Page 53 of Shine For Me

“Hang on.” I pull back and tilt her chin up so she has to look at me. “Why would you lose me? Why is that even on the table?”

“You don’t date actresses,” she points out. “And…my life is complicated.”

Complicated. A rush of hot anger goes through me. Yeah, complicated. Great description of the fucked-up scenario in which she pretends to still be engaged to a total asshole.

“You afraid of this getting out?” I snap, and she winces at the sharpness in my voice.

“Well, yeah,” she says uncertainly. “Aren’t you?”

“No.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Really? Sleeping around with your co-star is the kind of story your PR team is looking for?”

“Sleeping around? Are you fucking kidding me right now, June?”

She closes her eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just saying, that’s how they’ll spin it. You know what the press is like.”

“I think you’re more worried about how they’ll spin it for you.”

“Of course I’m worried about that! Am I supposed to be excited about the idea of them painting me as some cheating slut?”

I’m not sure exactly what this feeling is, but I know I shouldn’t be touching her right now. I release her and move into a sitting position up against her headboard. “Is that what just happened?” I ask in a low voice. “Did you just cheat on your fiancé?”

She blanches like I just slapped her. “No!” she gasps. “I told you it’s not like that with him.”

“Then end it. Dump him. Publicly.”

She gapes at me. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I think I do. You don’t love him. You say you’re not going to marry him. He’s out there fucking whoever he wants. Apparently, you are too so—”

“Go to hell, Fox.”

She’s glaring at me across the blankets, her face red and blotchy. And now she is covering up, tugging the sheet practically to her chin so I can’t see her. A wave of remorse crashes through me. I don’t even understand what just happened. One minute we were as close as I’ve ever felt to another human being, and the next I’m furious and she looks like she’s going to burst into tears.

“June,” I say reaching for her, but she jumps off the bed, bringing the sheet with her.

“I think you should go.”

“I’m not going. We need to talk. I’m sorry—”

“I’m sorry, too. This shouldn’t have happened.”

The fact that she’s talking about the sex, and not the fight, pierces through me. “Don’t say that. We—”

“Made a mistake. But we still have to work together for the next few weeks. We have to be professional and get along. So if you’ll please excuse me, I need to take some time to figure out how, exactly, I’m going to pull that off.”

Then before I can argue anymore, she stomps into the bathroom and slams the door. And she doesn’t come back out.

* * *

“What’s going on with you?”my little brother asks, peering at me through the computer screen. “You look all…clenchy.”

“That’s definitely not a word. I thought you were supposed to be the big writer in the family.”

Ash just continues to stare at me, like he’s going to find some answer written on my face. “Really, man. You don’t look so good.”

That’s because I don’t feel so good. I haven’t felt anywhere in the vicinity of good since about five minutes after June and I had sex.