Page 37 of Now Their Starlet

And then I meet his gaze, my eyes bright as I jump to my feet, pacing back and forth in front of his kneeling form.

“Ezra, you said you wanted to help, right?”

“I mean, yeah, but why’re you lookin’ at me like that?”

“Because I need you to figure out some way to contact them, that way we can figure out what their plan is and how to help them help me, you know?” I whirl around and face him, reaching down and gripping his shoulders, shaking him a bit.

This is the first time I’ve voluntarily touched him in private. Fitting that it’s to throttle him to try and convince him to do this.

“I dunno if they’re gonna be very happy to see me,” he mutters, shaking his head. “But fine.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I say, bouncing on my toes, feeling alive for the first time in weeks. The hope that’s been whittled away by the solitary confinement, the uncomfortable bedding, and the borderline starvation flares back to life with a renewed vigor. “Let’s try and figure out a way for them to hear you out. We can do this!”

“Sure,” Ezra nods, still kneeling down. “I’ll make it happen, Andi.”

The tension in my chest that’s been present ever since I was locked in here starts to ease.

“Okay,” I nod, taking a step backwards and swallowing past the lump in my throat. “Okay.”

“I’ve... still got that gift I mentioned,” Ezra murmurs, sitting back on his heels and pulling out something else from that ridiculous fanny pack.

“Really? What is it?”

My eyes go wide when he pulls out an old-looking iPod. It has stickers along the back of the old cartoon show I know Ezra liked watching as a kid.

“I—I scrubbed all the music I had on here and downloaded Beckham Knight’s discography for you. Thought... It’d be nice for you to have, you know?”

I take the iPod and wired earbuds with trembling hands.

“You—you really did that for me?” I breathe out.

I never mentioned to anyone that ever since Beck and I started the whole fake-dating situation, I’d listen to his music as I slept.

“Yeah,” Ezra shrugs, averting his gaze. “Even brought you the charger. Make sure to hide it from Stuart and your mom, though. They’d probably freak if they found it.”

“Of course,” I nod, clutching it to my chest.

“His music isn’t bad. Gave some of it a listen. Not my cup of tea but I can see why you like it.”

Ezra’s words have me freezing. He’s always shittalked the kind of music Beck makes, preferring the style of music he makes. I’ve described it as “TikTok Rap,” before, never to his face, because I’m not that big of a bitch.

“You’re joking.” The words leave my lips before I can catch them.

“What?” He grunts, rolling his eyes. “A guy can’t admit his tastes have grown?”

“N—no, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m just... shocked.”

Ezra goes still for a moment before meeting my gaze. “You never acted the way you just did to his single to any of my music. If you like it, there’s gotta be something there, you know?”

“O—oh.”

“Yeah, oh. Now, close your jaw before a bug decides to fly down your throat. We’ve gotta come up with a plan for me to meet your pack.”

“Right. A plan,” I nod, the iPod still clutched in my hand.

CHAPTER 10

Eli