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“That’s enough flattery out of you three,” I titter. “Come down here, Bennet.”
He ventures back, his steps slower than when he had gone up, and I notice his eyes trailing toward the ceiling.
“We shouldn’t do this in here,” he murmurs. Instantly, my shoulders stiffen again, and the other two exchange a look, sliding off the couch without a word.
“My room?” I suggest.
“Hot tub,” Gabe interrupts before anyone can agree. “You’re a mass of tension, Stella. I can see it all over your body.”
No cameras there, either. It’s perfect.
“That’s a good call,” Forrest agrees, extending his hand to help me up from the couch, and we all head toward the kitchen door to trudge through the yard and into a hint of a chill of the California night.
“Almost a week left,” Gabe comments as he starts the jets up, and I try to wriggle out of my dress. Forrest immediately gives me a hand, unzipping the back of my too-tight bodice. I exhale a breath I must have been holding from the moment I’d been crammed into the beautiful but cramped garment.
The men climb into the tub, and again, Forrest holds out his hand to help me.
“What’s on your mind, Heartbreaker?” Gabe presses as I study each of their faces.
“It’s like you just said, Gabe,” I tell him. “It’s just over a week left. We’re almost done filming.”
They look at one another.They’ve just been avoiding the talk of the future until now.
“What are we going to do after?” I press. “What is going to happen when we leave here?”
“Nothing will change,” Gabe says quickly, but Bennet stops him.
“Don’t be dumb,” he growls. “Once we get out of here, everything will change. There will still be cameras on us. We’ll all be in the public eye—more so now than before, probably. And that won’t run out in a cycle or two.”
Disappointment sinks my heart, and I swallow, wondering if Bennet is having second thoughts about us all being together.
“So?” Gabe fires out. “We’ve dealt with paparazzi before.”
“But Stella hasn’t,” Bennet snaps. “What about Stella? Isn’t she the one who matters the most?”
Understanding floods me, and I turn toward him, exhaling.He’s worried about me, not himself!
“I can handle myself,” I tell them quickly. “This gig has ensured that I can move out of my neighborhood into somewhere more secure, maybe a condo with a concierge?—”
“Or in with one of us,” Forrest quietly suggests. “I have eight bedrooms in my house in West Hollywood.”
“I have room in my condo in Malibu,” Bennet jumps in.
“I also have room,” Gabe adds slowly, but his volunteering isn’t as enthusiastic, and I think I know why.
“Gabe… if your parents find out about this… or your dad, Forrest…” Both men whip their heads around to look at me hurtfully, and I draw in a breath, wading into the center of the hot tub. “Look,” I reason. “We’re either a team, or we’re not. You’re obviously not sure, and Forrest, it’s not just your dad we need to worry about. None of you. You all have reputations. I can’t jump from one house to another?—”
“Then we’ll set you up in your own condo,” Bennet concludes. “We’ll figure it out.”
“You keep saying that!” I growl in exasperation. “But there’s a lot to work out and less than a week to do it.”
“No,” Bennet counters, meeting me in the middle of the eight-person tub. He takes my hands and stares deeply into my eyes. “We have nothing but time. We don’t need to figure it all out now. All we need to do right now is get through this shitshow and get out of here without the producers finding out what we’re doing.”
I look from man to man, unsure if they truly are on board with the plan or if in our fantasy world, we had all convinced ourselves to be something that we weren’t.
They all have far too much to lose. They can’t keep this up, not outside. Gabe’s parents, Forrest’s dad, all their reputations…
A deep, aching sadness wells in my heart as I sink back against the tub, biting on my lower lip.
