Breaking Stars (The Celebrity 2)

Long Drive Home

Paige

I lost track of how many states I’d cried tears in. I wasn’t stupid when it came to Tatum and why he acted the way he did. In my gut, I knew that he didn’t mean any of the harsh words that spilled out of his mouth, but my mind wouldn’t stop replaying them, as if to try to convince me otherwise.

He didn’t want me. He told me to leave. The anguish of it all repeated, making sure I didn’t forget a single word of it.

“You’re a good time,” he’d said to me in an icy voice.

“No joke. I’m telling you to go. You should have never been here in the first place.”

Tears continued to spill down my cheeks each time his hateful tone echoed inside my mind. My entire body ached in a way I didn’t recognize.

The pain with Colin had been so very different from this. I’d thought I loved Colin, but now I wasn’t sure what exactly it was that I felt for him. Tatum made my relationship with Colin seem like such a joke; juvenile, at best.

Realizing that I was heading back to my reality, following the two men in my life that I currently liked the least, I reached for my cell phone tucked inside my purse and pulled it out. Glancing at it quickly, I turned it on for the first time in ages. It came to life, synched with my car, and started beeping out message alerts for what felt like five minutes straight.

Ignoring them all, I told my car to dial Quinn.

“What’s up, babe?”

“Don’t you ever work?” I teased through my tears.

“I’m actually in my trailer, brat, so start talking before I get called back on set,” she warned, and I lost it.

I sobbed for a moment, and after Quinn asked me three times what was wrong, she stayed silent until I stopped sounding like a wounded animal.

“Jayson and Colin came here,” I stuttered.

“Shut up. Oh my God, how’d they find you?”

“I have no idea.”

“Where are you?”

“Driving.”

“Driving where? Back home?”

“Yeah.”

“What about Tatum? Is he with you?”

“He told me to leave.” I sucked in a shaky breath as more tears fell. I wanted to say more about him, but I couldn’t.

“He told you to leave?” When I couldn’t respond, she finally added, “I’m so

rry, Paige. Where’s Colin now?”

“In Jayson’s car,” I spat out. “I wouldn’t let him ride with me.”

“Good girl,” she murmured. “How long until you’re back?”

“I’m not sure. Probably another couple of days.”

“I can’t believe Jayson drove out there and brought Colin with him. That’s just a low blow.”

“They flew.” I didn’t know why I felt like even the most minute details were important, but for some reason I wanted Quinn to have all the facts. “But then they rented a car to make sure I’d go back with them. It’s awful the way they showed up, demanding I leave. And I did it, Quinn. I just packed up my stuff and followed them like the good little obedient girl that I am.”