Under the Lights (22 page)

This is such a mess. No wonder Zander and Jade are blowing up my phone so early in the morning. I hop up from the sand and make my way back up to Josh's house, needing to know if he's seen any of this yet. I don't see any lights on, though, which makes sense; Josh isn't exactly a morning person.

Either way, I have to get out of here. I have to talk to Zander, I have to make Jade fix this, and I have to make sure that Bri knows it's complete and total bullshit. Not necessarily in that order.

“I think Josh is still asleep,” I tell Ally, “and I have to get out of here. But all I have is the dress I wore last night. It won't exactly help anything if I walk-of-shame out of here.”

“What'd you sleep in?”

“Clothes that are obviously Josh's. No better. What do I do?”

I can practically hear Ally's brain working on the other end of the line. “Got it! What about Bri?”

My grip on the phone turns to iron. “What
about
Bri?”

“Ask her to bring you something. She can sneak it in her purse, pretend she's at Josh's house on official business or something. Then you guys can leave together, which at least ups the innocence factor a little, no?”

There's so much irony in that idea, but on the surface, I know this makes the most sense. Bri and I just need to put everything else aside for now. She's on my publicity team; she'll get it. This morning, I need her in a professional capacity. We'll deal with the rest when this ridiculousness dies down.

Plus, this way at least I can get to her early, before any of these lies reach her.

“Yeah, okay. I'm gonna give her a call. I'll text you when I get out of here. Thanks, A.”

“Always. Keep me posted.” We hang up, and I quickly check the text messages that have gathered on my phone. Most of them are frantic ones from Zander, who unfortunately
is
a morning person, and a few are seething ones from Jade. Nothing from Bri. I wonder if she's even awake.

I take a deep breath and dial her number, though a part of me hopes she doesn't pick up. If she's still asleep, it means she hasn't been exposed to any of this train wreck yet. I like to think she's still enjoying a good night's sleep, maybe even dreaming of a certain petite Korean chick. But after two rings, she picks up, her voice thick and raspy and sexy as hell. “Hey. Woman of the hour.”

“You saw.”

“I did. Not really where I thought you were gonna go after I left last night.”

I duck back into the guest house and close the door behind me. “Bri, please tell me you know everything in that article is complete crap. There's nothing going on between me and Josh. You've been to the set, and you know that's where the pictures are from.”

She takes a deep breath and exhales. “I know. It's just…you really freaked out last night, and then when you didn't call…” She laughs, and the nervousness in it is so cute, my bare toes curl against the slate tile. “God, I swear I'm not usually this insecure. You do weird things to me, Park.”

“Not as weird as you do to me, Harris,” I murmur, heat rising into my cheeks.

We're both quiet for a moment, letting our weirdness sink in. Then I remember I actually had a reason for calling her in the first place. “So, I actually have a huge favor to ask you.”

“I'm intrigued. Shoot.”

“I'm still at Josh's, and I need to get out of here so I can deal with things.”

“You need new clothing and an escape plan,” she fills in.

“Man, you really
have
learned a lot from working with Jade. Anyway, yes. Please. Desperately. I don't know how many more messages from Zander I can ignore. But I need to break up with him in person, like an actual human being.”

“Can't argue with that,” she says, and the smile in her voice puts one on my face. “I'll be there in thirty.”

“Thanks, Bri. And if you talk to your mom—”

“Oh, trust me, I'm avoiding her like the plague. I got read the riot act at 5:00 a.m. for not keeping a leash on you last night. I don't even know if I still have a job.”

Crap.
I hadn't even thought about the fact that going rogue for a night could put Bri's job with Jade in jeopardy. “Oh, no. Bri, I'm so sorry. I'll talk to Jade—”

“Van, stop. I couldn't care less about this job. The only part of it I actually like is the excuse to hang out with you. And trust me, I'm
not
complaining about any part of last night.”

Tingles. Everywhere. God, is this what it's like for Ally and Liam, or Jamal and Theresa? How do they even function? There's a ridiculous storm of crazy happening outside, and all I want to do right now is curl up with this girl and hide away from it forever.

Which is probably another sign this is all a terrible career move.

“I'm about to get into my car, so I'll see you in half an hour, okay?”

“Okay. And again, thank you.”

“It's my job,” she reminds me playfully. “At least for now. See you soon.”

We hang up, and I stick my head back out to glance up at the main house. Still no sign of Josh. Which means I get to ignore all of this for just a tiny bit longer.

I run a hot bath and strip off my clothes. In half an hour, I'll buck up and deal with the paparazzi, and Zander, and Jade, and the tabloids. But for the next thirty minutes, I have much, much better things to think about.

It takes Bri forty-five minutes to get to Josh's, thanks to traffic, which gives me plenty of time to get anxious all over again. By the time I see her walking through the pool area, looking over her shoulder every few seconds, I know I'm screwed. That's definitely the look of someone who's just been accosted by the paparazzi. The fact that I'm the one who put her through that only makes me feel worse.

I jump up to let her into the guest house, and with the doors open, I can hear the paparazzi now. I quickly yank her inside and close the doors behind us. “Are you okay?” I ask, checking frantically to make sure no one's ripped her clothing or anything like that.

“Fine,” she says with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I went through worse to bring Lana Malcolm a purse she left in a limo. But man, those guys are human vultures. Are
you
okay?”

“For now.” I drop onto the bed. “But then, I've just been hiding out here, ignoring everyone's calls and
text freakouts.” I look up at her and smile at the sight of her System of a Down T-shirt and cutoffs. I like how comfortably she dresses; it puts me at ease. “You look really cute,” I tell her, then immediately blush. It's something I've said to Ally or Carly a billion times, but with Bri, everything takes on a different meaning I'm not used to.

