I braced myself, sat up straighter, and doubled down. “Move in with me. Or I could move in with you. I don’t care. I just hate us living in two different houses. I want to see you every day. Whatever you want, I’ll do. Just...”
“I can’t make a decision like this now. Or ever. I don’t know. I came here to show you support.” She pushed her chair back and stood. “I need to go.”
“Go where? I’ll go with you.” I followed her through the house.
The dogs found us and began circling, trying to get our attention with toys.
“Will you guys get down!” I hissed.
“I— I don’t know. I need to process everything. Don’t you have a party to get ready for?”
I stopped walking and threw my hands up, incredulous. “You really think a party is a good idea right now? A dude died on the last day of filming, and I’ve just been outed as the most desperate actor in Hollywood.”
“What better time to surround yourself with friends? I’ll be back later,” she said, and left before I could protest.
I swore and kicked the air. She drove me nuts, and I hated how much I’d miss it if she were gone from my life.
I sulked for an hour out by the pool with my pets before deciding not to cancel the party. I started calling, getting food ordered, and ordering a keg. Skye had promised she’d help decorate, so I shot her a text. She was over an hour later, blowing up balloons.
“When does everyone arrive?” she asked as night began to fall.
It had been a long day. I was stressed to the max, having not heard from Evie for hours. I’d called and texted, but she’d left me on read. Skye was entirely too excited about decorating, and for a while, it helped distract me. There had to be a couple hundred balloons in my backyard, all blown up by her. My housekeeper was going to be pissed when he came to clean and had to look for a thousand pieces of popped latex.
When the sun went down, I turned on the music, and members of the cast and crew began to show. With each new car, my hope spiked and was then popped like one of Skye’s balloons when I saw it wasn’t Evie. I kept trying her phone, and after an hour, once most everyone had shown, I started to panic.
Finally, she called back. I was in the middle of a conversation with one of the tech guys when her name flashed on my screen. I showed him the name and excused myself.
“Evie, where the fuck are you?” I hissed.
“Sorry. I spent the day with my mom. I’m in your driveway right now.”
I ran toward the house, shoving past people to go inside and get to her. I met her at the front door and lifted her up, spinning her in my arms.
“Anthony C. Hopkins! Sebastian, let me go!” she giggled.
“Are you okay?” I asked, setting her down. I took her hand and led her through the house to the party in the back.
“I’m fine. Great, actually. I sat at the cemetery and just had a long visit with her. I got a lot off my chest. I feel really good.”
I paused at the glass doors that led to the outside. I wasn’t ready to hit the loud party.
“Really? Like…”
“Like maybe I’m okay stopping.”
Stopping? She wasn’t going to kill Elliott?
“And this isn’t just because he said he’s your—”
“Hell no,” she scoffed. “If anything, that made me want to kill him more. No, I just think my priorities have changed a bit. Do I really want to go out so soon?”
“I don’t know. Do you?” A loud click came from behind us, and we turned. There, Elliott stood, holding a gun aimed right at her.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
His hair was slightly disheveled and his suit wrinkled. The smell of alcohol wafted through the room.
“I’m here to watch you guys. I want to make sure you don’t go killing the rest of my friends. We have more movies to make. More people to help make their dreams come true.”
