Starstruck - Book Three

by Gemma Brooks

  He placed his hands along both sides of my face and shook his head. “I shouldn’t have taken off like that.”

  I scooted closer to him as he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight.

  “When do you have to leave?” I asked him. “I don’t want you to go.”

  He glanced at the boldfaced watch on his wrist. “In a couple of hours. I don’t want to go either.”

  The stubble from his five o’clock shadow tickled the sides of my face as he turned to kiss me once again. I was going to miss his kisses, his touch, and the way he made me feel like I was the only girl in the entire world.

  He stood up, scooping me up in his arms, and carried me back to his bed.

  CHAPTER 7

  “Piper,” I called out at the airport the following Friday. “Over here.”

  Piper looked like a lost duck amongst the throngs of travelers in the middle of LAX. The second she saw my face, a smile spread across hers.

  She ran up to me and threw her arms around me. She’d never been so relieved to see me before in her life. Traveling to big cities bothered her just as much as it bothered me.

  I couldn’t help but notice how much Piper stood out compared to everyone else out there. Her ill-fitting jeans combined with her makeup free face and an old, faded t-shirt was not something you’d see every day in L.A. I’d gotten so used to my new look that I’d forgotten we once shared the same knack for that small-town-ignore-the-trends attitude.

  “Everyone here is so…skinny,” Piper said as she gazed around. “And beautiful.”

  “Yeah, it’s different from Rock River, huh?” I asked. “I’m used to it now though. Everyone always looks incredible. It’s like no one ever has an off day. People get dressed up to go to the gym and the grocery store here.”

  “You look like you could still stand to gain a few,” she sighed as she looked me up and down.

  “Oh, stop,” I replied. “I’m healthy. That’s all that matters.”

  We trekked to the baggage carousel and waited patiently for her luggage to come around.

  “I have a car waiting outside to take us back to Hudson’s,” I said.

  “A car?” she asked. “Like a limo?”

  “A Town Car, but yeah,” she said. “I still don’t know my way around the city yet. I’d have gotten us lost. The traffic here is insane.”

  By the time the driver dropped us off at Hudson’s, it was early afternoon. There was a sweet breeze in the air that rustled the leaves on the trees and the sun was still shining high in the sky.

  I wheeled her luggage inside, like a good hostess, and watched her face as she took in the beauty that was Hudson’s home. I wanted to relive that experience through her, as I’d never forgotten what it felt like to set foot into the lap of luxury.

  “Oh. My. God,” she said as she ran her fingers along the marble counters. She did a complete three-sixty as her eyes took in all the sights. “And he has a pool?”

  I laughed. “Of course he has a pool. Want to go outside for a bit and sit by the waterfall?”

  “Um, yeah,” she said as she headed towards the sliding glass doors.

  I pulled two glasses from the cabinets, filled them with ice, and poured in some of Flor’s famous lemonade.

  “Here you go,” I said as I took a seat next to her.

  “This is beautiful,” she said as she admired the grotto and the greenery that surrounded us.

  “I swim out here just about every day,” I told her. “It’s like a dream come true. Now you see why I don’t want to come back to Rock River? I’m living in paradise. Literally.”

  Piper said nothing as she continued to stare at the falling, splashing waters.

  “Don’t get me wrong, Rock River will always be home,” I said. “But nothing can compare to this.”

  She was still quiet, and I feared she thought I was trying to make her jealous. It wasn’t my intention at all.

  “You should think about leaving Rock River,” I said. “There’s so much of life we haven’t experienced because we were stuck reliving our glory days. Afraid to leave our comfort zones.”

  She shrugged. “I like Rock River.”

  She wasn’t understanding my point, but that was okay.

  “How’s Luke doing?” I asked. I couldn’t help myself. I was curious, and I did still care.

  Piper turned towards me, her face twisted. “Why do you always ask me about him?”

  “Because I want to know,” I replied. “I’m not allowed to ask how he’s doing?”

  “I just don’t get why you still care,” she said. “You’ve clearly moved on.”

  “Just because I moved on doesn’t mean, I’ve suddenly stopped caring about how he’s doing, Piper,” I huffed. “He was my best friend for a long time. I’ll always care about him and wonder about him. I’ll always love him.”

  I wanted to ask her why she’d been so protective of him lately, but I knew that would’ve started World War III. She’d been oddly defensive lately, and I didn’t want to go there with her. Not then. Not when she’d just arrived and I was looking forward to spending some quality time together.

  “Do you love Hudson?” she asked as she took a sip from her cup and crunched on some ice.

  “I honestly haven’t thought about that,” I said.

