Page 76 of Camera Stays On

Andi lifted her head and stood. “I’m...gonna go clean up.” She went out the back door, leaving us.

I brushed Juliet off and stared at her in confusion. “I thought you didn’t want him to marry her?”

“I don’t. But I’m playing the long game. He only wants her because she’s the first person to ever tell him no. Once he has her, he’ll discard her just like any other toy.”

“And you think he won’t do that to you? He literally just did,” I said. She blinked rapidly and furrowed her brow as if not fully catching that. Her spine straightened, and she glared at me.

“Don’t worry about me. In the end, he’ll have no choice but to pick me. You’ve already done too much damage. He won’t touch her. She’s just a trophy at this point. And we know how country boys get their trophies.”

The cold way she said it caused my blood to chill. What did she mean by that?

I left her the same way Sawyer had. I found him in the foyer, arguing with Mick.

“She’s going to lose her foot,” Mick shouted. “She needs medical help.”

Sawyer’s eyes were glazed over like they’d been before, in the woods, when Bea had originally been caught in the trap. He wasn’t listening.

“Your priorities are fucked up, man. You barely reacted with Lux, you fucking shot Andi, and now you’re going to let Bea die. For what? A shitty found footage movie? I’m not doing any more of this until we get her help.”

“It’s not shitty.” Sawyer came to, his eyes turning cold. “And she’s going to be fine. Give her some fever reducer. If she hadn’t been running around in the woods, she wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Why was a trap set up anyway?” Mick demanded. He was shouting at a brick wall. Sawyer had completely shut down. I knew that man like the back of my hand. He wasn’t going to engage unless he was getting his way.

“Just do it,” I said through gritted teeth. We needed to pick our battles with Sawyer. If we kept poking at every little thing, he’d snap.

“What?” He gaped.

“Do the movie, Mick.”

Chapter 33

Andi

“WHEN THE VIEWERS find out we really got married, Purdy doll, it’ll shoot the ratings right up.”

“What do you mean? I—”

“How do you not get it yet? We’re getting married, sweetie. We’re fixing what got ruined five years ago. You understand?”

Was I really going to do this?

I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror, unsure what the hell I was doing. Why hadn’t I pushed back? Told Sawyer no, I didn’t want to marry him. Technically, I hadn’t said anything—but he was cleaning and redressing my bullet wound at the time. If I protested right then, I risked him hurting me further.

Kind of like the first time he’d proposed. He put me in a situation that made it hard to say no. The very idea of being tied to that man legally for the rest of my life was enough to make me sick. My insides twisted painfully, causing me to run to the toilet and vomit.

I gripped the porcelain and let it all out. There was no fucking way I’d be able to stand up there and repeat vows while looking at Sawyer Delambre.

Once my stomach had been completely purged, I stumbled to my feet and went to the sink. There was a small cup on the counter. I filled it with water and rinsed my mouth before reaching for my toothbrush. Scrubbing my mouth, I glared at myself, angry that I still couldn’t stand up to Sawyer. Turning back to the door, I startled when it opened, and Asher slid in.

“What are you doing?” I asked quickly.

“I came to ask the same thing,” he said, locking the door behind him. “You’re not really thinking of going through with this, are you?”

I swallowed the pit in my throat, pushing it to my belly. “With what?”

“With marrying him!” he hissed. “I got you out the first time. You’re really going to make that mistake again?” Asher stepped toward me, putting his arms around my waist and tugging me to him. “I’m not going to hold my peace. If you go up there, I’ll object.”

His lips crashed down on mine in a hurried frenzy. They moved to my jawline, trailing hot kisses down my neck. I rolled my head, relishing the electricity flooding my veins with every kiss.