Alisha exhaled loudly. “Well, you sure don’t like me.”
Bingo. He let her comment float in the air as he opened the email.
Hey. This is Stephanie’s sister. Don’t tell her I’m using her laptop. I just wanted to know why you haven’t answered her back. She’s been testy lately, and I kind of think it’s because you ghosted her.
-Amanda
Brandon smiled despite himself.
“What are you doing? Why are you ignoring me?” Alisha moved closer to him and looked at his phone screen.
He turned so she couldn’t see it. “Alisha. Listen. You don’t like me. I can see it all over your face. Why are you insisting that we should be together?”
She frowned. “We make sense. People want a Hollywood romance. Can’t you see that?”
“I’ve had Hollywood romances. They aren’t as great as they seem.”
Alisha pouted. “I need a date for the Save the Sea Gala next week. If you go with me, I’ll leave you alone otherwise.”
Brandon studied her. “That’s all you wanted?”
“I can’t go alone.”
“All right. But then that’s it, okay?”
She nodded and folded her arms. “Fine.” She turned away from him and stared out the darkened window.
Good. At least that was settled. And she wasn’t even that ticked off at him. He clicked to reply to Amanda.
Stephanie looks pretty testy all the time. What makes you think I had anything to do with it?
He hadn’t expected a quick reply, but one came.
A hunch. So, what’s up? Did she make you mad? Or are you bored with her?
Brandon debated telling her the truth. Finally, he decided it was better to just come out with it. I’m not interested in aspiring actresses. Too many bad experiences getting used.
Again, the reply came quickly.
Stephanie doesn’t want to be in films. She wants to star on Broadway. And she’d never use you as a stepping stone. She’s not like that.
Brandon lifted one eyebrow. How do I know that?
You watch her Vlog. Has she posted the video you sent? Did she mention to her followers that you’ve been chatting with her? The only benefit she’s gotten from talking to you was from you telling your followers to check out her Vlog. She didn’t do that. You did.
The girl had a point. If Stephanie wanted to benefit from him, she would have shared his personal video everywhere. He smiled at that thought. Maybe Amanda was right. Maybe his Vlogger girl wasn’t out to use him.
What’s your sister’s phone number? I’ll message her.
Oh, no. I’m not telling you that. You have to get it from her. She’d kill me if I gave it to you.
He chuckled. Okay. Got it. I’ll email her. Delete these. I don’t want you to get into trouble.
Will do.
Brandon started a new email chain and addressed it to Stephanie.
Send me your digits.
He figured that was enough. If she didn’t want to talk to him, she wouldn’t give them.
Chapter 5
The movie credits rolled as Stephanie scraped her finger in the bottom of the popcorn bowl to get the last of the salt. She’d been on an old movie kick lately, re-watching her favorites. Tonight’s feature had been Vertigo with Jimmy Stewart.
Amanda came into the living room and plopped down on the sofa. “You done wallowing?”
Stephanie scoffed. “I’m not wallowing. And I thought you were on a date with Cole.”
Amanda made a face. “Uh, it’s past midnight. I got home like an hour ago.”
“Really?” Stephanie checked the clock. She was right.
“Go check your email. I think you might have a message.”
Stephanie stared at her sister. Why was she shifting in her seat like that? And why did she have an incredibly guilty look on her face? “What are you talking about?”
Amanda avoided her gaze. “Nothing. Just go check it.”
Oh, no. This was not good. “What did you do?”
“Nothing, I swear.” Her face betrayed her lie. She so totally did something.
“You are a horrible liar.” Dread settled in her stomach. “You messaged Brandon, didn’t you?”
Amanda held up her hands. “Okay. Maybe. But don’t get mad. He thought you were trying to get an in with him.”
“An in? What do you mean?” Stephanie didn’t wait for Amanda to explain. She jumped up and started toward her room.
“He thought you wanted to use him to get into film acting,” Amanda called after her.
Ugh. What had Amanda done? She slammed her bedroom door and grabbed her laptop. She hopped into the bed and set her laptop on her legs, then opened it. His email just said one thing.
Send me your digits.
The door opened and Amanda crept in. “What did he say?”
Panic seized Stephanie. “He wants my phone number. Why does he want that? What did you say to him?”
Amanda sighed and sat on her bed, crossing her legs. “I convinced him you weren’t out to use him. That’s all. He just wants to talk to you.”
“I don’t want to talk to him on the phone!”
“Oh, puleeze. You’ve been so bummed he didn’t email you back. Come on, you can’t tell me you don’t want to talk to him.”
Stephanie must suck at hiding her feelings. Her sister saw right through her. “It’s too weird.”
“The guy got you a bazillion followers overnight. You owe him at least a phone call.”
Yeah, he did do something nice for her. And so what if he wanted to talk to her? She was being paranoid. She clicked the reply button, then hovered her fingers over the keyboard. “If I send them, that doesn’t mean he will call me.”
“Do you want him to call, or don’t you? Because I can’t tell.” Amanda’s face reflected her annoyance.
Stephanie paused while her emotions made her head spin. “I don’t know.”
“Just type it in.”
