Happily Ever After? (Sleeping Handsome Sequel) (8 page)

I turn my back on the continued stares
and go to my room. This time I lock the door. At the edge of the
bed, I sit with my head in my hands. This is bad. Real bad. Paige
is going to flip. I lift my head and my half-written message stares
at me.

A desolate laugh escapes
me.

I asked her to be honest with me. I’ve
always been honest with her. I reach for the laptop. It’s going to
kill me, but I’m not going to stop now.

~11~

Paige

Time has stopped. My hands clench
tightly in my lap. I stare at the swarm of words in Zach’s email as
my world feels like it’s falling apart. I imagine her in his room,
on his bed, and I want to vomit. Although he says he threw her out,
the images won’t get out of my head. Old doubts knot in my chest.
Did he really tell me everything? Did something else happen in his
room? Is there more than the ugly words of his message?

His admission of idiocy doesn’t soothe
me. His confirmation I was right all along doesn’t help. I feel
like I’m at the end of my thread. Dangling below what my life is
and slowly falling into what it used to be. Life has gone from
almost perfect to suck in the span of an email message.

My hands unclench and time moves
again.

Standing then pacing, I take deep
breaths. I try to block the image of them together in his room with
memories. Zach surprising me with a picnic for my birthday.
Horseback riding at my cousin’s ranch one sunny Sunday afternoon.
Him carrying Emily after a long day at the beach. The feel of his
arms around me. The pressure of his hand in mine. The sensual
weight of his lips. His patience with me. His honesty. His
ever-present integrity. The timbre of his voice when he tells me he
loves me.

Even after all of those memories, the
ugly image of Amanda on his bed stays locked in my head.

I let out a sob and fall to the small
couch in the middle of the room. Why couldn’t she leave me alone?
Is her life meaningless to her without being able to grind me into
the dirt? Does she run on bitch fuel?

Someone knocks on my door.

I ignore it.

They knock harder.

I ignore it.

“
Paige?” Bret says loud
enough for me to hear.

At the sound of his voice, a friend’s
voice, I stumble to the door.

His brows rise at the sight of my tear
stained face. “What happened?”

Another sob escapes me. “My
boyfriend…”

“
Oh Paige,” he says in a
soft voice then steps into the room and pulls me into his arms.
“Did you break up?” he asks while I continue to sob. I shake my
head against his shoulder. He smells heavily of cologne. I don’t
care. It just feels good not to be alone right now. He brushes hair
out of my face. “Then what’s the matter?”

“
Him, my ex best friend…”
Pressed into his t-shirt the words come out muffled.

“
So he
cheated?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think so.
It’s just—it’s just that she tried and…” I’m not going to explain
my relationship with Amanda to Bret. It was hard enough explaining
it to Zach. “It brought a lot of old ugly feelings up.”

He tugs me by the hand toward the
couch. Along the way, he grabs the box of tissues from the desk. He
pushes a tissue in my hand. “You’re sure he didn’t do anything with
her?”

I pause, pressing the tissue to my
cheek. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”

He leans closer to me. His green eyes
narrow. “One hundred percent sure?”

“
He’s not like that.
We’re…he’s just not like that.” My voice cracks on the last word
because Bret’s persistence is widening the crack already in my
conviction. The tissue becomes a tight wad inside my
fist.

“
So why are you so upset?”
he says softly.

“
Um…” I stare at his
designer t-shirt. “It has to do more with her than him.”

He sweeps away the hair on his
forehead and frowns. “I find that hard to believe.”

My teeth gnaw at my bottom lip. Inside
my misery, I’m having a hard time following his line of
thought.

“
I mean if it wasn’t about
him, why would you be so distraught?”

Is this really about Zach? I’m angry
with him, but…I draw in a deep breath. Dry my eyes with the corner
of the soaked tissue. Let out the air I’d been holding in. “Maybe
it’s about him.”

Bret scoots closer and puts an arm
around me. “Guys are dogs. Unfortunately, being one I know this.
You’re still young. After this movie you’ll have tons of guys after
you.”

He draws my head closer to his
shoulder. I press my check against his t-shirt and hold in a sob. I
don’t want other guys. I want Zach.

We sit there quietly as he rubs my
back with his palm. Though I feel empty, I relax a bit. Let out
another deep breath and lean farther into Bret. It’s good to be
with a friend during so much pain. Even if he smells like an entire
bottle of cologne.

Bret raises my chin with a knuckle.
“We almost have a week left here. I could help you forget that boy
at home.”

Confused, I blink at him.

“
We’d be good together.”
His arm grows tighter around my shoulder, he pulls me closer—my
confusion goes into overdrive—and his lashes flutter closed before
his lips touch mine.

Yuck. For one long second I’m frozen
in shock. I gasp at the gross feeling of his lips then wrench
myself off the couch, stumble, and fall back against the wall.
“What are you doing?”

Smiling slowly, he stands. “Come on,
Paige. You have to know by now I’m attracted to you. And I’m
certain you’re attracted to me. You’ve been watching me with those
whiskey colored eyes for weeks now.”

My mouth falls open. Is he freakin’
serious? I can be a ditz. I know this. But right now, I feel like
my world did fall apart and I landed on Mars or inside some cheesy
soap opera.

He puts a hand against the wall on
each side of my head and leans in. “Your boyfriend cheated. We
share a mutual attraction. Let’s make the rest of this week good.”
He leans closer and I have to stop my lip from curling. “I’m sure
my experience far outweighs that boy at home. I can make it real
good. So good you’ll forget him,” he whisperers as he
bends.

