Bad Boy Brody

by Tijan

  I almost rolled my eyes because the girl had some balls after the comment she made on the plane, but I waved her in. “Yeah. That’s fine.”

  She didn’t need to be told. She darted around the driver and scrambled in, taking one of the front seats away from me. She only had one bag on her lap. I asked, “Where’s your suitcase?”

  “One of the assistants is getting it.”

  “Watch it, Kara. Your diva side is coming out already.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “Like you’re one to talk.”

  I narrowed mine right back, though she still couldn’t see through my sunglasses. “I’m not in there because I didn’t want to deal with the paparazzi. That’s the only reason.”

  “You’ve been a diva the whole time, not just today.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Come on, Brody. You had your own cabin the whole time. You had time off. Then you think you can threaten our bosses and get away with it.” Her fist pounded into the seat by her leg. “And you know what really pisses me off? You will get away with it.”

  I was silent a moment and then asked in a low voice, “Do you have a sister or a brother?”

  She was quiet, too, picking at her shirt. “A sister.”

  “Are you close?”

  “Sometimes. It’s a hate-love relationship.”

  “Well, I hope for your sake you’re never on the phone with her when she dies. Trust me. It’s something that fucks with you.”

  Her shoulders lowered. She gathered her hands together in her lap and refused to look up from them. “I’m sorry. I am. I just . . . this movie was supposed to be my big break. But it’s not. It’s all about you.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Everyone worries about you. Everyone talks about you. Shanna leaked your girlfriend, and she’s using you to draw up the hype. I heard your manager. You know it’s leaked, right?”

  I clenched my jaw. “She said Morgan was leaked, not the two of us.”

  “Nope. It’s out.” She pulled her phone out, pulled up her browser, and handed it over, and there in big, bold letters at the top of article was Hollywood Bad Boy Falls Hard!

  I couldn’t—no, I could.

  Anger started inside, rolling right into rage.

  I knew it.

  “Shanna did that?”

  “Or someone else, but it was approved by her. If not, heads would be rolling so she could find the leak.” She put her phone away. “I know you’re probably livid about this, but you falling in love with that girl is going to sell gold. You were riding the line between the bad boy everyone loves to love and the bad boy who’s just disgusting. You were going into the disgusting category. There’s a short video of you squaring off against Peter Kellerman. It’s obvious how much you love her. The press is going to go nuts once Shanna leaks footage of Morgan, and she will.”

  Goddamn.

  I felt sucker punched, but I shouldn’t have. I should’ve been prepared for this. I should’ve been ready to strike back.

  I had nothing.

  I was scrambling for cover in a situation everyone around me was saying would help me.

  The door opened again, and Gayle climbed in. The bags were put in the trunk, and when the driver got behind the wheel, I turned to my manager.

  “Did you know Shanna was going to use my connection to Morgan?”

  She’d been reaching for the seat belt, but she paused, her eyes shifting between Kara and me. “What?”

  She was so still, though.

  Too still.

  I knew then. “You knew, didn’t you?”

  Kara said, “I showed him Persons’ headline.”

  Gayle swore under her breath, her hand letting go of the belt as she leaned back against the seat. “Why did you do that? He wouldn’t have noticed.”

  Betrayal settled right next to the sick feeling. All of it was rolling around and around with my fury. I was keeping it in because I didn’t trust myself.

  God, I needed Morgan.

  She would’ve known what to say, how to calm me.

  A touch. A smile. A joke about Shiloh was all it would take to make everything right with me again.

  I focused on breathing through my nose. I didn’t dare open my mouth. I didn’t know what I would say.

  Kara was rolling her eyes again. “At least you aren’t hiding it. Did you plant the story?”

  Gayle went completely still again. Her eyes rounded and she blanched. “God no!” She looked at me. “After your outburst, I knew Shanna would use your relationship with Morgan. I just didn’t think she’d do it so quickly. She’s hungry, Brody. She wants this movie to launch her next one, and it’s going to have a blockbuster budget. She will leak everything she can to get people salivating.” Her hand rested on mine.

  I pulled away.

  It didn’t deter her. “You and that horse prodigy girl are her ticket. And there’s nothing we can do about it.”

  “Have you even tried?” I bit out.

  “Yes.”

  I looked at her. Waiting.

  “I looked over your contract. There’s nothing we can do to stop it. This is all in her right as the movie director, especially since Peter and Matthew Kellerman okayed everything.”

  “My God, sit down and realize this is all helping you.” Kara flung her hands in the air. “Why do you think I’m so jealous? I’m sitting in it up to my chest, and it isn’t because you’re sleeping with her and not me. I’m jealous of you, Brody. And you’re so pissed and worried about your girl, that you can’t even see how all of this is benefitting you.”

  I sat back, and I was quiet as the car left the airport.

  Kara was dropped off first and then Gayle.

  She lingered in her seat and asked, “Are you okay?” She reached for my hand and squeezed it.

  I was tempted to pull away, but I was wrestling with so many demons inside.