  “You’re together every day,” she said. “You uprooted your entire life. You don’t know if you love him yet?”

  “Doesn’t love take time?” I asked. “I’m not trying to rush anything.”

  She squinted at me through the corner of her eye as if to say “come on” and laughed.

  “Yeah, you didn’t rush anything,” she smirked.

  “Okay, I get your point,” I replied. “I’ve known him, what? Five, six weeks now? Everything is still so new, but yeah, I think I’m really starting to fall for him.”

  I tucked one strand of hair behind my ear and the glistening, yellow diamonds caught Piper’s eye.

  “Um, what is that?” she said as she reached over and grabbed my right hand, examining the ring.

  “Oh,” I said. “This. Um, he got it for me before he left. It’s a symbol of our relationship. It’s not an engagement ring or anything like that.”

  “Mm, hm,” she said as she studied it. “So it’s like a promise ring?”

  “I don’t know,” I said as I jerked my hand back. “It’s just a symbol. Let’s not complicate things.”

  “Didn’t Luke get you a friendship ring once?” she asked. “What happened to it?”

  I smiled fondly. “We were wrestling around in one of the barns and it fell off my finger. Never did find it.”

  “And he didn’t get you a new one?” she asked.

  “Of course not,” I said. “His cheap ass? No way.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” she said. “I think every dollar he’s ever earned has gone towards land or something.”

  I wondered how she knew that, but I figured maybe I’d mentioned it to her before that he’d been saving his whole life to build up a farm of his own.

  “So do you talk to Luke a lot now?” I asked.

  Piper looked nervous. “Probably more now that you’re gone. Yes.”

  “You two used to hate each other,” I mused.

  “Yeah,” she said. “We did.”

  The space between us filled with an awkward silence.

  “So, what do you want for dinner tonight?” I asked, changing the subject. “Flor can make us whatever we want. Or we can order in.”

  Piper shrugged. “I don’t care.”

  “She makes really great fajitas,” I said. “And they’re healthy. We can go for a swim in a little bit if you want?”

  I just wanted things to be the way they used to be with Piper, and if that meant dropping the subject of Luke when we were around, then that was fine. For some reason, she was developing some sort of bond or friendship with Luke and becoming protective over him. I was quite certain she was just as protective of me around him as well. That�
��s how Piper was with the people she cared about. Protective.

  Still, I couldn’t help but feel that I was now an outsider.

  CHAPTER 8

  Piper and I relaxed by the pool after Flor’s amazing fajita dinner. We were filled to the brim and buzzing from our icy cold, homemade margaritas.

  “I should probably call Hudson,” I said as I glanced down at my phone. “I haven’t talked to him all day.”

  “So you guys talk every day when he’s away?” she asked.

  “Yep,” I said as I stood up and grabbed my phone. “I’ll be right back.”

  I went inside the house and shut the sliding door for privacy.

  “Hey,” Hudson said as he picked up in the middle of the first ring. I loved when he did that.

  “Hi,” I said sweetly. “How was today?”

  He grunted and sighed, and I imagined him throwing himself down on the bed of his hotel room and kicking off his shoes.

  “Long,” he said. “Too long. One more week and I’ll be home.”

  “I can’t wait,” I said. “Want to FaceTime?”

  I fluffed my hair and positioned the phone to a flattering angle before pressing the FaceTime button.

  The instant he saw my face he smiled. “I miss you.”

  “I miss you too.” I smiled.

  “God, I just want to pounce on you as soon as I get home,” he said, his lips curling into a mischievous smirk. “The things I want to do to you…”

  “I suppose I’ll let you have your way with me when you get back,” I teased.

  “How’s Piper liking everything so far?” he asked. “Is she blown away yet?”

  “She’s getting there,” I said. “So far so good. We’re just really trying to reconnect. I think she’s still a little bitter about me leaving Rock River.”

  “Ah,” he said. “Give her more time. She’ll get over it. The wound is still too fresh.”

  “I hope you’re right,” I said. “I should probably get back out there and hang out with her.”

  Hudson pouted. “I guess.”

  I heard a door knock coming from his end of the line and watched as he turned towards it.

  “Who’s that?” I asked.

  “Must be the food I ordered,” he said.

  “They didn’t feed you on set?” I asked.

  “I felt like ordering room service tonight,” he said.

  I watched him climb up and head to the door.

  “I’ll talk to you later, okay?” he said as he flashed a smile. “Text me goodnight.”

  “Okay,” I said as I ended the call.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if it was Ava popping by, but I quickly forced that vision out of my head. I stared down at the canary diamonds that circled my finger and clutched my hand to my heart before heading back outside to Piper.

