I practically salivated at the thought of all that money. I could buy a new car, wouldn’t have to take the bus everywhere. I’d probably have enough leftover to pay off some debts too. The amount of relief that thought brought me was amazing. I clicked on one of the submission forms. Not only would I get to ruin Oliver, I’d be getting paid.
But I froze when it was time to hit submit, my finger hovering over my screen. Was it right to be making money from something that was going to hurt Jessica? It felt even more wrong that a small part of me was happy about what I had to tell her. Because Jessica would probably be devastated, and yet all I could think was that if she broke up with Oliver, she could date someone else—like me.
14.
Jessica
“I have to show you something.” Amelia grabbed me after filming, pulling me away from the set. “I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
“What’s up?” My brows furrowed in concern. “Everything okay?”
“Yes—well—no.” She chewed her lip so hard I was afraid she’d bite through it. Her face was white and I realized she was shaking.
“Hey, are you sick or something?” I put my arm around her to help support her, feeling a sigh run through me. Staying away from Amelia was killing me.
“No.” She leaned into me. “I’m just really upset. I—I need to tell you this, though.”
“You’re shaking.” I put my hand to her face just to make sure she really didn’t have a fever.
His cheeks flushed at the contact, but she pulled away. “I’m not sick.”
Well, she certainly didn’t look well. Something was stressing this girl out big time. “C’mere, whatever this is, you can tell me. I know a place where you can relax.”
I guided her away from the people still milling around the set, keeping my arm around her as I led her to the room full of costumes. I tried not to enjoy how close our bodies were. I was just taking her back here to help calm her down, not because I couldn’t resist being alone with her.
“Back here.” I walked past rows of clothes, grabbing some coats from their hangers as I moved. When I reached the row of women’s gowns, I parted them and slipped in behind, throwing the bundle of coats onto the floor and nestling into them.
“What are you doing?” Amelia looked at me like I was crazy.
“This is where I always like to be when I’m upset.” I patted the spot next to me. Amelia looked hesitant for a moment before slipping in and closing the curtain of dresses, secluding us in our own little world.
“I used to hide in dressing rooms when I was a kid and my mom would yell at me in rehearsals.” I squeezed her shoulder. “It feels safe, right?”
“Yeah, it does.” Her body relaxed a bit. I could smell her warm cinnamony perfume and it made me want to scoot closer to her, but I resisted the urge. Barely.
“Now what did you want to tell me?”
“I’m so sorry I have to tell you this.” She pulled her phone from her pocket, tapped a couple buttons, and handed it to me.
I took the phone hesitantly, wondering if Amelia was showing me some bad results from a medical test or something. She looked like she’d just found out she had cancer. When I looked at the photos, it took me a second to realize what I was seeing. When it all clicked together, cold concern washed over me. What the hell had Oliver been thinking?
“Who else have you shown these photos to?”
“No one!” she said quickly. “I mean, I was going to sell them, but—”
“Delete them!” I said. “Now.”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I know it was wrong of me to think of selling them.” Her hands were still shaking as she deleted the photos. “I hate that I had to tell you this.”
“Hey, it’s okay.” I chewed my lip. It was touching that she cared so much about me, but it hurt to know my lie had upset her so much. I remembered her saying she’d been burned bad by a cheating ex. She seemed like she was reliving all those feelings now. I exhaled a sigh. “Oliver didn’t cheat on me.”
She cocked her head in confusion.
Now that I’d started, I couldn’t help telling her the whole truth. I couldn’t lie to Amelia anymore. “We were never dating. It’s all just pretend.”
The confusion on her face intensified. Finally, she just echoed back, “You were never dating Oliver.”
“I, uh, I haven’t actually dated anyone in a long time. All my red carpet dates—it’s all just part of the show.”