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I stormed off across the parking lot, ripping open the door to my car and sliding in. As soon as I started the engine, my phone started ringing, and I pulled it out of my pocket, seeing that it was my brother…
Fuck.
I hesitated, almost not answering it as I put the car in drive, but guilt got the best of me. “Hey,” I grunted, letting the phone play over the car speaker system.
“Hey, hey,” Eli chuckled. “You sound as grumpy as ever.”
“Fuck off,” I snorted.
“Yep, good to hear you’re doing well. Anyway, I saw some pictures online. Well, let me rephrase that, Olivia saw some pictures online. You seeing someone?”
“Seriously? Is that what everyone wants to talk about right now?” My voice came out sharp and caustic.
“Whoa, I was just wondering if it was just stupid paparazzi bothering the shit out of you—and then some proposal video was leaked…”
Oh shit. I didn’t even tell them.
“Dad is freaking out over it,” Eli said flatly. “So, you’re probably going to need to clarify what the hell is happening.”
“Uh…it’s not what you think.”
“Publicity stunt is what I actually think.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Well, that would be the right answer. They’re making me fake the relationship for that very reason. We’ve got a new album coming out—that I haven’t written a single song on—and that’s the vibe they want to give off.”
“Hmm.” Eli didn’t sound enthused. “And how do you feel about having to fake it like that? Doesn’t really seem like something you’d do.”
“It’s not, but it happened…so, I’m just going with it. I don’t really have a choice. The record label gets to make a lot of my decisions for me.”
“So go independent.”
“Yeah, that’s too much work,” I reasoned. “The label’s up for sale though. You could buy it.”
“Yeah, or you could.”
“Or we could,” I said with a shrug.
“Yeah, right,” Eli laughed. “Maybe if you were ready to take it down a notch and not live so wild.”
“Ha. Yeah, maybe one of these days.”
29
LENA
Ugh.
I could already see the cameras and their operators, waiting outside of the school. The moment I became Jackson’s fiancée, paparazzi started showing up. Everywhere. My heart thumped in my chest as I smoothed my hair out and mentally prepared to take on the herd of people. I’d already reported it to the security of the school, but they didn’t have enough security to stave off the reporters.
“There she is!” one of them called out as soon as I slid out of the car.
Here we go.
I kept my face straight and held tightly to my bag as my sneakers squeaked across the parking lot. I used to wear cute heels, but honestly, now I couldn’t move fast enough in them to wear them.
“How do you feel about being with Jackson Whiss?”
Ignore it.
