Happily Ever After? (Sleeping Handsome Sequel) (10 page)

She watches me before saying, “You
really love this boy, don’t you?”

I swallow past the lump in my throat
then nod.

She pats my arm. “People make
mistakes.”

Looking away from her purple-lipped
smile, I mumble, “Some mistakes cost everything.”

~14~

Zach

I finally forced myself to get a new
phone. Like I had the extra money. Once connected, I wasn’t
surprised to see several texts from Paige. I just don’t know how to
answer them. Though it’s stupid, I’m stuck in my anger. I’m in a
frozen prison of fury. And I can’t see clearly beyond the walls of
my rage.

Paige has become a mirage.

Right now, I sit on the miniscule
balcony off the living room and watch two kids throw a football
across the expanse of lawn next to the parking lot. I recall being
twelve. I remember when life was simple. Not so damn
confusing.

The glass door slides open. Drake
collapses next to me in the other lawn chair. “Amanda didn’t show
up for work again. Three days is a definite fire.”

I cross my arms and look out over the
parked cars. “I don’t give a shit about Amanda.”

“
Maybe people will quit
dissing you about those online pictures of Paige and that guy with
Amanda gone.”

My arms tighten. “I don’t give a shit
what anyone at work thinks.”

“
Bro, you have got to quit
moping. You’re killing me.”

I glance over at him. “What the hell
is on your head?”

“
It’s a fedora.” His
fingers slide along the brim of the plaid hat then fan the feather
stuck to the side. “It’s my pimp hat.”

“
It’s stupid.”

“
You’re just trying to
change the subject.”

“
And you need to put on
some pants.”

“
Boxers
are
pants. Just the most
basic form. Again, when are you going to get over this Paige
stuff?”

I shrug. It doesn’t feel like that’s
going to happen anytime soon.

“
I could put the pimp hat
to the test and bring some hotties home.”

Like mindless sex is going to
straighten me out. Like I’d even want to touch another girl. “I
could shove my foot up your ass.”

“
Knew that one would piss
you off. Just because you got several inches on my five ten and
maybe forty pounds of muscle,” he says, standing and flexing in
various ways. “You can’t overcome this lean, mean fighting
machine.”

“
You should go back to
your video game.”

He flexes an arm muscle and looks at
his wrist. “What time is it you ask?” He flexes his other arm and
again pretends to look at a watch. “Not time to desert my bro to
his love sick depression.”

“
Drake…”

He drops back into the chair. “Either
you love her and forgive her.” He slaps his knee to enunciate each
word. “Or you don’t love her enough for forgiveness. Which is
it?”

“
It’s not that
simple.”

He crosses his ankles and sets his
bare feet on the rail. “Oh, I think it is.”

This coming from a guy who’s too
scared to even date. “Go back to your video games,” I
growl.

He lowers his hat over his eyes. “No
can do. I know what you’re thinking. The king of hookups doesn’t
know shit about dating. And you may be right. But even I can see
what’s in front of my face. You love her. So get on with
it.”

“
Did you know dickweed,
hook up loser it takes two people to make a relationship
work?”

“
So you don’t think Paige
loves you? Because the other day you were positive those pictures
were totally innocent.”

I rub the bridge of my nose. “You are
such a simple minded fool.”

“
Bro, just tell me what
you think.”

I let out a sigh. “I think she still
loves me.”

“
Then what
is
the
problem?”

Anger wells in my chest. “She fucked
up. What she did was not only beyond disrespectful, she did it
while worrying I was doing the same damn thing. Except I didn’t
hang out with Amanda twenty-four-seven. She hung out with that
asshole every day. Let him in her hotel room.”

The balcony is quiet until he says, “I
don’t get it.”

“
What the hell don’t you
get, Drake?”

“
Do you expect her to be
perfect or something?”

I blink at him. Is that what I
expect?

He pushes his hat up. “I don’t get
something else either?”

“
What?” I snap.

“
I thought love—not
talking first hand here—was supposed to be about looking past
someone’s faults, past their mistakes, and all that mushy stuff. So
if you guys are so in love…”

His innocent tone is such a bunch of
bull. The little manipulative ass is grinding my conviction in my
face. “Go shoot something cyber before you really piss me off and I
throw your dickhead hat off the balcony.”

He stands and raises his hands. “Okay,
I’m just saying…”

“
If you say one more damn
word—”

“
My mouth is sealed.” He
makes the motion of zipping his lips shut and tossing the key. “I’m
not talking.” He slides the door open. “I’m not saying anything
about you holding a grudge.” He slowly shuts the door. Right before
it’s closed he says, “You can’t hear me saying you’re being a
dick.”

Groaning, I rub a hand across my face.
Deep down I know Drake has made some valid points. But no matter
how hard I try. I can’t let my bitterness go. I want to forgive
Paige, but my want can’t seem to conquer the anger. Every time I
try, I imagine that asshole kissing her and my head pounds with
fury.

I pull out my phone and type in a
text. I’M SORRY. I’M STILL NOT OVER THIS. Then send it to
Paige.

~15~

Paige

The plane is about to land and I’m
about to cry again. Zach only sent that one text. Even if we
weren’t in the mist of breaking up, he wouldn’t be able to pick me
up. He’s working. The thought of being home without us together is
killing me. I don’t even want to get off the plane. However, my
sister and mother are waiting. My mother insisted on picking me
up.

Sucking it up and controlling my
never-ending tears, I give Emily and my mother a long hug. Luckily,
we don’t have to wait for my luggage. They shipped it back. Since
I’m so quiet on the way home, my mother’s expression turns to
worry. Her questions become invading. I lie and say I’m jet lagged.
I’m not sure if she buys it, but she drops the questions.
Thankfully. I’m not ready to tell her about Zach and me until its
official. I’m expecting it will be soon.