Stephanie stared at the blinking cursor. “All right.” She typed in her number and hit send before she could change her mind.
Her gaze involuntarily went to her phone sitting on her bed. Amanda snorted. “Like he’s going to call you right now.”
When her phone lit up with a text, they both jumped. Stephanie grabbed her phone, her heart in her throat. The name that was on the screen wasn’t Brandon, though. It was Christopher. She let out a breath. “It’s not him.”
“Is it Jade? Because I’m going to kill her right now.”
“No. A guy Jade’s app matched me with. We’ve been chatting a bit.”
Amanda’s eyes widened. “Seriously? You have a movie star interested in you, and you’re chatting with some guy at our high school?”
“Shut up. Brandon’s totally not interested in me.” The notion was ridiculous. How could Amanda even think it?
Amanda groaned and flopped back on her bed. “Whatever.”
Stephanie opened Christopher’s message.
Sorry it’s late. I hope your phone doesn’t let you know when I message, because it’s like one o’clock in the morning and that would be rude to wake you up. I just was wondering if you want to hang out tomorrow or something. Anyway, I hope I didn’t wake you. Let me know tomorrow.
For some reason, his message made Stephanie smile.
You didn’t wake me. I was up.
Another message from him came back quickly.
Good. I was hoping you wouldn’t think I was crazy, up at this hour.
If you’re crazy, then I’m crazy too.
So, about tomorrow. Want to meet me at The Spotted Cow? After lunch? I’ll buy you ice cream. As friends, of course. But if you don’t want to, that’s fine, too.
Stephanie groaned and leaned back onto her pillows. Amanda raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”
“He wants to go out with me. I told him I wasn’t looking for a relationship, so he said we could just be friends. But now he wants to go have ice cream tomorrow.”
>
Amanda squinted at her. “So, you told him you’d like to be friends, but you never want to meet him in person? Aren’t you being just a bit unreasonable? Friends go out and do stuff together. That’s the whole point of having friends.”
Of course. Amanda was right. Stephanie felt foolish even thinking that she had a reason to complain about Christopher. “You’re right,” she said, sighing deeply.
“Tell him you’ll have ice cream with him, but don’t fall for the guy. Because you’re supposed to fall for Brandon Travers and marry him so I can have the most interesting family reunions ever.” Amanda grinned at her.
“Shut up,” Stephanie said, but she couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her.
Chapter 6
Headache. Mind-numbing pain. That’s all that registered as Brandon rolled over in his king-sized bed. His hangover was worse than normal. What had happened last night?
Oh, yeah. The club. Alisha. He suddenly remembered and sat up, his head spinning. Alisha had ruined last night. At least he’d worked out a deal with her. One more event and then he’d be free of her. Thank goodness. She was annoying.
He glanced at his clock and moaned. He was late for his photo shoot. He crawled out of bed and forced himself to stagger into the bathroom. The tile floor was cold under his bare feet. Why couldn’t he have one day to himself? He hated photo shoots.
“Brandon?” His mother’s voice carried up from downstairs.
“I know, Mom. I’m up.” He turned on the shower.
“Hurry. You have to leave in twenty minutes or you’ll be late.”
He nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. “Yeah,” he called out, then shut the bathroom door.
He felt like he was going to be sick. He undressed and climbed into the shower, standing under the hot spray. It didn’t help much.
He spent too long in the shower, then had to rush to get his clothes on. When he sprinted down the stairs, he almost lost it, dizziness taking over him. The smell of scrambled eggs hit him as he walked into the kitchen and he had to stop and swallow back the nausea.
“I made you breakfast. You can take some with you.” His mother reached for the cupboard with the plastic containers.
“No, Mom. Thanks. I’m good.”
His mother lowered her arm and turned to look at him. “Dear heavens. What were you out doing last night? You look awful.” Her mouth stretched into a frown. “You’re hungover, aren’t you?”
He didn’t answer her.
“What are you thinking? There are a hundred reasons why you shouldn’t be out drinking. It’s illegal, for one. You’re only seventeen.”
“If we lived in Germany, I could drink.” He steeled his gaze at her.
She stiffened. “Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“You’re not fine. Look at you. You have a photo shoot today. You look terrible. This isn’t some game. This is a real job. A career that you can have the rest of your life. But not if you throw it away, like you’re doing right now.” Her expression held distaste, and disappointment. He hated when she looked at him like that.
He turned from her. “I have to go.”
“No more, Brandon,” she said in her mom voice. “No alcohol. That’s final.”
He huffed and shoved his way out of the kitchen. He didn’t need her telling him what to do. He was already inundated with people controlling his every move. But guilt rose in his throat as his driver opened his door and he climbed into his limo. He knew his mother was just trying to parent.
Guilt continued to choke him as the limo sped down the highway. His mother was doing the best she could. A single mom, she’d given him everything she could. He knew this. And she supported him when he wanted to get into acting. He was glad she no longer had to work two jobs. He wanted to give her everything she wanted. But to do that, he had to land another big part. He had to up his game.
The photo shoot took longer than he thought. They always took longer. He hated all the prep time, the makeup, the posing and the flashes as the camera caught his fake smile. But when it was finally done, and after several cups of black coffee, he was feeling better.
