by Kelly Oram
Great. “Some luck. What were the odds I’d end up next to him on the escalator the one time this week I went out in public without you?”
Brian’s face fell, and he shook his head again. “It wasn’t luck. You were spotted at the mall. He knew you were there without me, and that you most likely wouldn’t know who he was. He took advantage of you.”
Brian growled that last little bit and had to stop speaking to take a breath and calm down. I knew the feeling. I was just as pissed. “And I completely fell for it, because I am a stupid, naive little girl who only thinks she can handle adulthood.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t belittle yourself. That was not adulthood. That was fame. Being new to it doesn’t make you stupid.” He huffed in frustration. “I’m sorry, Ella. I was really hoping you’d have time to adjust to everything before something like this happened.”
“How do you live like this? I mean, geez. As if I didn’t feel stupid enough before? Everyone knows about the suicide attempt and the legal custody my dad had. I have a freaking curfew. Which they also put on the front page this week. Now I’m the naive little virgin girl scared to have sex with my boyfriend. The nation thinks I’m a joke. UGHHHH. I am a joke.” I gave my hair a good yank.
“Ella, stop. Look at me.” When I didn’t, he repeated himself, throwing some force into the command. “Look at me.”
I met his gaze.
“Tabloids are always going to twist the facts to create the best headlines. That doesn’t make what they say true. Anyone can be made to look their worst if you can pick and choose only a few key facts from their life. What those people don’t know, but I do, is that you are a strong, smart, kind, and compassionate woman. You are not a joke.” Brian brought his hand to my face and softened his voice. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Do you understand me? No matter what anyone says or prints, I love you. I will always love you.”
Brian’s declaration, though I’d heard it before, was exactly what I needed in that moment. I couldn’t find words to express the amount of gratitude in my heart, so I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. The kiss was frenzied. I kissed him as if his lips on mine would make all of my problems disappear.
Brian returned my frantic kiss with calm strength. His gentle touches and the way he held me were confident and loving. They filled me with a sense of security, easing away the torrent of emotion I’d been racked with. After I calmed down, Brian broke the kiss and gave me a soft, teasing smile. “Feel better yet?”
I did. I felt a million times better. Better enough that I could match the playful glint in his eyes and tease him back. “Nope. I don’t think so. I’m going to need a lot more of that before I’m better.”
When I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again, he laughed but indulged me for a minute longer. Only, now that I wasn’t on the brink of an emotional breakdown, Brian’s response was much more heated. The kiss became less about soothing me and more about his own set of needs and desires. He was the one to break it again, but this time he had to rip himself away and suck in a deep breath. “That’s enough of that,” he said, trying to cool his lust. “At least while your family is out there waiting for us to come out.”
I sighed. Time to get back to reality. “All right. Let’s go get this over with. They’ve all seen that stupid video this morning, so it should be nice and awkward, and my dad, no doubt, has an awesome lecture all thought up.”
I started to move, but Brian stopped me. “Ella…” Wariness crept into his tone and expression. “About what you said in that video…”
And just like that, all of my anxiety was back. “No.” I shook my head frantically. “Don’t. Please.”
“But—”
“Please? I am embarrassed enough right now. I really don’t want to have this conversation.”
He frowned. “We need to have this conversation. Actually, this particular conversation is one you should have had with me in the first place instead of with your girlfriends.”
My face flamed, and I dropped my head, unable to meet his probing gaze. “Girls will always need their girl talk.”
“I know, but I can’t stand the thought of you worrying that I won’t find you attractive. I promise you, that is not the case. Far, far, far from it. And if you’re feeling scared, or confused, or overwhelmed with our relationship, or you don’t know what I’m feeling, the best way to fix that is to talk to me about it.”
Ugh. See? And this was exactly one of those things that set us apart. “Said the mature grown-up man to his clueless baby of a girlfriend,” I grumbled.
“Ella.”
“I know. Sorry. I’m wallowing in self-pity.” He quirked an eyebrow at me, and I caved. “Fine. We can talk about it. But not right now, okay? Just give me some time to get over the shock and stop feeling so stupid.”
