AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Since when do news outlets put emojis in their titles?” I snarl.
My boobs are crushed into the ground, so at least there’s that.
Lying in bed, I throw my phone across the bed. I’ll face reading the “in-depth article” about Rilox later when I’ve had a glass of wine, maybe three. But it’s 9:00 a.m., so probably a bit early for that.
I shower, hoping to clear my head, but my abrasions are stinging like mad, and there’s no making Rilox go away. After I’ve stayed under the water so long my fingers prune, I finally get around to washing my hair. That’s when I hear the alternating squeaking and crunching sound of a window being pried open.In a flash, I’m running out of the bathroom with a towel around me.
In the kitchen, I grab a frying pan.
“Riles, it’s me,” Skye says. “Don’t conk me on the head with that stupid pan of yours.”
I whoosh out a breath of relief before heat crawls up my cheeks. “Why the hell are you breaking into my apartment?”
“My third eye saw the paparazzi following me again.” Skye steps into the kitchen to peer out the window. “I tried to call you a zillion times. I didn’t want whoever was following me to see me come to your place, so I parked the Winnebago around the corner and came up the back alley. Then I climbed your fire escape, just in case. I remembered you telling me your office window’s stuck open.” Skye speed walks to the living room, turning back to say, “I’m gonna check the peephole and make sure there’s no one in the hall.”
“Cool. I guess.”
Unbelievable.Although not really. Skye has boundary issues, but I deal with it because on the flip side, she’d throw herself in front of a Class-A Winnebago to save me…and basically has before. And now that my grams passed, Skye, my two besties, and my cousin are all I have left.
I go to the bedroom to put on a T-shirt and jeans before heading back to the living room. When I get there, Skye’s already burrowed herself into my couch with a ham sandwich in one hand and the TV remote in the other, watchingDumb and Dumber. “Hallway’s clear,” she mumbles through a bite.
“Good to know.”
Except as soon as I say that, there’s a knock at the door, and I groan, loathing this day already.
“Open up, Riley—it’s Maddox.” The voice echoes from outside.
I freeze, my breath coming to a hard stop in my chest.
“And Iris.”
“And Smith.”
Maddox Winter is here. At my apartment. Right now. With his publicist and Smith.Fan-freaking-tastic.
“I was never here.” Skye turns off the TV and jumps up.
“What? Why?” I ask as she darts to my office. When she’s gone, I shuffle to the door. Opening it, I say, “Uh, hi, everyone.”
Maddox holds up his phone with theLove Buzzarticle on it. “You need to read this.”
“Already have.” I run a hand through my hair and find a blob of shampoo still in it.
Without an invitation, Maddox and Smith blaze into my apartment before Smith sits on my couch.
“Make yourself at home,” I say, my sarcasm only thinly veiled.
Iris isn’t far behind them, but she doesn’t sit.
I invite Maddox’s bodyguard in, but he waves me away, taking his post outside the door.
After it’s shut, Maddox heads over to me, grabs my hand, and examines my palm. “Shit. That looks bad. How are the knees?”
They’re nasty, but he looks so distraught about it, I actually feel sorry for him. “Not too bad. I’m tough.”
“As nails, I know.” He digs through his pocket. “Here. I brought some Neosporin, and the Arnica cream is for the bruises. Make sure you’re applying them three times a day. It prevents scarring.”
Wow. Hedoesfeel bad. I take them. “Thank you.”
