“I-I guess I’ve been trying not to think about it.” I paused, picking a piece of pepper off the pizza. “I love the skate, and I think it will be great for us. But I hate the way everything always revolves around my mother.” I paused for another second, hesitating to voice it aloud. “I’ve actually been talking about this in therapy.”
Luca’s brown eyes softened. “Stevens, you went back to therapy? That’s great,” he said, voice laced with quiet pride.
“Yeah, I’ve only had a couple of sessions, but it’s been good. I feel like she’s helping me think about whatIwant for once.”
“And what is it that you want?”
You. But I knew I couldn’t say that. So I stuck with another truth. “To teach kids,” I said, without overthinking it. “My mum has always said ‘those who can’t do, teach kids,’ but I just think it’s sorewarding.”
“Then doit.”
“Hmm, maybe one day.” I sat back against the sofa, mirroringLuca’s position. “I’ve been thinking about it—I don’t want to keep living like this, but sometimes I don’t know how to stop. Hopefully therapy will help.”
“That’s great, Stevens.” Luca’s gaze lingered for a beat too long, like he wanted me to know he really meant it. “And you’d be an amazing teacher.”
I hummed in response and took another bite of pizza.
“Have you heard from the producers recently?” I asked once I’d finished my mouthful.
“Jack spoke to them earlier. Apparently, they’re sounding more and more keen by the day. So that’s good.”
I clapped my hands together. “That’s fantastic, Luca. Imagine your mum’s face when you tell her you got the part.” He nodded and looked down, hiding his affectionate smile.
And that’s what we both needed to remember. We both had stakes in winning the show.
Continuing down the path we had been on was too much of a dangerous game.
I climbed out of theUber and made my way to the front door of my parents’ house, knocking tentatively. My sister answered, offering me a familiar smile devoid of warmth. Her eyes swept over me from head to toe, and her lips curled into a look of disdain.
And for once, I considered calling her out forit.
I’d always thought there was no point in opening old wounds, but Luca’s words rang clear in my mind, and, for the first time in a year, I doubted my decision just to let her relationship with Mark go, even for Taylor’s sake.
Every time you give someone a pass for hurting you because you feel guilty for upsetting them, you hurt yourself.
My sister shifted her weight, narrowing her eyes but stepping back to let me in through the front door.
“Where’s your car?” she asked as I stepped in and started down the hallway.
“The oil pressure light came on, so I didn’t want to drive it.” I hated cars at the best of times; I wouldn’t get stranded on the roadside late at night.
She didn’t bother to reply but followed me into the kitchen.
“Your face is still plastered across the news.”
“I know. You’d think they’d have found something else to talk about by now.”
“Something more interesting than Hollywood’s most violent, sex-crazed druggie kissing anice princess?”
“He’s not a violent druggie, Lauren. You know that’s all a load of rubbish.” I turned to her and leaned against the counter.
“Didn’t look like rubbish when there was a picture of him off-his-face drunk with bloodied knuckles and two women hanging off him.”
I’d found it too when I first searched Luca’s name weeks ago. When I’d grown a pair and asked him what had been happening in the picture, he had answered me honestly, as he always did. He’d just lost his latest leading role due to the endless bad press, so Nancy had taken him out to help him forget about it. By then, he’d stopped caring about the consequences. It didn’t matter what he did—they’d find a story regardless. After a few too many drinks and a confrontation with an arsehole harassing a woman in the bar, Nancy and the woman had dragged him out, right into the waiting cameras of the paparazzi.
“And was your incredibly reliable source of knowledge for this information theDaily Mail,or just a random article you found online?”
“So it doesn’t bother you?” She collected two glasses from the cabinet and sauntered to the fridge to grab a bottle of wine.
