“Lawson is reaching the front of the red carpet, and there are outlets waiting to get photos of the co-stars together.” I rub my pounding temples and inhale slowly through my nose as he raises his eyebrows almost to his hairline. “I mean, you want to keep the cheating allegations out of the headlines, right?”
With an eye roll, I step back out into the limelight, a genuine smile lighting my face when I spot Lawson playing up to the paparazzi. I grin when I see that he’s left several small bruises and scrapes visible from the brawl in Rebels, purely so that he can milk it for all it’s worth.
When he sees me, he rushes closer and pulls me up into an exaggerated hug that sees flashes going off tenfold.
“You look good enough to eat, sugar tits.”
I slide out of his arms and pat his cheeks fondly. “Ah, good ol’ sugar tits. I hope you find someone worthy of the moniker, Law. You’ll make one lucky girl very happy someday.”
He snorts, linking my arm through his and steering us back inside the theater. “Speaking of which, where’s your cowboy?”
“He’s on the way. Got caught up with some family business.”
“I hope he makes it in time.”
I side-eye my mischief-making co-star as I scrunch up my face in confusion. “In time for what?”
Lawson’s grin is entirely wicked when he quirks an eyebrow. “The on-screen sex scenes, obviously. Early reviewers are claiming—” He holds up his hands, slowly parting them theatrically as he emphasizes, “Hart and Wilde’s chemistry is palpable!”
I shake my head when he laughs. “His face will be fucking priceless.”
And as we move inside the theater, arm in arm, I nudge his shoulder even as I chuckle. “You are the absolute pits, Lawson Wilde.”
“Hayles?”
My sister steps closer, concern etched on her features. The premiere went off without a hitch, but I feel utterly spent. The thoughts of attending one, let alonethreeafter-parties is giving me hives, and I want nothing more than to curl up in Ford’s bed and inhale his sheets while waiting for his return.
“Everything okay, Em?”
I fan myself with my hands, feeling like I’m burning up in the floor-length black lace ballgown Carter had insisted wastheperfect dress for the occasion. It’s a beautiful creation that sits off my shoulders and swishes full billowing skirts around my legs with each step I take, but the material is beginning to feel more than a little heavy following the long evening.
“I need a moment to catch my breath. Could you find out if there’s somewhere I can freshen up before our next stop of the evening?” She nods swiftly, moving off to make the relevant queries when I stop her with a palm on her forearm. “Could you rustle up some water, too, please?”
She smiles her affirmative, and I step to the right of the foyer alongside Thom and Kyle. It takes her a couple of minutes, but she returns with a delighted grin, gesturing to follow her down a long corridor.
“The theater manager offered up her office. It’s just down this way, Em.”
Having passed several doors, Hayley leads us into a secluded office space, with both men opting to wait outside to give us some privacy.
I practically fall into the desk chair, positioning my long skirts in such a way that I can kick my sandaled feet up onto the desk between me and my sister. She passes me a bottle of cold water before cracking open one for herself.
“As movie premieres go, that wasparticularlyexhausting.”
I snort. Even though this premiere means more to me than any previous event, seeing as there’s a vulnerable part of myself out there for the world to critique, I feel like it’s only solidified what I want to do next.
“Tell me about it. Feels like every event gets harder. Like they’re etching out parts of me. Or the part of me that wanted to pursue this life.” I sip my water before sighing wearily. “I’ve decided I don’t want it anymore. In fact, if I’m honest, I recently realized that I don’t think I evertrulywanted it. It all just kind of fell into my lap.”
Hayley’s kind eyes hold mine for a long beat before she props herself at the edge of the desk. “I was jealous, you know?”
I blink heavily and shake my head in disbelief. “Ofme?”
She nods emphatically, her shoulder-length brown curls swinging around her cheeks. “We met because we both had the same dream. But it felt like everything just came to you, Em. And I felt overlooked by the industry…my mother…the universe? Who knows!”
I shake my head as my forehead wrinkles in concern, having had no clue she felt this way.
“But there’s a side to fame that you don’t see when you’re a little girl with a big dream. When you reach the heights you have, your life isn’t even your own. You belong to the world?—”
Hayley’s sentence is cut short by Beckham striding in the door, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “There you are. We need to talk.”