Brian raked his eyes over me, trying to figure out if I was serious about being too overwhelmed or simply trying to get out of the conversation. I must have passed his test, because he let out a breath and nodded. “Okay. Not now. But you promise? After you’re feeling better, you’ll talk to me about this? About us?”
I hesitated simply because I felt like being defiant. But I did want to figure things out between us so I could stop feeling so stressed out and so…so…I don’t know…immature, I guess. Talking was inevitable. “I promise.”
“Good.” He pressed a quick kiss to my lips and pulled me back into a hug, seemingly in no real hurry to get up. I happily snuggled against his chest. “Then I just need to say one last thing,” he said. “About everyone’s favorite sound bite…”
My heart missed a beat or two when it dropped into my stomach. I pulled out of his embrace to gape at him in horror. “What sound bite? There’s already a favorite sound bite?”
Brian laughed, a real, gut-bursting laugh, and squeezed me close again. “My girlfriend accused me of being with a billion women. That’s not disappearing from the front pages anytime soon.”
Okay, I was glad he’d pulled me back to his chest, because he couldn’t see the way my face set on fire.
“I’d just like to set the record straight that while I may not know the exact number, I assure you it’s not a billion.”
He was being obnoxious, but his tactic worked, and he successfully cheered me up. “Whatever.” I cracked a smile and let a soft laugh escape. “Fifty…a billion…if you’ve lost count, it’s all the same.”
We laughed together, which felt amazing, but the moment ended quickly. Sighing, I stole one last kiss. “Thank you for coming.”
When Brian and I finally emerged from my room, everyone was in the kitchen. Jennifer was starting a pot of coffee, fretting as she glanced back and forth between the three of us girls. Anastasia was sitting at the dining table, texting on her phone with a scowl on her face. Dad was leaning stiffly against the counter, his arm elbow-deep in a box of Lucky Charms. Guess he was done pretending he didn’t sneak contraband into the house. Apparently, he needed the comfort food to settle him down.
Juliette was going to need more than some marshmallow cereal to bring her down from her rage. She was pacing back and forth, muttering to herself under her breath. At once, she stopped mid stride, whirling on Dad. “Why aren’t you making any calls right now?” she demanded. “That stupid entertainment creep should be on his way to jail already. Nobody messes with the Coleman family and gets away with it!”
I looked over just in time to see Dad cringe. The expression made my heart skip a beat. “What?” Juliette asked. She knew there was bad news coming, too.
Dad glanced back and forth between us and sighed. “Erik Clarke did nothing wrong.”
“WHAT?” Juliette roared.
My heart sank into my stomach.
“Morally,” Dad said, talking over Juliette’s shouts of protest, “what he did was despicable. Legally…” His shoulders drooped. “He’s done nothing outside of the law.”
I blinked in disbelief. Could that really be true?
“He filmed us without our knowledge!” Juliette ranted. “How is that not illegal?”
Dad shot her his calm-down-now-or-you’ll-be-sent-to-your-room look. “Everything you girls did and said yesterday was in public.”
“But it wasn’t meant for the whole public to see.”
Dad shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Public is public. Clarke’s first amendments rights protect him on this matter. This is his business, ladies. I’m sure he knows exactly what the laws are and was very careful not to break them. You’re not his first angry victims by any means. He’s long since figured out the system. I did make a call. Clarke’s got his own team of lawyers, and my friend says they’re some of the best. He gets sued often but usually settles out of court, and he’s never been slapped with any criminal charges.”
Juliette plopped down at the table beside Ana—arms folded tightly, face pulled into a petulant frown.
“So much for seeing that pretty face behind bars,” Ana said.
“Lucky for him,” Juliette muttered. “He’d make a lot of the inmates happy, for sure.”
I cracked a smile at that. “Definitely too bad we can’t get him thrown in jail, then.”
Anastasia laughed, and Juliette huffed. “Fine. We’ll just have to settle for suing him.”
