‘Frank, I told you to delete that!’ Mam uses the tone she reserved for scolding us as kids.
Dad eyes Holly apologetically. ‘I did, but Benny next door sent it to me on WhatsApp. I didn’t know what it was until I opened it. This time the song was different.’
‘What the actual fuck?’ Removing my arm from Holly’s shoulder, I prise the phone from Dad’s fingers, ignoring my new girlfriend’s beseeching protests.
Opening the WhatsApp icon, I tap Benny’s name. No mean feat while Holly is jumping up and down in front of me, trying to wrestle the phone from my hands. ‘Nate, please don’t look at that. It’s so embarrassing. You willneverlook at me the same way again.’
I’m torn, not wanting to go against Holly’s wishes, but needing to know what it is that’s so terrible that the woman I’m so enamoured with ran here to hide.
The need to know overrules.
Hating myself, I tap the video to play it. An image of Holly, gyrating on a crowded dance floor, bursts across the screen. Her beautiful bouncing breasts on full display for the world to see.
The first few bars of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ ring through the room, but the words have been altered to sound cruder. Holly’s eyes are squeezed shut. She’s utterly lost in her own world. It reminds me of the first night we met, and I thought she didn’t have a lot of clothes on then.
I can’t take my eyes off her tits in the video. They’re fucking spectacular. She is every man’s fantasy.
But she’s my reality.
And the fact this has been shared is an abomination.
My molars clunk together tight enough to crack as I thrust the phone back at my father. Thunder courses through my veins. Someone is going to pay for this. Heavily.
Holly’s features crumble a split second before she turns on her heels and runs across the tiled flooring and out of the castle’s double doors.
I snap out my own phone and dial Jayden. He’s not only my agent and closest friend, he’s the one man I know who has the means to make this go away.
ChapterTwenty-Six
HOLLY
How many times can one girl cry over the same damn thing?
Millions, apparently.
Tears streak my cheeks, blind my eyes, and my throat burns like an inferno.
Nate’s face when he saw that video will be forever imprinted on my mind. Livid is the only word to describe it.
No one else looks at, or touches, this body while we’re together, okay?
A fresh wave of shame washes over me.I’m a laughingstock and, by default, I’ve made him one.
I tumble through the front door of the villa and throw myself onto the couch in a heap. Tootsie cocks her head from her tartan bed in front of the Christmas tree Nate bought for me. It twinkles back at me, the rose-gold Swarovski bauble only further serving to remind me of all I’ve lost.
Though I never had him, anyway.
Not really.
This thing between us was supposed to be a fling. Okay, he wanted me to go to the States, but then what? We could have had another few weeks of intense mind-blowing sex. A few dates. But it’s not like it was ever going to go anywhere. He’s a movie star and the only thing I’m the star of is a very embarrassing viral video. We’re worlds apart.
But when we’re together, why does it feel like we aren’t? Why does it feel like we’re two peas in the same secure, sexy little pod?
A tiny sob hiccups from my mouth. Tootsie hops from her bed and ambles over to me. ‘Oh, Toots, I’m sorry you haven’t been getting much attention lately.’ I scoop her up into my chest where she snuggles into my bosom, resting her head in the crook of my shoulder. Whoever said diamonds are a girl’s best friend never had a dog.
Though I do have two amazing best friends too. Reaching for my phone, I dial Savannah.
‘Why are you calling instead of FaceTiming me? I need to see you!’ Savannah’s affectionate tone sets off another sob. ‘Holly, what is it? I’m switching to video right now.’