Double yuck. I duck just as his mouth
descends. This nutcase needs to go. Now. I race toward the door and
fling it open. “I’m not interested.”

He cocks a brow.

Oh, stupid, stupid Paige,
how did you not see this coming? You knew he was beyond
egotistical.
“Ah… you’re handsome and all
that. And I like you as a friend, but um…my heart is really,
really, really taken.”

He moves toward me slowly,
seductively. Triple yuck. His eyebrows rise. “By a
cheater?”

“
I don’t think…never mind.
Just go. I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”

He sides up to me and reaches for my
cheek. I stumble into the hallway. Is this idiot so arrogant he
doesn’t understand the word no? “Bret,” I snap.

His lips tighten in a determined line
as he reaches for my wrist.

“
Let me go,” I
hiss.

Suddenly the guard is near.
“Everything all right?” he asks in a heavy accent.

I yank my wrist free. “Yes, he was
just leaving.”

Bret’s eyes turn angry. Ignoring him,
I step into my room, give the guard a thankful nod, and shut the
door with a huff. What the hell was that? I fall against the door
and wait for the world to straighten. After Zach’s email and Bret’s
ridiculous attempt at seduction, I’m stuck on a tilt.

I run my hands over my face and
reality sinks in. Oh no. Through my blind stupidity, I’ve done
almost the same thing as Zach. I cringe. My offense might be a bit
worse. That asshole’s lips actually touched mine.

I feel like vomiting again.

Still stunned by the whole encounter
with Bret, I lie against the door and stare into space. The
computer on the desk stares at me. Slowly, I move toward the desk.
Zach asks for honesty, always gives it, and until lately I’ve
always been completely honest with him. But admitting my stupidity
is going to suck.

Big time.

My trembling fingers reach for the
mouse. I’m stunned to see a new message from Zach. I hesitantly
open it.

Paige,

I know you’re angry right
now. I don’t blame you. Take however long you need. I’ll always be
waiting.

Until then, here’s my ode
to you.

~

She came to me in the
darkness,

Brought light to slow
death.

Though she was lost,
scarred, and hurting,

Her soul was
spotless.

I breathed for the sound
of her voice.

She woke me with
her

Kiss, sincerity, and
openness.

Brought to life by
love,

Forever connected to this
girl,

Darkness has
vanished.

I now breathe freely in
the brightness.

Yet under blue
skies,

The sun shines brighter
when she smiles,

My heart beats
faster,

She fills it with
courageousness.

I aspire to be,

Worthy of living in her
light.

~

It may be cheesy, but it’s
the truth.

Love always,

Z

I press my temples as his beautiful
words melt into my heart. His thoughts of me warm my insides. And
they shame me. I’m not that girl in the poem. I’m not light. And
I’m not worthy of his pretty words.

I’m suddenly crying all over again.
After several minutes and several more tissues, I try to collect my
thoughts.

One thing’s for certain, the whole
experience with Bret has given me a tighter conviction. My trust in
Zach feels stronger. How I even let Bret sway me just a bit into
thinking Zach…Ugh.

My hands hover over the
keyboard.

Now his trust will be in the
spotlight.

~12~

Zach

I never, not once, have been pissed at
Paige. She’s always been the perfect girlfriend. We clicked and
were in tune with each other from the start. Though her kiss woke
me, I never felt truly awake until we were together. After reading
her email, I’m about to blow up. Since Drake’s still at work, I
tear through the apartment from one room to the next. I’m trying to
cool down, but I’m furious. I want to punch holes in every single
wall then all the doors. And I’ve been like this for
hours.

So much for a relaxing day
off.

The scrape of a key sounds in the lock
of the front door. I set my hands on the counter between the
kitchen and living room. Drake rushes inside while I try to get
control of myself.

“
Dude,” he gasps. “Have
you seen this?” He shoves his phone in my face.

I stare at the picture of Paige and
Bret Travis walking along a rolling city sidewalk. They look at
each other. Both are smiling. The caption under the picture says,
‘Actor Bret Travis appears to be hooking up with another costar.’
My fingers grip the edge of the counter. My fury grows.

“
There’s more,” Drake
says, bouncing so much the ball of his ski cap almost hits my
nose.

The next one shows them looking in the
shop of a window. Another pictures them standing on a corner.
Paige’s head is thrown back in a laugh.

I spin away with my hands clenched at
my sides. I don’t want Drake to know how enraged I am. This should
stay between Paige and I.

“
Dude, these aren’t real
are they?” Drake asks from behind me.

“
You think they’re fake
fucking pictures?”

“
Shit. Even if I had dibs,
you should’ve just screwed Amanda the other night.”

At the thought of Amanda, my rage
spikes. I spin back around, but stop myself from punching my
roommate in the jaw by clenching my hands behind my back. “So if
Paige’s with some guy on the sidewalk, they’re sleeping
together?”

He backs away and puts his hands up.
“Sorry man, but yeah that’s what it looks like. I mean the guy is
known for screwing half of Hollywood.”

I step back. Drake really has nothing
to do with this shit even if he is seriously pissing me off. “She
doesn’t get it, okay? She’s too naïve to think people will follow
her with cameras and come to bullshit conclusions.”

He moves toward the
fridge. “Well then, she’s in the wrong business and you’re
definitely in
luuuve
.” He pulls out a milk jug and takes two swallows from it.
“Cause there’s no way I could deal with that shit.”

Feeling like I’m sticking up for
myself more than Paige, I snap, “How the hell would you know what
you’d deal with when you haven’t had a girlfriend since what? Sixth
grade?”