“My lawyers are already looking into that,” Brian offered. “I called them on my way over.”
He was trying to be helpful, but Dad’s eyes narrowed again.
Anger rose up in me—Dad really didn’t have a reason to hate Brian so much—but I choked it down. Things were bad enough. I didn’t need to get into a fight with my dad on top of it. “I’m sorry to change the subject,” I said, “but I really need to take some painkillers and sit down for a while.”
My request set everyone into motion. Brian pulled out a chair from the kitchen table for me, while Jennifer grabbed a bottle of Tylenol from the cupboard. “Not those,” I said. “I’m going to need the heavy-duty stuff today.”
She put the Tylenol back and reached for a bottle of prescription painkillers that I only ever used when I really needed it. After yesterday’s all-day mall excursion, I needed it. Dad grabbed me a V-8 from the fridge and brought me the medicine. “You’re still sore from yesterday?”
“Yeah. I’m going to have to take it extra easy for a few days.”
Dad’s brow creased. “Should I call Daniel?”
Daniel was my gorgeous and cool, but ruthless, physical therapist. I liked the guy, and I had to admit I’d come a long way since working with him, but still, I didn’t want to have to see him more than was necessary. “No way. Do you know how painful it would be if he made me do my exercises right now? He promised me a torture-free holiday. I’ll be fine until next week.”
I swallowed the pill my dad gave me and smiled. Once Dad wandered into the kitchen to dump a bunch of sugar into his coffee, Brian pulled out the chair next to mine and sat with me. He threw an arm casually around the back of my chair, and the simple gesture went a long way in helping me relax. “So…” he said, “have this morning’s events convinced you to reconsider my offer at all?”
Juliette plopped down across from us with a curious expression. “What offer?”
“Nothing,” I said, while Brian answered her loud and clear.
“I asked Ella to move in with me instead of Vivian. I’m hoping I can convince her before moving day.”
Juliette choked on surprise, and, as I knew would happen, my father heard this and completely overreacted. “WHAT?” he roared, slamming his coffee mug down on the counter so hard he nearly shattered it. As it was, he spilled coffee all over the counter and his shirt, and Jennifer was forced to clean up the mess while my father fumed.
There was a reason I hadn’t mentioned Brian’s offer to anyone. I knew it would make my dad flip. Brian knew it, too. I couldn’t believe he’d brought the subject up in front of him. After shooting Brian an annoyed glance, I turned around to face my dad. I tried to look and sound completely calm, hoping I might rub off on him. Doubtful, considering the dark red shade of his face. “Relax, Dad. I didn’t say yes.”
“Yet,” Brian interjected stubbornly.
I glared at him again. Surprisingly, he returned the annoyed look before locking his eyes on my father. Ditto for my dad with him. He looked ready to murder Brian. “How dare you suggest such a thing to her? You’ve only been a couple for a week. She’s barely nineteen!”
Brian was completely unruffled by the outburst, save some eye twitching and teeth grinding that suggested he wanted to tear into my dad. He resisted the urge, though, and sat up straight in his chair to give the scary prosecuting attorney a confident, challenging stare. “I know you don’t understand my relationship with your daughter,” he said calmly, “but Ella and I have been best friends for years. The way we know each other—love each other—is not new, and it’s not casual. I’m not going anywhere, Richard, no matter how much you disapprove of me, and if Ella wants to move in with me, that is her choice, not yours. She’s an adult.”
I was stunned. Maybe even more stunned than my father. Brian had called him by his first name on purpose. He’d spoken to him man-to-man. He’d let him know that while I might be someone Dad could push around and treat like a child, he was not going to accept that. And he’d completely pulled it off, is the thing. Ana’s boyfriend Jason would have peed himself if my father had thrown that kind of hostility at him. But not Brian. He might only be twenty-two, but he’d been thrown into an adult world at a young age and forced to grow up. He was a man now, in his own right—a mature, confident one, who was used to having people answer to him, not the other way around.
