Page 96 of Shine For Me

Bodhi stops at the door and looks over his shoulder. “The Littles are going to school in a few weeks, Fox. You’ve been gone all summer. Come to lunch.”

I scowl at him. “For someone who’s supposed to be a nice guy, you fucking play dirty, man.”

He grins. “We’re leaving in ten minutes. See you downstairs.”

* * *

As expected,the street outside my parents’ house is filled with cars. It looks like Rose and River are already here, along with most of my cousins. I decide I’m going to put jelly in Bodhi’s sheets later for making me do this.

At least there’s beer inside,I tell myself as I climb out of the car.

“Come on, Fox,” Everly says, slipping her arm through mine. “This will be good for you.”

Apparently, Everly has no idea what she’s talking about, because before we can even get to the front door, a man steps into our path.

I take a step back, blinking at him in surprise. “What the hell are you doing here?”

James Greyson Cain III rolls his eyes. “I heard there was a party happening here and thought I’d stop by.” He jerks his head away from the house. “I need to talk to you.”

“I’m not sure what you would have to say to me.”

June’s twin brother fixes that sardonic smirk on his face. “Give me ten minutes. I think you owe me that after the way you treated my sister.”

My eyes practically bug out of my head. “The wayItreatedher?” Everly is patting my arm, probably trying to calm me down. I feel like I might jump across the walkway and wreck this guy’s pretty boy face.

“Ten minutes Ransome.”

“Fine.” I nod at Bodhi and Everly. “I’ll see you back there.” I can tell they both want to stick around—probably for the gossip potential—but eventually they head up to the house.

“How did you know where I was?” I ask Grey.

“I know people.”

“You know people.”

He nods like that’s a totally normal thing to say. “And it’s not like it’s a secret you Ransomes hang out every weekend like one big happy family.” He sneers at this, letting me know exactly what he thinks about my family’s closeness.

“What do you want, Grey?”

“I looked you up, you know,” he says. “There are tons of hits over the last few years, of course, ever since your little show started. But there wasn’t much before that.”

“I’m assuming you have a point.”

He gives me a smile so cold I’m almost tempted to take a step back. “The earliest mention I found of your name on the internet is a birth announcement. A couple of magazines carried it. Some gossip blogs ran it, along with pictures of your parents when your mom was pregnant. But no pictures of you. Not as a baby. Not for years.”

“Grey, what the hell—”

“That seemed a little off to me, at first. I mean, your dad is famous as fuck. Why weren’t there paparazzi following you guys around all the time? Why aren’t there tons of pictures of you and your siblings when you were little? But then it hit me—it was intentional.”

I frown at him, not at all sure why we’re talking about this. I figured he was here to rip me a new one over his sister, and instead we’re discussing my internet presence. “My dad and my uncles got the bigger celebrity magazines to agree not to publish photos of us when we were little.” It’s not exactly uncommon these days—most of the more established magazines have been pressured not to buy candid shots of celebrities’ kids. There are still plenty of actors and musicians who allow it, though. Some even downright encourage it—famous people with their kids sell magazines and selling magazines is good for a celebrity’s career.

“That’s what I thought.” Grey shakes his head. “So no candid paparazzi shots. Nothing staged. And no photoshoots, either.”

“You think our parents were going to have photoshoots with us?” I ask, bewildered. “When we were kids?”

“Lots of people do it,” he says evenly. “Pictures of the kids are good for the brand.”

“My parents would never do that shit.”