FanGirl Squeal (RockStars of Romance Book 1) (23 page)

Donnie had stopped bringing women around his blunt and
brutal sister. Cash hadn’t a choice but to bring Victoria around since he
planned on marrying her. Emma hadn’t completely hated Victoria, but she had
some reservations.

“You’re really serious about this girl that you’ve only
known for a month?” Donnie asked.

Cash wasn’t admitting to anything. He wasn’t ready to tell
his best friend how he really felt about Savannah. He wasn’t clear if she felt
as strongly as him, plus he still needed to be careful with her. Only time
would tell how things between them would play out.

“I wouldn’t say serious,” Cash answered.

“And you’d be lying your ass off,” Donnie laughed. “I was at
the harbor with you, bro. You’re into her. I like what I’m seeing there.”

Cash sipped his beer and turned back to the grill. He was a
little uneasy that his feelings for Savannah were so obvious. It concerned him
because he was just six weeks out of a broken engagement. He had loved Victoria
enough to want to spend the rest of his life with her. Six weeks wasn’t enough
time for those types of feelings to go away. He was still angry with her, but
what would happen when the anger passed? Would he still care about Savannah so
strongly?

“Vic keeps calling,” Cash told Donnie. “She says she wants
to talk.”

“Of course she does. Question is, do you want to talk to
her?”

Cash removed a few steaks and expertly flipped the sausages.
“I don’t know. I kinda think I should. We haven’t talked about what happened. I
just flipped my shit when she told me she was sleeping with that guy. She said
she wanted to be with him so I let her. I’m not about to fight for her.”

Donnie nodded. “You should talk to her. Get some closure and
tell her how much of slut she is. Shut that shit down so you can be real with
the blogger. I like her. She’s good for you.”

Cash cracked up. “You don’t even know her!”

“So!” Donnie guffawed before starting to choke on his beer.
Cash patted his back and laughed.

Donnie regained his composure and glared at his friend. “I
know you, brother. You’re a good musician, but we all know you’re not cut out
to be a celebrity.”

“What? I’ve been doing this for eight years. Believe me, I’m
cut out for this.”

“No, you handle it well,” Donnie corrected Cash’s
assumption. “You’re not a Kardashian, that’s for damn sure, but how often do
you hide out in your house because you just ‘don’t feel like dealing’?”

“Well, walk a mile in my shoes,” Cash grumbled.

“Pay me what they pay you and I will,” Donnie countered. “What
I’m trying to say is that you don’t thrive off the fame shit. You were only
with Vic because you had a crush on her like every other man in America. Your
mom’s been saying that shit for years. You need a nice normal girl like Savannah
to settle down with and give you lots of babies. Just send all the models and
actresses my way.”

Cash looked over at Savannah again. This time she noticed
him looking at her. She waved her fingers at him and smiled.

“Don’t burn my meat,” Cash ordered Donnie as he sat his beer
and tongs down.

He walked over to the pool and stepped into the cool water.
Cash waded through the shallow end and stopped when he got in front of Savannah
and her new friends. Despite wearing brightly colored bikinis, none of them had
gotten in the water all day.

“I was wondering when you were going to bring your ass over
here,” Emma said loudly.

Her long dyed blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail,
which accented her almond shaped brown eyes. Her diamond wedding band flashed every
time she moved her hands while she talked. Cash warned her repeatedly that she
was going to blind someone with that thing.

“She’s fine,” Emma said as she put her arm around Savannah’s
shoulders. “We’re not hurting her.”

Cash put his hands on Savannah’s knees and looked up at her
for confirmation. She gave him a reassuring nod.

“I’m good. You worry too much.”

“So, they don’t know your entire family history, your dating
track record, your social security number, and the results of your last doctor’s
visit?”

Caitlin’s laugh was a cross between a cackle and snort that
made everyone within five feet of the sound burst out laughing too.

“We’re not running a background check on her,” she managed
to say between snorts. “It’s just a friendly Q & A.”

“Friendly, my ass,” was Cash’s quick retort. “I know how y’all
are. You three made Victoria cry.”

At the mention of Cash’s ex, all three women looked at
Savannah to see if she would visibly react. She didn’t move a muscle in her
face.

