It’s just the two of us now. When I came down, everyone but the spearmint triplets were here. According to their social media, they were doing a movie night. The seven of us shared dinner and stories, but slowly but surely, everyone got up to go to bed, leaving just Jonathan and me. “That the model gave birth.”
I laugh now, looking down at my hands, my thumbs running up and down the glass. “You know I never reveal my sources,” I tell him, and he smiles at me. He’s really good looking—his brown hair combed to the side, his perfect white teeth, and his dark brown eyes. “It’s why I’m so successful and people trust me.”
He brings the bottle back to his lips. “You are like a vault.” He drags a long drink. “I’m sorry they left you off the list today.”
I shrug my shoulders. “It’s no secret that Tyler and I don’t like each other,” I say, hoping the way I look at him shows it didn’t bother me. Little do they know that the “phone call” I got that explained my absence was because I’d left the room as soon as the meeting was adjourned and called Stephanie as I walked to my room, begging her to let me come home and switch with someone else. She laughed and basically said to suck it up. I sat on my bed for a good twenty minutes—maybe even thirty or even an hour, I have no idea. I wasn’t even going to go back down until Yamina texted me to tell me pictures were being taken.
WHERE ARE YOU? THE PHOTO OPS ARE NOW.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
So I took a big breath, and I locked it down, applied a layer of lip gloss, and made my way back to the room. I made it there right when she was running out of the room to find me.
“I know it’s no secret,” he says, “but it was just a shitty thing to do.” I shake my head. “We should head to bed since the premiere is tomorrow.”
“It’s going to be a long, long night,” I tell him, getting up to grab my phone and key card. Heading toward the elevator, the two of us side by side, I press the button going up and turn to Jonathan, who smiles at me.
“Isn’t this cute?” I hear from behind me and turn to see Cassie smiling with Tyler next to her with his hands in his pockets, looking from Jonathan to me. “Are you guys the newest couple?” she says, and I look at her. She is dressed the same as she was before, except she traded up her shoes. “I think we got the scoop.”
“You caught us,” Jonathan says to her. “Guilty. You should call that tip in. Lucky for the two of us, we are essentially nobodies, so no breaking news here.” He jokes with her, and I remain quiet. When the elevator finally arrives, we all awkwardly stand in it, and no one says anything.
I’m the first to get out. “Night, everyone,” I say over my shoulder. I chance a glance at Tyler but regret it the moment I do because he’s staring at me, wearing no expression whatsoever. I turn and continue walking to my room. I kick off my ballerina shoes and shimmy out of my jeans, tossing them on the chair with the sweater and bra. I climb into the bed, then turn off the lights, and I finally drift off to sleep, ending a day that I’d just as soon forget.
When my alarm rings at six a.m., I’m face down on the bed in a legit starfish position. I roll to the side and turn the alarm off. I grab the phone and scroll through the headlines—a breakup, a DUI, a fight. Looks like everything is alive and well back home. Getting my ass in gear, I put on my workout clothes and grab a bottle of water, then make my way to the gym again. Walking in, I’m not sure what I expect to see, but Tyler going full force on the treadmill is definitely not it. He is wearing his basketball shorts today and a sleeveless shirt. His television is off while he runs. When you run that fast, you are either trying to outrun your demons or run toward them. In Tyler’s case, I’m not sure which is the case.
“Good morning,” I say softly, and he just looks ahead, not saying anything, and it’s completely fine. More than fine, actually. Making small talk when I’m here just to get my workout in can be exhausting. I turn on the television and then plug in my earbuds. I turn it to CNN and watch it for a bit while I warm up. I then turn it to Dateline. I’m not even paying attention to Tyler while I watch the episode. I finish the hour-long episode and then slow my pace. Taking my earbuds out, I grab my water bottle, bringing it to my mouth.
“So where is the boyfriend?” I hear him gruff from next to me. I look over at him, my jog slowing to speed walking.
“Are you talking to me?” Panting while I get my breathing under control, I look around to see if maybe someone else snuck in while I was running on the treadmill, but the room is empty except for us. “Boyfriend?”
“You and Jonathan, is it still hush-hush?” He finally looks over at me, and he looks angry.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I tell him the truth. “Where is your juicer girl?” I look at my watch. “She’s late.”
“Cassie is my assistant,” he tells me. Lowering his speed, he slows his run to a brisk walk.
“I know. I have to say I’m a little surprised that she isn’t here to dab the sweat off your forehead. Cheering you on.” I turn off the machine and turn away from his stare as I grab my water bottle and head in the direction of the door.
“I changed the list,” he says when my hand pulls open the door, and I stop in my tracks. My heart starts to speed up faster than when I was running. I turn and see that he has taken his shirt off. He stands there on the treadmill with his shorts hanging low on his hips and his six-pack on full display. His chest wide and tanned, glistening with the perspiration that somehow has my own mouth watering as he tosses his shirt over one shoulder. “I didn’t know they were announcing it like that.”
Oh, fuck me. My hand lets go of the handle, and I turn to look back at him, crossing my arms across my chest. “You mean you didn’t think you would feel guilty after tossing me under the bus in a public way, so now you’re throwing a bone my way.” I raise my eyebrows, waiting for him to answer, and he just glares at me. “What?” I ask him, now uncrossing my arms and walking toward him. “What you mean is that you weren’t expecting to feel like shit? You just figured fuck her, she deserves it.” Shaking my head, I mumble, “Unbelievable.”
“I . . .” he starts to say, and then I hold up my hand to stop him.
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me. You want me here as much as I want to be here.” I put my hand on my hips. “Now it’s not just the two of us who know that it’s a well-documented thing.”
“I didn’t want you here,” he says, grabbing a water bottle and twisting off the cap, “not in the least, but you’re here, and we need to make the best of it.”
“What the heck does that mean?” I ask him, my hands getting a touch clammy.
He stops drinking his water and looks at me, his eyes changing color again. They are gorgeous, and that irritates me to no avail. “We call a truce of sorts.”
I raise my eyebrow at him. “Meaning?” I ask, listening to my heart speed up just a tad more, the sound becoming a bit louder in my ears.
“Meaning we are stuck with each other for the month, so why don’t we just call a truce? I won’t—” he says, and I speak up, interrupting whatever bullshit was about to come out of that gorgeous mouth.