At home, I go to my room and pretend
to sleep. I stare at the wall.

I made a mistake. Okay, lots of
mistakes. Zach’s refusal to forgive me has me miserable, but as the
days pass, I’m getting angry. There isn’t much he could do that I
wouldn’t forgive. His stubbornness is eating at my heart. Making me
wonder if he really did love me.

Ever since our last conversation, I’d
been thinking about my career, about how it’s already changed my
life. Then on the way home in between flights my agent called
sputtering about a Bret Travis interview. Amid my agent’s
hysterics, I slowly realized Bret had leaked out how I got the
audition. He even insinuated my stepfather’s Hollywood connections
got me the job.

Asshole.

Standing there in the busy airport
while listening to my agent ramble about different ways to counter
Bret’s claims, I came to a decision. No Hollywood games. Sure,
things like interviews and appearances come with the job, but
rumors and backstabbing would be ignored. I’d walked away from
those things in high school. I wasn’t about to be pulled into them
as an adult. My agent argued we needed to do this, that, and the
other. I refused. People are going to hire me because I have
talent, not because of my Hollywood reputation. And if not, oh
well.

Done with the call, I recognized
something else. I love acting. I’m good at it. And though Zach
never asked me to give it up, I’d been seriously considering if an
acting career was worth all the complications. It is. I just can’t
imagine doing anything else.

After a few hours of lying in my bed,
I take a shower and go visit my family. I’m not going to let my
love life, or destruction of it, take a toll on my other
relationships.

Emily and I are
playing
Super Mario Bros
when my phone vibrates in my pocket.

The text on my phone reads I’M WAITING
WHERE WE’RE SUPPOSED TO MEET.

My heart does a flip then a dive. A
meeting could go either way. My fingers hover over my phone until I
finally text back BE THERE IN A BIT. I help Emily finish the level
we’re on before I grab my keys. I refuse to drop everything after
he has ignored me for so long. And I’m so not in a rush to get to
my execution.

I drive slowly. Apprehension has my
thumbs tapping the wheel. Besides not having driven in over a month
my nerves are in overdrive. Turning onto the dirt lane leading to
our look out spot, I’m about to hyperventilate. My teeth gnaw on my
bottom lip. I can do this. I can survive without Zach. My world may
turn gray and bleak, but I can survive.

I hope.

In the dying sunlight, I slowly pull
next to his car. Looking out over the twilight valley, he sits with
an arm wrapped around his knee on the hood. His comfortable pose
doesn’t ease my worry. I take one last deep breath and step out of
the car. I feel like I’m stepping into unknown territory. Probably
because I am. The last time I broke up with a boyfriend was
freshman year. And that was not even close to serious. This is very
serious. His verdict has the potential to destroy me.

“
Hello Paige,” Zach says,
drops his arm around his knee, and turns to me. “I’ve missed
you.”

In the shadows of sunset, his blue
gaze burns into me. I set my hands on the edge of his hood. It’s
cool to the touch. He’s been here for a while. “I’ve missed you
too,” I somehow respond.

His eyes slide over me. “You look
good.”

My teeth clench. I could care less how
I look. “Um, thanks.”

He leans closer to me. Part of me
wants to lean toward him while the other part of me wants to push
away from his car, get in mine, and imagine I never came. The
angles of his face soften as he looks at me. “I’m sorry for making
you wait. I just needed time.”

My nails scrape the chipped paint of
his hood. I don’t want to hear about time. I just want to know
where I stand. Anticipation is not a good thing at this point.
“What have you decided?”

Full masculine lips form a sad smile
and my heart almost lurches out of my chest. He looks out over the
valley again while I devour his striking profile. For the last
time? His chest rises in a deep breath. “I’ve been an ass. I
screwed up. You screwed up, but I should have forgiven you right
away.” His gaze comes back to mine. “It shouldn’t have taken me so
long to get over my anger.”

Relief doesn’t come. I want to cry.
His words are the words I’ve been longing to hear, but they’re not
enough. My hands press against the metal of his chipped hood. My
fingers turn white from the pressure. Although indignation knots in
my throat, I calmly say, “In this business…” I lift my chin, hold
the anger at bay, and just spit reality out. “I’m going to screw up
again. Probably not like that but something else.”

The muscles of his face tighten as he
slowly nods. “Drake said something the other day…I think I’ve put
you on pedestal. I expected you to be perfect. I imagined you
were.” He shakes his head. “But I don’t want the girl in my
imagination, I want the real you. Because I’m not in love with that
imaginary girl. I’m in love with you.” His gaze burns into me
again. “I’m sorry for expecting too much.”

His words—especially those of
love—warm me inside, try to melt my bitterness, and help me
understand his actions to a point since I’m definitely not perfect.
Yet, the anger floating under the edge of my pretend calmness
pulsates. “I understand I hurt you. I never wanted to do that. But
you’ve ignored me for an entire week and now I’m hurt.” Standing in
front of him, I feel raw and bruised. All the tears I cried over
the last week seem to flow between us.

“
I was afraid of that when
I came to my senses.” He scoots closer to me. I step back. “Paige,
I made a mistake too. Can’t you forgive me?”

I can’t help but scowl. Of course the
smart ass, I mean that in both ways, would twist it around. And
he’s right. If he can forgive me, shouldn’t I be able to forgive
him? The misery of the last seven days doesn’t agree.

He holds out his hand. “Please forgive
me.”

I want to take his hand. Just the
memory of his skin enclosed around mine has my palm tingling. Yet
those tears between us hold me back. I never want to feel the
aching pain or the loneliness of the last week again.