“Why?” Emma scoffed. “What the hell was she crying about?
Because Nicole had to pull her off her high horse by her hair extensions?”

“She told her that no one’s too famous to get their ass
kicked.”

Nicole folded her arms. “She spent the entire dinner staring
down her nose at us. What was I supposed to do? And if she shows her face in
Boston again, after what she did to you, I’ll be happy to prove how true that
statement is.”

“Victoria isn’t an issue, Nic,” Cash stated. 

He hoped that his friends weren’t filling Savannah’s head
with questions about his ex-fiancée. They had a brief conversation about their
exes, just to make sure there weren’t any exes sneaking out of the closet. He
mainly wanted to know about Jacoby since what Savannah had been through was
more serious than his break-up with Victoria.

“She needs to stay not an issue,” Emma cut in. “You got a
good thing going on, Cash. And it’s only been a month since y’all broke up. She’ll
trying to weasel her way back in. Watch and see.”

Cash wasn’t going to let that happen. As he wrapped his arms
around Savannah’s waist and brought her into the water with him, he decided to
tell Victoria that he was already seeing someone so she wouldn’t get any “getting
back together” ideas.

“No, babe, I don’t want to go to wine country. I don’t even
like wine. Let’s go to Atlanta and go to the Sweetwater Beer Festival. You like
beer,” Cash said into his phone while sidestepping photographers on his way
into the Starbucks around the corner from his gym.

Savannah had only been home for a week and she was trying to
plan another trip for them. He was glad that she wanted to spend time with him
but he didn’t understand why they couldn’t just meet up in New York.

“Atlanta is fine as long as we can go to the aquarium,”
Savannah agreed. “When can we go?”

“You’re online all day. Can you check when the festival is?
And they have something called Taste of Atlanta. See when that is. Oh,” Cash
added. “Can you call Tracy and set up a meeting to talk about the private show
thing we talked about?”

Savannah laughed. “I’m not your assistant, Cash.”

He stopped at the counter and waited in line. “No,” he
lowered his voice so the other customers couldn’t hear. “You’re just my
girlfriend. You gotta do these things, he laughed. “Comes with the job.”

“Great,” Savannah groaned. “More work for me. I hope I’m
getting paid for this.”

Cash licked his lips. He could think of a million ways he
could repay Savannah back but he definitely couldn’t talk about them in a
public place.

“Yeah, I’ll repay you,” he replied. “I gotta run now but I’ll
call you later today.”

“Okay, babe. Bye!”

Savannah always ended their calls with “okay, babe. Bye.” He
found it to be endearing but her best friend thought it was a bit juvenile. He
had yet to meet Troy and Brandon but she promised it would be soon.

After the 4
^th
, Savannah seemed more open to being
called Cash’s girlfriend. The grin on her face when Emma referred to her as
that when she introduced Savannah to her husband had reached both of her ears.
Cash was sincerely hoping that she’d finally gotten over the “
but you’re
Cash Myers
” thing after meeting his friends. His friends liked her,
Brittany liked her, and his mother adored her even though they only met briefly
since she hadn’t been back to New York since the first time.

Boston had been a successful trip. Even though she said she
wasn’t ready to “go public,” she still cuddled up in his bed, wearing his
t-shirt and admitted that she wanted them to be together. That’s all Cash
needed.

Cash ordered a blueberry acai refresher and waited
impatiently. With his shades on and his hat pulled low on his head, he would
have been virtually unrecognizable in his neighborhood if not for his tattoos.
His half sleeve gave him away every time but it was too damn hot to cover them
up.

Cash looked around the small shop. Of course Victoria was
late. He took his phone out of his pocket and sent her a text to meet him at
his condo instead. The paparazzi outside was a clear indication that meeting in
a public place was a bad idea.

“Here you go, Cash.” The store manager handed him his usual
beverage. She eyed the paparazzi crowding the entrance trying to get a shot of
Cash. “Do you want to leave out the back?”

“No, that’s okay. See ya tomorrow.”

Cash walked right out of the front door into the melee of
aggravating cameramen. A young and overzealous boy stepped right in front of
Cash and snapped a picture. The flash of the camera surprised him and he
stopped walking.

