Page 128 of Deeper

“I just thought you deserved a heads-up.” Jolie brought her straw to her lips and took a sip of her drink. “Mmm, youdohave good taste.”

My temper was rising and I did my best to keep it in check. “What do you want?”

“I think you should be careful, with Zander. He’s a lot to deal with.Ishould know.” Her little laugh she let out was totally fake. What’s more, she reached out and placed her hand on my shoulder gently. “The beginning was fun, but then he got clingy, demanding to see me all the time, wanting me to skip filming just to be up under him. It got way too intense for me.

“His codependency was so overwhelming. I started to feel…suffocated, and our relationship felt like a chore. In the end, I had to get away.” Jolie frowned, trying to sell it more. “I don’t want you to go through that. No woman deserves to be put in that position.”

Stiffly, I clapped my hand on my arm since holding my drink made the task of clapping my hands together impossible. “Bravo. You’re really going for that Oscar gold, huh? You almost had me, except, wait, you didn’t.”

Jolie dropped her nice girl act and stood straight, pursing her lips. “I was trying to be nice.”

“And I’m trying to walk away. Have a good night.” I turned my back on her and started in search of the direction Remy had instructed. I’d rather catch a contact high than deal with this.

“It’ll never be you,” Jolie announced from behind me. I turned back around, catching a mean smile stretching her pink lips. “I get it, right now, it’s new and fun, but at the end of the day, you’re just a new feel, and you know men, they’ll always end up dying to try something new, but when they get bored, we all know where they end up. He left Ishani for me, and he’ll do the same with you.”

Composing myself as best as I could, I marched right up to her face. “The only reason I’m not breaking that new nose of yours, is because I don’t want to embarrass him.”

Jolie stepped up to me, fearless, smirking as if I were nothing more than a joke to her. “Sweetie, I posted a picture with another man and Zander cancelled his whole tour. This ismygame of chess we’re playing, not yours. If you think you matter to him, you’re sadly mistaken. You have his dick, but I have his heart. You’re the girl he’s fucking, and I’m the woman he’ll marry…ifI let him.”

To brag about my hookup with Zander made me feel dirty suddenly, as if she were right and I was just someone he was sleeping with, versus her being someone he actually loved.

In seconds, Jolie’s whole demeanor morphed into light and friendly as she peered past me. “Peyton! Hey! Hugo was asking about you for his upcoming campaign.” In a move to be nonchalant, she nudged me out of the way as she went over to Peyton Hearst.

My hand was shaking and I couldn’t hold on to my Electric Smurf. I set it on the bar and I tried to calm down my impending panic attack. Nazanin said they were endgame, and Jolie wasn’t about to back off. Did Zander like me enough to tell her to go fuck herself?

I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was out of my place amongst all these A-listers, and not in the mood to fake a smile. Against all my might I was shaking, unable to let Jolie’s poisonous words go. Around and around they circled my thoughts, leaving—

Up ahead of me, at the hedge to take pictures was a group of pretty, young, rich people. Piper. Remy. Zander. Peyton. Galen. Jolene Jones.

“Fame” by David Bowie was blaring through the speakers, causing some attendees to sway to the iconic song. The group at the hedge were too caught up in each other to notice. They were all laughing and smiling, and Jolie was right next to Zander.

I waited for him to move, to stop smiling, to stop looking so damn happy to be around her.

He didn’t.

A lump lodged in my throat.Oh.

I didfeeldirty just then.

Doing the best that I could, I jostled away from the crowds, finding a place to be alone. The empty gazebo at the edge of the yard. A string of lights decorated the top of the roof, and once inside I found that there was a nice view of the mountains of Pasadena. It was a breathtaking sight, if only I could catch my breath. Even the stunning angel statue nearby couldn’t lift my spirits.

Footsteps sounded behind me and in seconds Teddy was coming up beside me, going and looking at the view as well. Gone was his bun, letting his curls rein free.

He admired the view.“In some ways, the view from the top is the most haunting.”

The calmness of his voice intrigued me. “Why?”

“Because the fear of falling back down can eat you alive. When you’re at the bottom, the only place to go is up. You’re hungry, you’re passionate, and you’ve got a goal and vision. At the top, sometimes it feels inevitable that you’re bound to tumble back down.”

His fear honestly took me by surprise. He was the most beloved member of a multi-platinum selling boy band. Probably the world’s biggest boy band to date. He was set for life with a bright future ahead of him as his rock star turn was a massive success. “You’re Teddy Sykes. You’re planted here and rooted deep. Nothing can take you down.”

Teddy regarded me, his brown eyes studying me deeply. “I’d like to apologize for our last encounter. It wasn’t my best.”

“Yeah, when you acted like an asshole.”

Teddy’s response was a dimpled smile. Even more, he leaned close to say, “I may be an asshole, but at least I make it look good.” He reeled back and winked at me, tossing me a crooked grin.

That sinful dimple was his Get Out of Jail Free Card.

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