Page 37 of Knot Their Starlet

“I mean, we are supposed to be fake dating. Might as well get a head start.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Thank you, by the way. For agreeing.”

“Of course.” The words feel heavy on my tongue. I’ve never done this sort of thing before. This being dating publicly. Though, I guess technically we’re fake dating, not dating-dating.

“I know you have your own... life going on,” she murmurs. “So I just want to let you know that I won’t get in the way. Strictly business, you know?”

She’s probably saying exactly what she should be saying. But her words make an ache start in my chest. It’s like she’s already putting up walls between us.

It makes sense why, considering the one person she thought was in her corner assaulted her. But still.

“Good,” Eli answers, filling the awkward silence. “Are you alone?”

“What? Like, in my apartment?”

“Yeah, where else?” Eli grunts.

“I mean, yeah.”

“You shouldn’t be. Your injuries—you should have someone checking up on you every two to four hours for the first night with a concussion that bad.”

“When did you talk to my doctors?” Andi huffs. “I have an alarm set. I’ll be fine.”

“An alarm won’t be able to call an ambulance if you don’t turn it off,” Eli bites back.

“Stop nagging me.” Her voice shifts back to being small and exhausted, like it was at the beginning of the call. “I don’t have anyone I can call to help me out.”

“What about your mom? Or anyone on the team?” I ask, my brows drawn down in concern when I see the actual concern on Eli’s expression.

“I’d rather go to bed and never wake up than ask them for help,” she bites out. “I’m due for another dose of pain meds. I’ll see you for whatever thing our teams plan for us. Thanks for checking up on me.”

“Wait—”

“Goodnight, Beck.”

The phone clicks as she hangs up, leaving Eli and I staring at each other.

CHAPTER 9

Andromeda

“Andromeda, your mother needs to speak with you.” Stuart materializes next to me, holding out his phone.

The makeup artist glances at him, shifting to the side to work on my other eye to give the beta some space to talk to me.

“I’ll take it,” I sigh.

My comment has Stuart’s eyes narrowing on me, their icy depths sending a shiver down my spine.

I don’t even know why I’m talking. It’s not like I could say no to a call from my mother, even if I wanted to.

“Good morning, Andromeda,” Gina says, her voice even more grating through the phone.

“Morning, Mom.”

“Have you seen the new headlines? The Fletchers have released a statement on Ezra going to rehab. They’ve expressed great remorse for the incident and hope for bright futures for everyone involved, after Ezra gets the help he needs. Isn’t that lovely?”

The empty, rehearsed words fall flat against the memory of Ezra in my apartment. As much as that freaked me the hell out, him showing up at my place to speak to me—really speak to me, not through our publicists or media statements—means something more than this cookie-cutter statement.