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“You do realize I have a copy of what you just read me, right?” Elis asks, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. “You’re the one that gave it to me. I was referring to our itinerary for other activities. You know, when I get to meet your friends.”
We’re stuck in traffic on the 101. There are brake lights as far as I can see. Our plane doesn’t take off for two hours and I made sure the entire team was prescreened with TSA, but if we don’t start inching along soon, we’ll be cutting it close.
“Taylor,” Eli calls as he squeezes my thigh.
“Yeah. You’re going to meet them. Promise. I just don’t know when yet.”
Hayden and Austin wanted to pick us up from the airport and I squashed their idea. Then they wanted to take us out to breakfast tomorrow. Squashed. Lunch. Squashed.
It’s not that I don’t want them to meet him. I do, more than anything. I need their opinion. I want them to put him through the wringer and push every button he has. That’s the whole reason Hay is joining us in Seattle.
The problem is I’m scared they won’t find anything wrong with him. Then what? I don’t have an out. I don’t have a reason to break things off with him. The longer I wait, the more I’ll fall, the more violent the heartbreak will be if things don’t work out.
Which, let’s be honest, they probably won’t. He’s a star, he needs to shine. He deserves it.
And I’m afraid of the spotlight. Ashamed of my mother. Would prefer not to be associated with her in any way right now. And if anyone were to find out about us, the first detail they’d nail down would be my name. Then my connection. Then the questions would turn toward my father.
I’m not ready to face the pity in people’s eyes yet. Because that’s what I’ll see. People will feel sorry for me because I lost my father, because I never had the chance to know him.
They might have stories they want to share, and I don’t want to learn about him from people I don’t know.
The last thing I want is to talk about how much it hurts and how I’m starting to blame my mother for his death. Something I haven’t even confessed to Eli yet.
It’s notuntil we’re about to touch down in Seattle, the plane circling Sea-Tac twice before being cleared to land, that Eli brings it up again.
“If you don’t want me to meet them, I understand. But just know, I’m not afraid. They can ask me anything and I’ll be completely honest with them. I have nothing to hide, Taylor.”
My heart warms, butterflies taking flight in my stomach, until the wheels touch down, jerking me forward in my seat, and I realize that no matter what happens, I’m already screwed.
If they like him, the last of my resolve to keep him at a distance will shatter.
If they hate him, my heart might just shatter on the spot.
We made a pact, though. We may have been sixteen years old and devastated teenagers at the time, but we’ve stuck to it. It’s part of what keeps us close.
No man will ever come between us again. Not a stupid soccer player who was also playing us. Not the asshole Austin dated two years ago. Definitely not any of the men Hayden’s considered settling down with. Though, those men never lasted long enough to meet us. She’s sent them on their merry way long before we had the chance to interrogate them.
Eli Simms may be the hottest, young up-and-comer in Hollywood, but even he won’t be able to break us apart. Because if my friends deem him less than worthy, that’s what he is. And he will be dropped from my life quicker than he can blink.
The question is do I want him to prove he’s worthy?
Am I ready to take a chance on love again? It’s been nine years, yet the wound still feels fresh. The thought alone causes my stomach to churn.
“I want you to meet them, Eli, but you have a crazy schedule. Filming has to come first.”
“And it will. But every second I’m not on set, I plan to spend with you.”
Which means he’ll be spending a lot of time with the girls as well.
“There’s a slight hiccup in your plan.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m staying with Austin, not at the hotel.”
“Why?” I expect him to sound disappointed or surprised. Instead, he seems genuinely interested.
“That’s where Hayden will be. The three of us haven’t been able to get together in a while, and we want to make the most out of this week.”