“Dude!” Cash yelled angrily. “It’s one in the afternoon! Why
the hell do you have your damn flash on?”

“Hey new guy! Get out of his way!” a female voice yelled at
the kid.

Cash shook his head and started walking down the block to
his building. He saw shadows on the pavement and turned around.

“Don’t follow me!” he snapped. “I’m dead ass serious!”

The photogs fell back. Cash flipped the lid on his sports
cup and took off in a light jog. Most days he didn’t mind the paps. They saw
him every day leaving his gym and going to Starbucks. Every single day. He
should have been old news by now.

Irritated, Cash walked into his apartment building, ignored
his neighbors and doorman, and took elevator up to his unit. He spotted
Victoria standing in front of his door, her hand poised to knock.

“I’m right here,” he said.

He stepped in front of her and unlocked the door. He walked
in first, knowing it was rude but he didn’t care.

“And hello to you too,” Victoria muttered when she entered
the living room.

“Have a seat,” he said. “Do you want something to drink?”

“A shot would be nice,” his ex replied as she sank into the
soft leather of his sofa.

“Aren’t you due back on set soon?”

“Yes, Cash. I was just kidding. I don’t want anything.”

Cash sat down in the matching leather chair and tossed his
hat on the table. He looked at ex-fiancée and remembered how excited he was
when his road manager told him that Victoria wanted to meet him.

The actress and former Playboy centerfold looked positively
sinful when she was escorted into Cash’s dressing room. The attraction was
mutual. Cash turned on all the charm and the next time he was in New York, they
hooked up.

For the first six months of their relationship, Cash had
been completely smitten by Victoria. She was funny, great in bed, and the
hottest chick he’d ever been with. Dating her was a thrill. They were Hollywood
royalty. She was the star of a hit television series and he was a platinum
selling recording artist. They were bigger than Gwyneth and Chris and Justin
and Jessica! Their relationship made more headlines and had more people
interested in their every movement than Jennifer Anniston and John Mayer.

It was fun while it lasted. He still didn’t have a clear
idea why it didn’t work but it didn’t matter. Now here they were, sitting three
feet from one another in awkward silence like two nerds on a blind date.

Victoria fiddled with the drawstring of her running shorts
and kept nervously crossing and uncrossing her long legs. Cash studied her
face. She looked the same except her face was fuller. It was expected because
Victoria always gained weight when she was in set. She was the type of person
who gained weight when she was stressed. Cash kept staring at her, waiting for
her to explain what she wanted.

“Vic,” he prompted her.

“Yeah, umm, how have you been?”

Cash threw a hard look her way. “Look Victoria, we’re not
going to do this, okay? You said you wanted to-”

“I’m pregnant,” Victoria blurted out. She stared at the
white carpet. Her face flushed bright red as if she was embarrassed to confess
her secret.

The news floored Cash but he maintained an expressionless
face. He didn’t want to talk about that, anything was better than talking about
the fact that Victoria was having a baby with another man. Seriously,
anything
would be better than that.

“Congrats to you and Paul. Why are you here, Vic?”

“I’m twelve weeks, Cash.”

The words hit him right in the gut. Cash slowly leaned his
head back as his whole world went into a tailspin. He didn’t have to be
mathematician to put two and two together. He tried to think is something to
say but words were a foreign concept. Pregnant? Twelve weeks?

Shit!

Victoria rose from the sofa and sat on the arm of his chair.
She put her hand on his shoulder and urged him to look at her.

“Say something, please.”

What was there to say?

“How long have you known?”

“I found out the day I started calling you. That’s why I
kept calling.”

“Vic,” he started then began again. “Vic, you cheated on me.
How do I know…” Cash stopped talking. There was no need to finish the sentence.
She knew what he was going to say.

Victoria was silent as Cash closed his eyes again. He didn’t
have any trouble remembering the day Victoria had ruined their relationship. He’d
just got back to his hotel after his San Francisco concert. All he wanted was
to pack his bags and get back on his tour bus. They had a five-hour drive to
Los Angeles and he wanted to hit the road.