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“You say that now, but—”
“Never. Going. To. Happen,” he states through clenched teeth, punctuating each word.
“I believe you. However, that doesn’t mean we’re going to last forever. I’m not saying that to be mean, but this is new. We have no idea where this is headed, how long it’ll last, or if it even will. The movie wraps soon, and then what? It’s easy to see each other right now. We work together every day. We can sneak away for five minutes. Life won’t always be like that. It’ll be hard to see each other with your schedule and mine.”
“We can make it work.”
“We can try.”
“I want to try. I want to make it work. We may not know what’s going to happen next month or next year, but when I think about it, when I picture myself and my life, I picture you a part of it.”
My heart warms at his words. I’d love nothing more than to believe there is a future for us. That a year from now we’ll be celebrating our anniversary. Holidays together. That I’ll one day meet his parents. They’ll welcome me into their family, and for the first time in my life, I’ll know what it’s like to be a part of something real.
I fear the only way that can happen is if our relationship is out in the open. He’s a star, rising quickly. His face sells magazines. No matter how hard we try, they’re going to cover his life. The only way they’ll leave us alone is if they lose interest in our story. If I’m no longer a mystery.
I guess I know what I need to do.
“We should do the exclusive interview,” I say as he pulls into his driveway, the garage door slowly raising to reveal my car.
“What made you decide that already?” he asks as he puts his car in park.
“It’s the only way to make them stop digging. Because they will, dig and dig and dig until they have every drop of information on me they can find. If I give them what they want, if we give them an exclusive on our relationship, maybe they’ll leave us alone sooner.”
My phone buzzes, cutting through the tense silence. Another text message from Hayden or Austin, I’m sure. I promised I’d call them, and I haven’t yet.
“I should really call the girls,” I say as we remain seated in the car, neither of us making a move to exit.
“Are you staying for dinner?” he asks, and then immediately follows up with, “I’d really like it if you did.”
“I’ll stay for dinner, but I do need to go home tonight and unpack.” We’d already discussed it earlier. I was going to stay at my place tonight. He knows I’m not trying to avoid him, or the situation, but just to make sure I add, “You’re welcome to come with me. I’m sure Martha will cook for us if I ask her to.”
“That sounds great. It’s been a while since I’ve had a home-cooked meal.”
Finally heading inside, I gather my things while Eli packs an overnight bag. As soon as I’m in my car alone, leading the way to my place with Eli following, I dial Austin.
“Conference Hayden in,” I say in lieu of a greeting.
“On it,” she confirms. “You there, Hay?”
“I’m here,” Hayden says. “Tay?”
“Yeah, I’m here. First off, I’m fine. I swear. Yes, I’m a little freaked out, but since I know who sent in the pictures—”
“Who?” Austin asks at the same time Hayden says, “Celia!”
“Yes, it was Celia. How did you know?”
“It’s the only person that made sense. No one else on set would bother or be a trusted, reliable source. Ansen wouldn’t out you because he knows that would bring the heat to him as well. He doesn’t want to relive what happened any more than you want to learn about it. And the other girls, what are their names?” Hayden asks.
“Kate and Zoe?”
“Yeah, them. They don’t have the clout to get the story picked up either. They could try, but unless Celia’s name was attached to the information, it wouldn’t go anywhere. The rags don’t want to print gossip unless it’s confirmed by a reliable source. Sounds silly but it’s true.”
Hayden’s explanation makes perfect sense. I’m not sure how I didn’t see this coming.
“What are you planning on doing?” Austin asks.
“Well, we’re going to give them what they want. An exclusive interview. All the details of our relationship.”
