Page 34 of Now Their Starlet

I hope Beck and the others aren’t getting hit with this media circus too hard. The last thing I’d want is for this to negatively affect them.

I clutch at Beck’s hoodie. I’m surprised Gina hasn’t taken it away from me. It doesn’t smell anything like him anymore. Just my own chamomile scent, bitter with stress. But it’s the only piece of comfort I have.

There’s a knock at my door. I know that knock.

I perk up, unintentionally.

Ezra’s here.

He hasn’t been allowed to stop by since the charity gala, which means I’ve been craving human contact ever since, especially since Stuart has kept up with his silent treatment.

“Hey,” I say, sitting up on my bed.

“Hey,” he says, shutting the door behind him. He’s wearing a baggy hoodie from some couture brand. He sets the tray of my pathetic food on my vanity. “You hungry?”

“Always,” I say, padding my way over to the vanity.

“I um... have some gifts for you.” He nervously shoves his hands into his pockets as I settle against the plush stool and start poking at my kale leaves.

“Huh? Gifts?” I say, my brows drawing down in confusion. My expression sours even further when I take my first bite.

He starts taking off his hoodie.

“Whoa! The hell are you stripping for?”

“Don’t get your panties into a twist,” he grunts, tucking his hoodie under his elbow as he unclips a cross-body fanny pack from his chest. It looks just as pretentious as you can imagine. I’ve never been a fan of that bag style. “Don’t give me that look.”

“What look!”

“The look that you find my bag grosser than that disgusting rabbit food they have you eating. It’s fashionable.”

“Fine,” I say, biting back a grin at his defense of his bag choice.

“Had to figure out a way to smuggle shit in here for you, and I couldn’t just come in here carrying a briefcase.” He unzips the bag and tosses me a few protein bars. They’re the gross powdery kind I know he keeps stocked up in his pantry year-round, but they’re leagues better than my kale leaves with a hint of olive oil.

I do my best to catch them, but I’ve never been the most coordinated, so I only manage to catch one. I’m quick to snatch them up from the carpeted floor and tuck them into the pockets of Beck’s borrowed zip-up hoodie.

I peel one open and take a gigantic bite.

“Okay, I’m starting to see why you like these,” I say, covering my mouth as the faux fudgy goodness melts on my tongue.

“They’re good for protein bars, see?” Ezra huffs, a smug grin on his face.

“Thanks, I appreciate you making sure I don’t starve to death.”

“I seriously don’t understand why your mom insists on doing this shit to you,” Ezra mutters.

“Cause she’s got an eating disorder and she’s making it a competition, or whatever,” I say with a shrug. Screw tiptoeing around shit. I’ve spent far too much time in my head the past few weeks to let things just simmer there when I’ve got a good outlet.

“Yeah, probably. Makes sense.” Ezra digs into his cross-body bag once more. “I’ve got... some other gifts for you too. Don’t read into them, they’re not like, courting gifts or whatever. Friends get each other gifts.”

I understand why he’s clarifying because the thing he pulls out of his bag makes my jaw nearly drop.

It’s a Kindle. A brand new one, from the look of things. He hands it to me and my eyes widen even further when I notice that it has all my books downloaded from my library.

“I guessed your password and logged into your account because I couldn’t break into your apartment to get your old one.”

“You—you guessed my password?”