  Kara’s words hit hard, and I knew from their perspective I was being idiotic. They didn’t understand. Then again, I thought back to Morgan’s reaction. She hadn’t even been so worked up about it, but it was because she didn’t realize what this meant. The world wouldn’t be content to let her remain hiding. The world would go to her.

  The press would be nuts.

  They’d camp out around the land.

  They would go and get long-distance zoom lenses, and images of her would be sold left and right.

  Her life was going to change, and she had no idea how much. And it was her loved ones who had shoved her over the cliff’s edge.

  I didn’t give one shit that this might erase any last concerns about my career.

  “They’re going to destroy her.”

  “This was going to happen whether you were doing the movie or not. You know that, right?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “As soon as the script was written, as soon as they got Morgan to sign off on it, the world was coming to her front door. No one could’ve stopped that, you included. You were captivated the first moment you saw her, right?”

  I gave a begrudging nod.

  “It was no different for the rest of us. Even last night when she was standing on that horse. I saw her out there. She defies gravity. She’s what movies are written about, and once Shanna gets ahold of some pictures of her to leak, everyone else will fall in love with her too.” She leaned forward, ignoring the open car door and driver waiting for her to exit. “She has you, though. Kellerman didn’t plan for you.”

  My head whipped to hers. “You’re saying Kellerman wanted this?”

  She hesitated. “I don’t know, but I saw the look in his eyes. I think he’s been hoping something like this would happen since the beginning.”

  My mouth dried. “He wanted her kept secret.”

  “Some of the photos leaked couldn’t have come from the movie crew. He played all of us.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  She leaned forward. “Ask yourself this one question. If he wa
nted her secret kept, why did he have the damn script written in the first place?”

  Brody

  I wanted to feel the wind whipping past me. I blamed Morgan’s influence and was driving through the hills on my Harley two hours later. I called my brother’s widow and asked to talk. Cheryl agreed.

  I picked a hole-in-the-wall kind of place. The walls were littered with signatures, graffiti, and old images of customers who wanted to feel as if they left some memory there hung on the walls. The booths were covered in old black leather, and when I walked in, the hostess didn’t blink an eye.

  “Mr. Asher.” A professional smile greeted me as she grabbed a few menus. “How many?”

  “Just two. Somewhere private.”

  “Of course.”

  The interior was cast in low lights. Only a few candles on the tables and some lights lining the walkways gave us any indication where to go and sit in the place. She showed me to a back booth, and there only two others in our section. Both were empty.

  She extended a hand toward one side of the booth. “Will this suit you?”

  “It’s perfect.” I slid in one side, and she placed the drink menu in front of me. “I have one other joining me. Cheryl Asher.”

  She straightened. “Of course. I’ll show Ms. Conway to your booth when she arrives.”

  “She’s using her maiden name?”

  She nodded. “She is, Mr. Asher.”

  Fuck.

  I sat back as she left. What did that mean? I’d only been gone five weeks, maybe longer.

  The server came once, took my order, and then Cheryl slipped into the side across from me.

  My sister-in-law kept to the background whenever I was around their family. I spent time with Kyle first and foremost, then my nieces when they came along. The number of times Cheryl and I had a conversation could be counted on one hand, and most of those times had been because of his funeral.

  I leaned forward, resting my arms on the table. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come.” I looked her over, noting the bags under her eyes through her sunglasses. “You look tired.”

  She wore a white scarf around her neck and a black dress. As she got comfortable, she took the glasses off and pulled the scarf off her head so it fell down her front, resting behind her neck. A sad smile graced her face. She folded the glasses, positioning them in perfect alignment with her napkin. “That isn’t usually thought of as a compliment, but I’ll take it. It’s better than being told I look like death.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Someone said that to you?”

  She met my gaze briefly, that sad smile still in place. “You’d be surprised how many people have told me that and pretend as if they just realized how insensitive the comment was.” Her grin went flat. “Assholes, the lot of them.”

  I laughed shortly. This was more personality from my sister-in-law than I’d ever seen before.

  She showed more, saying, “Thank you for calling.”

  Right to business.

  Okay.

  I went with it.

  “We had a break in shooting the movie.”

  The server came back, my soda and water in hand. She skimmed a look over us both before turning to my sister-in-law. “Ms. Conway? Something to drink?”

  “Beer. Please. Tall.”

  This was new. Cheryl never drank before. She left that for Kyle and me.

  The server nodded again.

  Cheryl kept fiddling with her sunglasses. She didn’t look like she was going to stay long.

  “Cheryl.” I gestured in the direction the server disappeared. “They’re calling you by your maiden name?”

  She didn’t answer right away, taking a moment and looking at her lap. “This wasn’t just your spot before. It was yours and Kyle’s.”

  He and I had spent many nights in this bar, getting falling over wasted while we played pool. We were so sloppy, I could only imagine what names the staff must’ve called us, but we were regulars.

  She added, “I started coming here after the accident. I wanted to . . .” She reached up, flicking a finger over her cheek. “He’s everywhere, but I just remember the fights at home. I don’t feel that when I come here. He loved coming here. He loved spending time with you here.”

  I sank back against my seat. My own head went low.

  We’d drink.

  We’d laugh.

  We’d be stupid together.

