Page 76 of Shine For Me

She’s close with Fox and she’s trying to protect him. From me. The idea that someone who loves him feels like she needs to do that makes me want to throw up. I want to tell her that I would never hurt him. That he means more to me than just about anyone. That I’m working so hard to be brave enough to deserve someone like him.

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Alex,” Fox growls. “This shit is complicated. This industry—”

“Please.” She rolls her eyes. “Half the people on this flight are in the entertainment industry, Fox. As are all of your parents. And none of them do shit like this. Pretending to be engaged? Seriously?”

“That’s enough,” he starts to rise out of his chair and I can practically feel the anger radiating off of him. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to you be rude to someone you don’t even know.”

“I’m trying to stick up for you,” she shoots back.

“Hey!” River suddenly shouts. “This is my no babies vacation. And you’re all seriously ruining my vibe.”

“Maybe you guys should try drinking more,” Jasmine says before hiccupping. “This Bellini isawesome.”

“It’s not a Bellini, you dummy,” Rose says. “That’s a screwdriver. It’s half vodka.”

Jasmine grins at her sister-in-law. “No wonder it’s making me feel so freaking amazing.”

The other Ransomes quickly jump into the conversation, clearly trying to steer it away from the subject of my fucked-up relationship. I don’t hear a word of it, though. The ringing in my ears is too loud.

“Hey,” Fox murmurs as he tugs on my hand. “Let’s go sit somewhere else so we can talk.”

“No,” I say stiffly. That will only draw more attention to what just happened. The only thing to do is sit here and pretend like everything is fine.

I should be really good at that by now.