Dad was not happy to be put in his place. “You smug son of a—”
“And, not that it’s any of your business,” Brian continued, talking over my father and his would-be insult, “but my offer to Ella was about more than just our relationship. If she’s going to move, her privacy and safety have to be taken into consideration.”
“What do you mean?” Jennifer asked before Dad could yell some more.
Brian barely spared her a glance before meeting my father’s eyes again. “Like it or not, Ella is a celebrity now. Vivian and her fathers are wonderful people, but their apartment isn’t equipped to handle Ella’s fame.”
My father swallowed whatever argument he was about to spew and frowned at me. In turn, I shot Brian a nasty glare. I wanted to kill him for bringing this up with my family after I’d already turned down his offer. He ignored my anger as easily as he’d ignored my father’s outburst. “I’m serious about this, Ella. I know you think things will die down, but you have to trust me. I’ve been dealing with this my entire life. I know what it’s like. And with the stunt Erik Clarke just pulled, it’s only going to get worse.”
“Oh,” Jennifer said, grabbing Dad’s arm with a worried frown. “He’s right, Rich. We never thought about that.”
Dad, still glaring and clenching his jaw, nodded slowly and turned his furious gaze from Brian to me. “If your safety is at risk, I don’t want you going to Vivian’s.”
Great. Now he was going to try and stop me from moving out. I’d do it anyway, but he’d be pissed at me for it. Thanks a lot, Brian. “He’s being paranoid, Dad.”
The argument sounded weak, even to my ears. I was starting to see Brian’s point. Erik Clarke had shaken me up. I’d been completely blindsided, and I’d never once suspected him. If someone was willing to ambush me with hidden cameras like that, I could only imagine what the paparazzi would do when they realized I’d moved to Vivian’s apartment. I don’t know that my safety would be in jeopardy, but I’d definitely never have a moment’s peace.
I sighed, not willing to accept defeat but not in the mood to argue anymore, either. “Look, now is not the time for this discussion. I haven’t agreed to anything, and it’s Christmas. Can we please drop it before we get into a huge fight and ruin the holiday? We’re all worked up because of the Erik Clarke thing. Let’s wait u
ntil we can discuss this rationally. It’s breakfast time, anyway. Maybe if we eat, we’ll all be less grouchy. How about I whip up some spinach quiche?”
There was a tense moment of silence before everyone gave in and accepted the obvious subject change. Jennifer was the first to move. “Ella, sweetheart, you’re not feeling great this morning. You take it easy, and let me handle breakfast. I may not be able to recreate your amazing quiche, but I can handle egg-white omelets.” She glanced around for approval, and when everyone nodded, got to work.
Dad was still glaring, so Jennifer shoved an apron at him. “Would you mind helping me? I need some onions and some bell peppers chopped. Richard.”
Dad sucked in a breath, sent Brian one last death look, and threw the apron over his head, muttering under his breath.
I glared at Brian and didn’t hold back my irritation when I snapped, “May I speak to you privately?”
Brian turned his unrelenting gaze on me. “Yes. Let’s.”
I dragged him back into my bedroom and rounded on him the minute the door was closed. “Are you kidding me? You had to go and bring that up in front of my father, when not just me, but the twins, are all over the media right now?”
Brian’s eyes flashed for a brief instant, letting me know that he was just as upset as I was, even if he hid it better. “That’s exactly why I brought it up. You blew me off too easily. You aren’t taking this seriously. I’m worried about your safety.”
“Fine. Maybe I don’t really grasp the whole fame thing well enough yet. But still, you can’t just spring something as huge as living together on me all of a sudden when I’m about to get out of the car, and then blurt it out to my family before we got the chance to really discuss it, just because you were mad that you didn’t get your way.”
He rolled his eyes. “That’s not why I mentioned it.”
“Bull.”
He spun around and half leaned against, half sat on my desk, folding his arms tightly over his chest. I gave him a challenging look, and he huffed, throwing his hands in the air. “Fine. I was mad! Sue me.”
