I hadn’t even wanted him to come with me on this trip. But it was the weekend after my twenty-third birthday, and Cal had wanted to do something “big.” He’d told me I could bring as many friends along as I wanted, to just let him know how many beforehand. I’d said one—having every intention of only bringing one.
My first choice had been Lara, she was the only other person at Dalhousie who knew who my famous brother was.
Like me, Lara had famous family members. Lara’s maternal grandmother had been a violinist in the London Symphony. Lara loved singing, and she was a prodigy on the violin—something she’d picked up from her grandmother.
With Lara, I knew she was interested in my friendship and my friendship only. She didn’t need me to introduce her to anybody to get ahead. She was already ahead, starring in a Netflix series that was being filmed out of Halifax about a group of music students. They had to be on set early Saturday morning to film another episode, so she couldn’t join me.
Jason ended up on this trip because he’d caught wind Lara wouldn’t be able to go. With her unable to attend, Jason felt he should fill her spot and promised we could make it a nice romantic weekend together. He told me he’d been wanting to meet my brother for a while now, and I knew he would be hurt if I didn’t invite him along.
I’d been feeling guilty for rebuffing him yet again on the music front, I’d figured he’d take personal offense if I spent my birthday weekend in another province without him.
He was my boyfriend, after all. I shouldwantto bring him along to meet my brother, and at the beginning I had. But Jason had shown no desire to meet either of our parents, just Calum, and I found that suspicious.
Still, I’d invested a lot of my time—and some of my music—into this relationship. I was hoping for…something, although I wasn’t quite sure what.
Since boarding the plane yesterday morning, Jason had been wound up with a restless energy. One could assume he was just nervous about meeting my brother and his high-profile friends, but something told me that wasn’t it.
The entire time we’d been in Toronto, he’d been hyper-focused on my brother and his famous friends. He’d told me he wanted to make a good impression on them, that it was important for my brother to like my boyfriend. But I was beginning to see through his excuses, and I was starting to realize Jason wasn’t exactly here for me. He didn’t want me for me, but for what my connections could offer him.
He’d spent the majority of the evening hanging out with Killian Barker and Jeramiah and Tate Stone, the sibling punk rockers from Edinburg who were set to open at their shows, but he was notably absent from their group now.
That bad niggling feeling grew more and more apparent as I moved through the penthouse, still on the hunt for him—and growing more agitated by the minute. I headed down the corridor off the living room that led to the media room, a laundry room, and a guest bathroom.
I peeked into the laundry room first, finding it empty. Not surprising—nobody was supposed to be down here anyway, but I’d run out of places to check…and unless Jason had left the building, I had a sense I’d find him nearby.
The bathroom door was open, and it, too, was empty, but when I walked into the media room… my mouth fell open in horrified shock. The light from the city outside spilled into the room, illuminating the sight of Brighton Wells bent over the back of the couch, her dress pulled up over her hips, and the euphoric expression on my boyfriend’s face as he railed into the twenty-four-year-old movie star from behind.
He seemed completely oblivious to me standing there, watching his deceit happening in real time. Brighton glanced over her shoulder, giving me a slow victorious smile as Jason continued to fuck her, harder than he had ever fucked me.
I wanted to scream and rage, but the smug look on the other girl’s face had me backing away quietly. Feeling sick, I closed the door and retreated down the hallway, my tear ducts burning as I held back tears and weaved through the crowd into the kitchen. I kept my head down, letting my hair fall over my shoulders to obscure my face from sight.
It wasn’t like I was in love with him, often times, I wasn’t all that sure I even liked him. But I still felt betrayed and embarrassed and madder than I’d ever felt before. I felt foolish and used. My stomach rolled with disgust—the old feeling of having my trust broken, of being used as a steppingstone to get to someone famous—smashing into me.
It was like high school all over again.
I made it to the stairs and passed the security guard lingering near the living room, ready to intervene if anybody got too rowdy. He’d been a part of my brother’s team for years now. They called him Tank, whether it was his real name or not—I had no idea. Tank nodded at me as I passed, and I paused, turning around to address him.
“Can you remove Jason Briggs from the approved list? Tell him he can sleep in a dumpster and find his own way to the airport tomorrow.”
“Sure can, Miss Jacobs,” he replied with a wink. I forced a small smile, before climbing the stairs in a hurry. My mind was set on reaching the guest bedroom and locking my door so I could curl up in bed and lick my wounds.
CHAPTERFOUR
Connor
My eyes were watering so muchI didn’t see Dare until I collided into him when I went to turn down the hall to the guest room. He caught me, his large hands steadying me as they gently coiled around my upper arms. My exposed flesh tingled beneath his warm touch.
“Whoa, where’s the fire?” he asked, chuckling, the corner of his lip tugging up in a half smile. But when I met his gaze, he realized I was upset, and his smile turned into a concerned scowl. “What happened?”
“I just walked in on Jason fucking Brighton Wells and I need a moment, so please, let me go.” The tears were spilling over now, and Dare’s hands fell from my shoulders as if they’d been burned.
I missed their presence almost instantly, but the last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of my big brother’s best friend—especially the one I’d harboured a secret crush on for years. The situation was already embarrassing enough as it was. I hadn’t meant to blurt it out either.
Dare’s expression hardened. He clenched his jaw, looking down the stairs with a menacing scowl. “Where is he?”
“No, Dare. Don’t. You’ll just make a scene, and he’s not worth it.” I sighed, wiping at my cheeks furiously, frustrated at their presence, and at the fact I couldn’t just disappear into a quiet room like I’d hoped for.
But if I walked away right now, Dare would head downstairs, and there’d be a fight because that’sexactlyhow Calum would handle it. Since my brother was out of commission, his friends would step up and handle things how he would.