Of course, I've never looked at Ally or Carly and thought about how badly I wanted to kiss them, either.

Bri blushes too. “It's just shorts and a T-shirt. I was still in pajamas when you called, so I had to grab the first things I saw to rush out.”

“I appreciate your hurry,” I say, swinging my legs underneath my butt. “It still does not negate the cuteness.”

Her blush deepens, and I feel that same buzzing I felt last night. I love that I can make her blush. “Thanks,” she mumbles. “Though you're one to talk.” She gestures at where I'm sitting on the bed, still wearing Josh's pajamas. “I'm not really sure I wanna give you actual clothes. Although, if I'm being perfectly honest, I'd rather see you in my stuff than Josh Chester's.”

I laugh at her sour face and grab for the oversize purse in her hand, but she holds it out of reach. “I get thirty more seconds to check you out in those shorts, and
then
you may have the clothing I brought you.”

“Bri!” I leap off the bed, but she twists away, laughing, and makes a show of looking me over as she holds the bag behind her back and dances away from my hands. We're both cracking up as I chase her, and I'm just reaching forward to tackle her to the ground when a shadow falls over us both and I stumble over my own feet instead.

Josh is standing at the door.

I glance warily at Bri before going for the handle and letting Josh in. The expression on his face is unreadable, but there's no way he hasn't heard by now. He confirms as much as he drops onto the bed. “So, explain something to me, K-drama. If you and I are hooking up, why do I feel so gosh darn unsatisfied?”

“Well, I'm glad
someone
finds this funny.” I glare daggers at him. “This probably only makes you look better, doesn't it?”

“Hard to make him look worse,” Bri points out.

“What are you doing in my house again, Mini-Jade?”

“She's here to bring me clothes so I can get out of here,” I explain to Josh, reaching for the bag. This time, Bri lets go of it easily. “Who called you?”

“Who didn't?” he says dryly. “Holly's all psyched because apparently it hooked me in to some sort of Bad Boys of Hollywood photo spread. Liam texted me that it better be bullshit or Ally would cut my nuts off.”

“Ally knows everything. I talked to her this morning.”

Bri raises an eyebrow, and I realize she thinks “everything” means
everything.
A little smile plays at the corners of her lips, and my stomach twists at the thought of having to tell her that, no, I didn't quite get to that part with Ally.

“Oh well. Would've been fun to see her completely lose her shit for a minute, but that's probably for the best. Now I just need to deal with the five billion interview requests that Holly says have been blowing up her phone.”

“Isn't Holly your agent?” asks Bri.

“Josh refuses to get a publicist,” I explain, “so Holly ends up dealing with all his annoying shit. Lucky lady.”

“Very,” Bri agrees solemly.

“If you're looking for a job, Mini-Jade, I'm not hiring.”

“Trust me, she's not,” I answer for her. “And what are you planning on saying in these interviews, exactly?”

He shrugs. “I dunno, that you're like a six, seven tops? Maybe a seven-point-five when you've had some tequila?”

“Josh!”

“Chill, K-drama. I'll tell them it's bullshit, that you're madly in love with your Bieber boyfriend, and that friends crash at my place all the time.”

I try not to wince at the “madly in love” part, especially with Bri standing right next to me. “Thanks,” I say, and I mean it. I know it takes effort on Josh's part not to take the jerky route. “And thanks for letting me stay here again last night, even though it turned out to be the world's worst idea and I probably should've seen this coming.”

“Eh, this kinda stuff always blows over. I've been in the tabloids a billion times for all kinds of stupid shit, and then someone else does something dumber and no one cares anymore.”

“This kinda shit always blows over for
you
,” I point out. “Sort of like when Liam and I ‘broke up' and everyone was all psyched to see him return to bachelorhood while I was the sad and pathetic dump-ee? This business is a little different when you have a dick. And thanks, but it's already hard enough for me.”

“It's hard for
you
?” he says in disbelief. “You realize you're a lead in a primetime network show, right?”

“Um, hi?” I gesture at my face. “How many Asian actors did
you
see on the cover of
Vanity Fair
's latest Rising Young Hollywood issue? When's the last time you saw an Asian actor carry a movie that wasn't about martial arts? My only shot at being in a rom-com
is getting thirty seconds of one of those massive ensemble things like…
St. Patrick's Day
. So, yeah, it's hard for me, and I really don't need anything making it harder.”

It's only as the last word of my rant leaves my mouth that I realize I've made up more of my mind than I thought. And when I feel Bri stiffen next to me, I know she realizes it too.

I can't come out. Not now; maybe not ever. Not if I want a shot in hell at making it in this business. Being Korean-American is a big enough strike against me, but Korean and gay? I might as well toss my SAG card in a wood chipper.

“I should get you to Zander,” she says tightly, nodding to the bag in my hands. “Come on, Josh. Let's leave her to get dressed.”

It feels like an extra dig, watching her walk out rather than teasing me into letting her stay and watch. Not that we're at the clothes-off stage. Or at any stage, really.
I mean, be real
, I lecture myself as I dig into the bag and pull out a denim miniskirt and black T-shirt.
It was a drunken makeout.
I yank off the boxers and slide on the skirt; it hangs low on my hips, but it fits.
Just because I liked it doesn't mean I need to make things worse by imagining it was more than it is.

I pull Josh's T-shirt up over my head and reach for Bri's.
I'm going to talk to Zander.
I slip it on over my head, inhaling the pleasant scent of detergent.
I'm going to talk things out with him. I'm
not
going to do this purity pledge thing with him until things between us are stronger, and if that means things are over, then things are over. I'd rather be single.