As he sat in the car on the way home, he itched to call the Vlogger girl. But he wanted to see if she was free to chat. So, when he got home, he texted her.
Hey, it’s me. Brandon. Can I call you?
It was strange, texting her. It somehow felt more…intimate. Her answer came back fast.
Maybe later. I’m waiting to meet a friend.
Brandon raised his eyebrows. Why would being with a friend matter? Most girls would die to have him call them while they were with their friends.
Maybe your friend wants to talk to me too. Ask her.
Um…it’s a guy. I don’t think he’d like it.
A guy. Huh. Was she in a relationship? She’d never talked about any boyfriend on her Vlog. But then again, why would she? It wasn’t a dating Vlog. Now he was super curious. He texted back.
A boyfriend?
No. Just a friend.
A friend that’s a guy? He rolled his eyes and continued. Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but he’s after you.
I think that statement says a lot about you, not my friend.
Brandon chuckled. Yeah, maybe. This chick was hilarious.
Have you been friends a long time?
Gah. Stop texting me. He’s going to be here any minute, and I don’t want to be glued to my phone.
Wait. If you’d been friends a long time, he wouldn’t care if you were on your phone. Is this a blind date??
IT’S NOT A DATE!
Brandon crossed his room and opened the mini-fridge under his desk. He pulled out a soda, unable to keep the smile from his face. He sat on his bed and placed the soda on his nightstand.
Touchy, touchy. You don’t know this guy, do you? How did you meet?
I’m not going to talk to you anymore.
Yet, you’re still texting.
That’s because he’s not here yet.
Wait. He’s not late, is he?
Not very.
Brandon winced and took a swig of his Mountain Dew. Man, that’s bad form.
Okay, he’s coming. I see him outside. I’m putting my phone away.
Good luck on your date.
IT’S NOT A DATE!!!!
Brandon laughed and pocketed his phone. It was so a date. Even if she didn’t realize it. And for some reason, it bothered him.
Chapter 7
A nervous energy surged in Stephanie as she slid her phone in her pocket and watched Christopher enter The Spotted Cow. The bright red and white décor always made her feel at home, but right now it wasn’t working. All morning she’d told herself this wasn’t a date, but she knew it was. Heck, they’d met through High School Sweethearts, for pity’s sake. It was totally a date, no matter how much she denied it to Brandon.
Christopher scanned the area. Their gaze connected, and he nodded at her and headed her way. He slid into the booth seat across from her. “Hey.”
She smiled at him, the only polite thing to do. “Hi.”
He motioned up at the sign on the wall. “Do you know what you want?”
“Just a chocolate cone.”
“Just chocolate? Plain? No chunks in it, or anything else?” His eyebrows raised like he’d never heard of that before.
“Yeah, just plain. I’m not really in a sugar mood.”
“I’m sorry, do you want to go somewhere else? We can go to—”
“No,” Stephanie interjected, then smiled at him. He was obviously nervous. “I’m fine. Let’s get a cone and talk.”
“Okay.” He glanced at the counter. “I’ll go order for us. You save our seats.”
That kind of struck her as funny because there were hardly any other people in the shop, it being a chilly November afternoon. “Okay. I’ll save our seats. We wouldn’t want to lose them, or we’ll have trouble finding a spot to sit.”
Christopher laughed and his cheeks tinged pink. “Yeah, I guess that was dumb. Do you want to come order for yourself?”
“Sure. I just want one scoop.”
“In case this doesn’t go well. Then you can eat it fast and leave.” He gave her a pity smile.
“No.” Stephanie stood up. “That’s not what I meant at all. Come on, let’s order.” She walked with him to the counter. They ordered and got their ice cream, then sat back down at the booth.
Christopher winced at her. “I’m sorry. I’m not very good at this.”
Things had been a bit weird, but Stephanie was suddenly motivated to salvage the non-date. “Good at what? Friendship?” She gave him a smile before she took a lick of her ice cream.
He gave her a half-smile and nodded. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
“Look, there’s no pressure here, remember? Just relax. Tell me about yourself.” Stephanie curled a strand of her hair behind her ear. His awkwardness was making her feel more confident.
He nodded. “All right. Let’s see. I’m a movie buff. I have that pass thing that gets me into almost every movie. I go probably four times a month. And I watch your Vlog…” Christopher blushed and ducked his head. “Sorry. I probably shouldn’t have said that. I’m just a bit starstruck.”
“Starstruck?” Stephanie couldn’t help it. She laughed and pointed to herself. “Because of me?”
He gave her a shy smile. “I’ve been watching you since the beginning. I like what you have to say. I sometimes don’t agree, but I always find you entertaining.”
“Well, I’m flattered.” Stephanie knew some kids at school watched her Vlog. She’d had a few people tell her as much, but she’d never had one say they were starstruck. How odd. She was nobody.
It suddenly felt surreal to be sitting with a fan. Christopher seemed embarrassed. He shifted in his seat. “I like the outdoors. My uncle has a cabin on the lake, so I go there a lot to fish. And I’m a bit of a pizza snob.”
A Young Adult Romance Collection Page 48
