, I’m so sorry. I’ll talk to Jade—”

“Van, stop. I couldn’t care less about this job. The only part of it I actually like is the excuse to hang out with you. And trust me, I’m not complaining about any part of last night.”

Tingles. Everywhere. God, is this what it’s like for Ally and Liam, or Jamal and Theresa? How do they even function? There’s a ridiculous storm of crazy happening outside, and all I want to do right now is curl up with this girl and hide away from it forever.

Which is probably another sign this is all a terrible career move.

“I’m about to get into my car, so I’ll see you in half an hour, okay?”

“Okay. And again, thank you.”

“It’s my job,” she reminds me playfully. “At least for now. See you soon.”

We hang up, and I stick my head back out to glance up at the main house. Still no sign of Josh. Which means I get to ignore all of this for just a tiny bit longer.

I run a hot bath and strip off my clothes. In half an hour, I’ll buck up and deal with the paparazzi, and Zander, and Jade, and the tabloids. But for the next thirty minutes, I have much, much better things to think about.

* * *