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Chapter 13
Trenton
Aliwasquietinthe car, which wasn’t completely unusual, but it seemed different, like she was lost in thought. Her friend being in the bottom three surely wasn’t still weighing her down, especially because Georgia herself seemed over it. My earlier statement about only one of them being able to win might have been a bit harsh, but it was something Ali needed to come to terms with—she would most likely win this thing, and that meant defeating Georgia. I didn’t think it was a good time to reiterate that point, though.
“Are you looking forward to Thanksgiving?” I asked, going for the low-hanging conversation fruit.
She sighed. “Not really.”
She’d mentioned that her mom and stepfather weren’t thrilled about her being onSing Battle, but other than that, she’d been tight-lipped about her family, so I hadn’t pried. “It’ll be nice to get out of the hotel for a week and sleep in your own bed though, right?”
She turned her head away from me and stared out the window. “I was thinking I might stay in LA this week.”
“Why?”
“I told you my mom is a cellist, right? And my sister plays violin. They’ve started playing together, and they got a last-minute invitation to play at Carnegie Hall. Since no one will be around for Thanksgiving, I thought I might as well stay here and avoid the jet lag.”
I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to fly if she didn’t have to. I wasn’t a fan, either, especially commercial flights. My legs were too damn long for me to get comfortable even in first class. She obviously didn’t have that problem, since she was a foot shorter than I was. Flying wasn’t fun, and it was even worse around Thanksgiving.
A plan formulated in my mind. I’d been planning to fly out to my grandparents’ house for Thanksgiving, but I’d also been invited to a local gathering of friends. My family would miss me, but there would be plenty of them there. I could see them another time. What I couldn’t do was let Ali spend Thanksgiving alone. “Do you want to spend Thanksgiving with me?”
Her brow furrowed. “Aren’t you going to see your family?”
I dodged the question. “A buddy of mine is hosting something. He won’t mind one more.”
She was silent for a few moments. “I don’t know…”
“If you say you don’t want to put me out, I swear to God, I will make the executive decision for us to sing ‘I Got You, Babe.’”
She gasped. “You wouldn’t.” She sounded horrified.
“Try me.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. I could practically see the wheels turning in her mind, as if she was trying to determine whether I would sink that low. I wouldn’t have, but she might not have known that.
We stopped at a red light, so I met her gaze evenly. “I can order a long black wig from Amazon. And you know I have an in on the show. All it would take is one call to Evan and—”
“Okay, okay!” She shook her head. “You’ve left me no choice, then. I guess I’ll be your plus one for Thanksgiving.”
That had been easier than I’d thought, making me glad I’d invited her. The holiday situation must have bothered her more than she would admit. The light turned green, so I turned my attention back to the road. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I thought I saw her smile.Mission accomplished.
“So what else do you plan to do with your time off?” I asked.
“I haven’t given it much thought. Maybe a massage, some shopping, a celebrity home tour, a movie…”
I laughed. “That’s a lot for someone who supposedly hasn’t thought about it.”
She ducked her head. “I haven’t done much apart fromSing Battlefor over two months.”
“Then this break is good. Live it up. What movie do you want to see?”
″Paradise Island. Have you heard of it?”
My jaw clenched against my will, and I ground my teeth. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it.” That was Lindsey’s movie, the one she’d been trying to promote when her publicist advised her to dump me. There was no way in hell I was going to see it, especially not with Ali.
She frowned. “Is it no good?”
“I haven’t actually seen it,” I said honestly. I’d heard so much about it from Lindsey, I felt like I had. It was probably decent, at the very least. Lindsey was a good actress.