  “That was quick,” she said.

  “He had to eat his dinner,” I said. “So, since you’re only in town until Sunday, was there anything you wanted to do tomorrow?”

  Piper sat back and shook her head. “Whatever you want to do.”

  “Do you want to go shopping?” I asked. “Hudson left me with his black Amex…”

  Her lips curled into a smile. “You’re bad.”

  “I can see if his hair and makeup people can squeeze you in tomorrow. Give you the full Hollywood glam treatment,” I said.

  “Like what you got?” Piper huffed. She was suddenly getting snippy with me again. “No thanks.”

  I was slightly offended by that. “Oh, okay. Just thought it might be fun.”

  “I don’t think you realize how different you look now,” Piper said, as if my new look was offensive to her. “When you came back home the other weekend, you were the talk of the town. It was all people were talking about for days. And when we see those pictures of you online. You don’t even look like the Brynn Dawson we all know.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way,” I said. “I had to fit in here. I hope you understand that. I’m still the same old me on the inside.”

  “Are you, Brynn?” she asked. Her eyes welled with tears.

  “Yes, Piper,” I said. “I am.”

  We sat in silence, each of us fuming like two petty high school girls.

  “I don’t want to fight with you,” I said, finally breaking the silence several minutes later. “Either we can make this weekend fun or we can sit here and play these games and you can keep acting all weird around me.”

  Piper huffed and dropped her shoulders as if she’d been defeated.

  “Fine,” she said.

  “I don’t like this tension between us,” I said.

  “Neither do it,” she admitted.

  “I miss my best friend.”

  “Me too.” Piper’s response wasn’t all that convincing. I realized I was the one who had moved away, but it went both ways and I had done all the reaching out since I’d moved away. I only talked to her when I made the effort.

  “I haven’t made any new friends out here,” I lamented. “But I guess I spend all my time with Hudson.”

  “Maybe you should branch out a bit,” she said. “Go out and meet new people.”

  “Easier said than done,” I said. “Hudson always has plans for us. We’re always doing stuff. Never a free moment.”

  “He does seem a little possessive,” she said.

  “I never said that,” I replied, a bit offended. I refused to believe he had a possessive bone in his body. He just liked spending time with me.

  Piper let out a huge yawn. “I should probably go to bed for the night. I’m still on Iowa time and it’s getting late back home.”

  “Oh,” I said. “I still need to show you your room!”

  I let her inside and down the hall from our bedroom to a guest suite. A pillow top queen mattress covered in layers of pillows and downy blankets set the scene for the most comfy guest room I’d ever seen. It was almost better than Hudson’s room. Wispy curtains flanked the tall windows and beachy oil paintings in golden frames adorned the gray walls. The furniture was a gorgeous walnut, and the room was nothing if not peaceful.

  “Will this do?” I asked as I watched for her reaction.

  “Yep,” she said flatly. She had to be jealous. Or tired. Or both.

  “Okay, goodnight,” I said to her as I turned. Before I walked out, I saw her reach down and pull her phone from her pocket. She smiled as she must have checked a text message, which was weird. I didn’t know anyone who could make Piper smile like that, and she was never big into texting.

  I shook it off as I headed down to my room to retire for the evening and send Hudson a goodnight text.

  CHAPTER 9

  Hudson’s homecoming was a sweet reunion. I’d missed him more than I cared to admit, and two weeks was two weeks too long.

  “I never want to be apart that long again,” I said as I threw my arms around him the second he walked in the door.

  He laughed as I nearly knocked him over, and he covered my mouth with soft, cinnamon kisses. It was late in the evening on a Friday night. I’d been on pins and needles all day waiting for him to come home. His flight was delayed a few hours, which only made the anticipation worse.

  “Here,” I said to him as I handed him a whiskey sour I’d prepared. I clutched my amaretto and Diet Coke in my other hand. “Let’s go sit outside by the pool. I want to hear all about your trip.”

  Hudson smirked. “It wasn’t a trip. It was work, remember?”

  “Whatever,” I teased. “Come on.”

  He was exhausted from his day of traveling, but I didn’t care. I had other plans for him.

  I let him set down and take a few sips of his drink before I slowly unbuttoned my white shorts and slid them down. I kicked them across the patio and bit my finger as I stared down at him.

  “What’s this?” he asked as he began to grin. He sat back in his chair as if he were ready to enjoy a show.

  I pulled my tank top off over my head and shook my long hair. I tiptoed backw
ards, towards the water, as I slid off my pink, lacy panties and unhooked my bra. His backyard was a private oasis, and I fully intended to take advantage of that.