  No one cared who we were back then.

  My throat was thick when I rasped out, “I asked you to come today because I needed to talk to you about something. I haven’t been able to shake it—”

  “It was ruled an accident.” She was looking at me with a knowing look, like she was privy to the mess in my head. “He didn’t kill himself.”

  I just looked at her. She said the words I wanted to hear, the words I’d been too chickenshit to ask, but all I could do in that moment was stare at my sister-in-law.

  The thought that he had . . .

  I eyed the bottle of bourbon on the wall behind the bar. That’d go down real smooth.

  Her head lifted. She looked so tired, but she’d never looked so strong. I could see why my brother fell in love with her. She’d been the rock of their relationship, not him.

  She said, “I know that’s why you called today. Or, I guessed. Your old publicist was a bitch. She never said anything outright, but she hinted that he took his own life. I saw the same interviews you did, and I know you sent her a cease and desist, but she still put that out there.”

  A few interviews too late. A few phone calls too late.

  Shelby shouldn’t have even had the opportunity to do any interviews, but I hadn’t been thinking. I’d been wallowing. I’d been drinking.

  I was mourning.

  “About that, I’m sorr—”

  “No.” She leaned forward, her hand resting on mine. “It’s not true. I want you to know that. I didn’t know for sure if that’s what you were questioning, but when you called earlier, I just had this certainty. Your brother did not kill himself. He loved you. He loved us. He loved life, and he was so goddamn proud of you. You have no idea how much life was bursting out of him when he left to go to your premiere.”

  I didn’t have any words. The relief inside—I believed her.

  I could almost imagine Kyle snorting, saying, “About fucking time. Ass.”

  “Thank you, Cheryl.” I drew in a ragged breath. I felt some of the storm in me start to settle, and just like that, I wanted Morgan here. I wanted her next to me. She would’ve held my hand under the table. She would’ve realized it was too hard for me to speak, and she would’ve started a conversation with Cheryl for me, because that’s what my sister-in-law needed.

  She needed to hear the words back, that I believed her. That Kyle wouldn’t have done what some greedy bitch had insinuated, but she didn’t understand.

  I was ashamed.

  As soon as I accepted her words, a new wave of guilt came with it. I should’ve believed it from the day one, from when the accident happened.

  I hadn’t. I let the doubt sink in.

  Cheryl didn’t make a sound, not one whimper, but her hand lifted to wipe at a tear.

  Fuck’s sake.

  I should’ve been around more. I should’ve called more, stopped by her house to check in, helped more with the actual funeral instead of just paying for everything. Kyle had money. I knew Cheryl and the girls would be taken care of, but I had more. It was one way I could help without having to see the evidence that he was really gone.

  I felt daggers sliding down my throat.

  This was why he’d been haunting me. I hadn’t stepped up.

  “I’m sorry for not being here more.”

  Her head moved left to right, but she didn’t look up. “No, it’s fine. We grieve differently.”

  I reached over and grasped her hand. “My brother loved you, and he was loved. He was happy with you. You made him happy.”

  Morgan was right.

  This was wh
y I came back to Los Angeles. I needed closure, and I needed to step up, be there for Cheryl and his family now that he was gone.

  Fuck Shanna and her script change, but I was thankful in this small moment.

  After that, we talked. I was told everything amazing that happened to Alisma and Ambrea. They were in gymnastics, but now they wanted to play tennis. Cheryl smiled so wide as she talked about their tennis games. Alisma wouldn’t sit still at the events, and Ambrea kept wanting to bring their pet rabbit with them.

  By the end of the night, my stomach hurt from laughing. My cheeks hurt from smiling.

  It felt good to talk about him. Damned good.

  “Last call, folks.” The server paused, looking between us.

  Cheryl shook her head. “Goodness. I’m drunk. I haven’t been like this for a long time.”

  I said to the server, “I’ll take the bill.”

  “No, no, Bro—” Cheryl started protesting.

  The server walked away, already knowing it was pointless. I was paying, and that was it.

  “It’s my job to help you guys out.”

  Cheryl started to shake her head.

  “I mean it, Cheryl. I’ll feel like I’m still helping Kyle in some way.”

  Knowing she couldn’t argue with that, the fight left her.

  After paying the bill, we were walking out as I asked, “You want a ride home?” I started to gesture to where my bike was when the camera flashes started.

  “Brody!”

  “Brody, smile!”

  Paparazzi.

  They were everywhere, swarming us around the sidewalk.

  I didn’t think. I threw an arm around Cheryl’s shoulders and pulled her with me to my bike. I had parked it down the road.

  “Brody, isn’t that your brother’s widow?”

  “Are you two together now?”

  “Brody, are you cheating on Morgan?”

  That stopped me, and I whirled around.

  The fucker was right behind me and raised his camera, blinding me with the flash of his camera.

  Fuck. That’d be in all the papers tomorrow.

  “Brody.” Cheryl tugged on my arm. “Come on.”

  We got to my bike. I handed Cheryl the helmet and then swung my leg over the seat. After I knocked the kickstand back with my heel, I held the bike steady as she climbed on behind me.