I watched as Mara sat in Jenna’s chair, too. Mara acted as if she weren’t just heartbroken only moments prior. She complimented Jenna’s hair, her fair skin, and how blue her eyes were.
It was confusing as fuck, but clearly the only person Mara seems to be pissed at, is me.
I can handle it, though.
“Let’s get this show on the road, everyone. It’s crunch time with not a lot of time to go.” Laurel Jo, our executive producer, claps her hands together with her headset over one ear.
“You ready to do this, big guy?” Mara stalks toward me, her heels clacking against the hardwood floor as she closes the distance between us.
Her natural blonde hair in large waves dancing around her shoulders, making her face almost look bare.
“Let’s just get it over with.” I huff, gesturing for her to walk ahead of me, and she wiggles her brows with a devious smirk. I wish everybody could see this side of her, but they’re all blinded by it.
“You wanna check me out, Green?” Her voice booms, echoing through the enormous space, and all eyes flock to us as if they weren’t already.
I don’t respond, but I follow behind her, maintaining a safe distance between us. She stops suddenly, spinning on her heels and our chests crash together. “All you have to do is ask, and this can be all yours. For real, Cole,” she whispers for only me to hear, but I grab her wrist before she can walk away, our bodies still as one.
“Cut the crap, Mara. You’re doing more harm than good, and you know it.” I bite back in a hushed tone while she bats her eyelashes at me.
“Oh, big deal, Cole. Any publicity is good publicity. The sooner you realize that, the better.” She rips her wrist free from my grip, and we both make our way to our marks as if the tension between us could be tasted by anyone who got too close.
This is going to be a long fucking day.
***
I was right.
We ended up shooting way later than intended, and on our way out, Tate invited everyone back to our apartment for drinks.
All I wanted to do was get Jenna alone, and talk to her about how she was feeling, but it’d have to wait.
She and Tahnee were the first to put their hands up to stop for alcohol on their way home, and bring it over.
From day one, our colleagues have believed that she and I have been together—we’ve made it believable.
And yet, they still look at Jenna like she’s the bad guy in this for going afterMara’sman.
“Why’d you have to invite everyone over?” I groan to Tate as we step out of our now parked car. “The place isn’t even clean. We don’t have enough food to feed everyone, and there certainly isn’t enough space.” I slam my door closed and stalk toward the building.
“Then good thing everyonelivesin the same building, so they can go home whenever they want to.” He jogs up behind me. “Hi, Marv,” my brother says, tossing his car keys to the man who runs the building, and nods his thanks.
“Enjoy your evening,” he tells us as he makes his way to the desk, and Tate and I head toward the elevator.
By the time we arrive at the top floor, it seems a lot of people have already made themselves comfortable in our home, as we hear the music blaring from behind the door. “I told some of the crew the door would be unlocked and to make themselves at home.” Tate looks me up and down with his hand on the doorknob, giving me a quick shake of the head.
“What?” I cross my arms over my chest, furious that he’s let people we hardly know into our home without one of us present.
“This whole thing is a mess, brother. Please, just sort it out. I don’t understand why you can’t just end things with her now.We’re only a few weeks away from finishing. Then you can do what you want.” He rubs the back of his head.
I pinch the bridge of my nose with a sigh. “You don’t fucking get it, Tate.”
“So explain it to me, then. Because from where I’m standing, you guys told everyone you were dating as a joke, and never came clean about it. So, either it’s become real, or you want it to be.”
I attempt to push past him to join the party, but he places his hand on my chest.
“Last I checked, Tate, I owe you my career. I don’t owe you details on my personal life.” I shake my head, swatting his hand off of me.
“Youdoowe me your career. So, if you fuck this up over pussy and everything we’ve worked so hard for gets taken away,thatis on you.” He opens the door, plastering a wide, fake smile on his face, saying ‘hello’ to a small group of people.
