Page 84 of #Starstruck

“They have your driver’s license! How did that happen?” he yelled, his voice echoing off the walls around us.

“Just because I can’t explain it doesn’t make me responsible for it. I don’t know. Maybe I was hacked? Maybe you were?” I felt desperate. I wanted to erase the rage from his eyes and have my Chase back. I tried to take his hand, but he stepped backward, out of arm’s reach.

That hurt me more than anything he’d said.

“Were you trying to get your fifteen minutes of fame? Did you think you’d make yourself infamous and that would bring people to your fund-raiser and get you a job? Was this all just some scheme? Is that why you wouldn’t let me touch you?” Every word felt like a staccato punch to my stomach. Before I could respond, he raked his fingers through his hair and continued. “I am so stupid. I’ve been so concerned about your privacy and protecting you, and you couldn’t care less about mine. You are just like everyone else. You used me.”

My fear and hurt had started to warp into anger. “That’s not true! I’ve done nothing but protect you from the moment we met! No one in my life knows about you. Meanwhile, everybody in your life seems to know about me. How do you know it wasn’t Aaron or One-F?”

“Because I trust them.” His eyes were so cold and dark, it was like he was a different person.

And there it was. I could actually feel my heart shattering into tiny little slivers, so small they would never be put back together “You told me over and over again to trust you. And I have. I’ve done nothing but trust you, even when I’ve been afraid to. Even when I thought you might be cheating on me, I chose to take your word. But the one time I need you to put everything aside and trust me, you’re not capable of it?”

He crossed his arms and said nothing.

“I’m the stupid one. I won’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me. I don’t lie to you. You’re always telling me what a terrible liar I am. Look at me. Am I lying to you? I’ve never given you a single reason not to trust me.”

His jaw clenched tightly before he spoke. “You’ve done nothing but lie to your friends and family about me from day one.”

I felt that devastating barb go straight to my gut. He was right. I had been lying. But never to him.

As I stood there looking at him, I realized there was nothing I could say. He’d made up his mind, decided me unworthy of his trust, and there was no longer a future between us.

It was over.

And I was over being accused of something I didn’t do.

“You couldn’t possibly love me if you think me capable of this.” I put my hand on the doorknob, knowing I was about to walk out of his life and never see him again. “You said once that you’d permanently maim anyone who tried to hurt me. But I can’t imagine anybody in the world hurting me more than you just did.”

Tears blinded my eyes as I went out into the ballroom. I thought I heard him call my name, but I didn’t look back. I felt the stares and whispers of everyone around me. The story had obviously spread. I took the only exit I saw, the one leading to the front. It wasn’t until I was halfway down the red carpet that I realized what a mistake I’d made. I should have gone out the back entrance.

The paparazzi and entertainment reporters lining the carpet had obviously seen the same article and photos. They started screaming my name, asking me about my relationship with Chase, if I felt any guilt over hurting Amelia. Some even called me names to get my attention. I held my hands in front of my face and risked only a single glance at them. There, in the middle of the crowd, was the man from the gas station. The one wearing the red, white, and blue denim jacket. He had a knowing smirk on his face. Was he involved in this somehow? I had to get out of there. And away from all this. I hurried to the valet station. “I need an Uber or a taxi, please.”

“Right away, miss.”

Chase would probably think I’d chosen this exit on purpose. That I wanted my picture taken. Sadly, I realized it no longer mattered what Chase thought.

Then I had to just stand there, with raw and primitive grief choking me, tears pouring down my face, my arms wrapped around myself, ducking my head so they couldn’t see me. The paparazzi kept screaming questions and insults, but I ignored them.

Finally, a car arrived, and the valets helped me get in. They blocked the photographers as best they could. As we drove off, I thought about that morning. How it had been the happiest I’d ever felt. My life had been perfect.

And now it lay in smoking ruins all around me.

I had lost the man I loved.

When I got back to my apartment, having cried myself out, I had to pay the driver a week’s worth of babysitting money. The worst part? There were a handful of paparazzi already standing around in front of my stairs. How had they found me so fast?

“Do you need help getting inside?” the Uber driver asked when he caught sight of my face in his rearview mirror.

“I’ll be okay. Thanks.” It hurt to speak. My throat felt shredded, worn out.

I rushed passed the cameras, refusing to look at them or answer their questions. This was life when you dated a movie star. We had been living in this little cocoon of bliss and safety where nobody else in the world mattered. This being hounded and harassed, this was the price of dating him.

They took pictures of me struggling with my keys, trying to get inside. Their shouted questions made me so anxious. I finally managed to open the lock, and I collapsed against the door once I’d shut it. I heard my neighbors across the landing threatening to call the cops on the paparazzi because they were studying for finals. I’d have to bring Jill and Teena some cookies as a thank-you.

Baking cookies immediately made me think of Chase, and the tears I thought I’d used up sprang back to life.

In the bedroom Lexi sat on her bed with resting murder face. Every poster of Chase in our room had been torn down. Her pillowcase had been removed.

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