Auctioned to the A-Lister by Holloway Taylor

Author:Holloway, Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-12T16:00:00+00:00

35

Tommy

When Cindy came out of the restaurant, I knew it was already too late. Whatever Paulina had said to her in there had sunk into her, under her skin, and poisoned her against me. Elaine said that it was Cindy who was poison. I was pretty sure that it was her, instead.

“Tommy,” she told me. “I think we need to go.”

Cindy’s voice was resigned, and I hated the sound of it. Her hands were clasped demurely in front of her body and her shoulders were slumped.

I looked over at Elaine and she stared back at me impassively. The quality of Elaine’s silence at my side made me feel nervous. She took one look at us and got up, walking out of earshot but looking satisfied in a way that made my head hurt. She was quietly triumphant. I knew that was bad, but I wasn’t giving up yet.

“Okay,” I told Cindy, standing up from the fountain and grabbing her hand. “We’ll go. Let’s go back and get some rest.”

I leaned in to kiss her and she stepped back. She shook her head at me. “No. Not back to the house. Back to LA.”

I swallowed. “Cindy—”

She shook her head, looking like she was holding back tears. I couldn’t stand the look on her face. “You should go back with Elaine and Paulina,” Cindy told me. She wasn’t looking at me. Instead, her eyes were focused hard on the ground a few feet in front of her. “They have a helicopter waiting for you. I’ll drive the van back.”

I blinked. “No.”

She pulled out of my hand. “It’s better this way.”

“No, it isn’t. I love you.”

It just slipped out. I hadn’t meant it to, this was possibly the worst moment, but it happened anyway. But it was true. I did love her. I loved her more than I ever intended to, and now that it was out, I was going to stand by the statement.

One second slipped by. Then two. The moment lengthened painfully.

Cindy’s eyes widened. Her gaze rose to my face, lingered, and then slipped away. “I love you too. But it’ll never work.”

My hopes crashed and burned.

“I don’t think you realize how little I care about winning that stupid statue.” I shook my head, furious that this had to happen now, like this. It shouldn’t have had to be like this.

Her mouth trembled. “You do care. You should care. Please care. Look, I’ve got to go.”

“Cindy please—” I begged, wondering if making a scene would do any good. “Please listen to me. This isn’t the disaster that you’ve been led to believe.”

I could only imagine that Paulina had laid it on very thick. Making it seem like there was no possible way that I could win the Oscar if I was at all tainted by Cindy in the media. I knew things weren’t that simple. Nothing was ever that simple. Especially in Hollywood.

“Paulina explained it to me,” Cindy said. “I get it now.” She took a deep breath and stared at me as if challenging me to dispute it.

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