Hollywood Playboy (Hollywood Royalty 1)

I bring my glass of water to my lips and take a drink. It’s almost nine p.m. local time, and I feel like I’m wired. I’m tired, but after tossing and turning for two hours, I finally gave in and answered a text Jonathan had sent at six asking me to meet them at the hotel bar. So I threw on my favorite pair of torn jeans and matched it with a huge light gray V-neck long-sleeved knitted sweater. “You know you have to be a little bit more specific with that question, right?” I smile at him.

It’s just the two of us now. When I came down, everyone but the spearmint triplets were here. According to their social media, they were doing a movie night. The seven of us shared dinner and stories, but slowly but surely, everyone got up to go to bed, leaving just Jonathan and me. “That the model gave birth.”

I laugh now, looking down at my hands, my thumbs running up and down the glass. “You know I never reveal my sources,” I tell him, and he smiles at me. He’s really good looking—his brown hair combed to the side, his perfect white teeth, and his dark brown eyes. “It’s why I’m so successful and people trust me.”

He brings the bottle back to his lips. “You are like a vault.” He drags a long drink. “I’m sorry they left you off the list today.”

I shrug my shoulders. “It’s no secret that Tyler and I don’t like each other,” I say, hoping the way I look at him shows it didn’t bother me. Little do they know that the “phone call” I got that explained my absence was because I’d left the room as soon as the meeting was adjourned and called Stephanie as I walked to my room, begging her to let me come home and switch with someone else. She laughed and basically said to suck it up. I sat on my bed for a good twenty minutes—maybe even thirty or even an hour, I have no idea. I wasn’t even going to go back down until Yamina texted me to tell me pictures were being taken.

Yamina: WHERE ARE YOU? THE PHOTO OPS ARE NOW.

Yamina: THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

So I took a big breath, and I locked it down, applied a layer of lip gloss, and made my way back to the room. I made it there right when she was running out of the room to find me.

“I know it’s no secret,” he says, “but it was just a shitty thing to do.” I shake my head. “We should head to bed since the premiere is tomorrow.”

“It’s going to be a long, long night,” I tell him, getting up to grab my phone and key card. Heading toward the elevator, the two of us side by side, I press the button going up and turn to Jonathan, who smiles at me.

“Isn’t this cute?” I hear from behind me and turn to see Cassie smiling with Tyler next to her with his hands in his pockets, looking from Jonathan to me. “Are you guys the newest couple?” she says, and I look at her. She is dressed the same as she was before, except she traded up her shoes. “I think we got the scoop.”

“You caught us,” Jonathan says to her. “Guilty. You should call that tip in. Lucky for the two of us, we are essentially nobodies, so no breaking news here.” He jokes with her, and I remain quiet. When the elevator finally arrives, we all awkwardly stand in it, and no one says anything.

I’m the first to get out. “Night, everyone,” I say over my shoulder. I chance a glance at Tyler but regret it the moment I do because he’s staring at me, wearing no expression whatsoever. I turn and continue walking to my room. I kick off my ballerina shoes and shimmy out of my jeans, tossing them on the chair with the sweater and bra. I climb into the bed, then turn off the lights, and I finally drift off to sleep, ending a day that I’d just as soon forget.

When my alarm rings at six a.m., I’m face down on the bed in a legit starfish position. I roll to the side and turn the alarm off. I grab the phone and scroll through the headlines—a breakup, a DUI, a fight. Looks like everything is alive and well back home. Getting my ass in gear, I put on my workout clothes and grab a bottle of water, then make my way to the gym again. Walking in, I’m not sure what I expect to see, but Tyler going full force on the treadmill is definitely not it. He is wearing his basketball shorts today and a sleeveless shirt. His television is off while he runs. When you run that fast, you are either trying to outrun your demons or run toward them. In Tyler’s case, I’m not sure which is the case.