Page 40 of Now Their Starlet

“So you decided to sign up for a VIP meet and greet?” I growl.

“What the hell else was I supposed to do?” Ezra snaps. “You never would’ve seen me otherwise. And my dad’s PR rep has access to all my socials, and I didn’t want me reaching out to you getting back to him, okay?”

That confirms my theory that he and Daddy dearest aren’t as tight as the media portrays. You can never trust anything the media puts out, especially for a name and brand as big as the Fletcher’s.

Ezra’s gaze darts warily between the five of us, blood slowly oozing from his nose. I should’ve punched him harder.

“I showed her your music video,” Ezra mumbles, glancing over at Beck.

Beck’s bright blue eyes widen, and I can see the way his pulse jumps at his neck. “She—she saw it.”

Something about the hope, relief, and gratitude in Beck’s voice bleeds into my own emotions, but I shut that connection down. I’m determined to stay pissed.

“You here to gloat or something, you pathetic piece of shit?” I snap, imagining this douchebag at Andi’s side, showing her the product of everyone’s hard work. We’re supposed to be the ones to show her. Hell, she was supposed to be there when it was happening. Not locked away with her psycho mom and her abusive ex-boyfriend.

At least, I hope he’s still her ex.

She wouldn’t go back to him… She wouldn’t.

The bitter taste of doubt creeps in at the back of my throat.

Memories of the way my own mother, who to this day still hasn’t left my abusive piece of shit father, plague my mind.

No, Andi is different.

Just like I can’t believe the media’s picture perfect family image they portray for the Fletcher’s, just like I can’t believe whatever bullshit Gina Sterling is putting out about her life and her relationship with Andi, I can’t believe what they’re pushing about Andi and this douchebag. Andi would never willingly get back with him.

Ezra shakes his head, his dark eyes tight.

“I’ve got nothing to gloat about. She’s made it clear she’s with you guys. I’m only trying to help.”

Relief and satisfaction threaten to drown me in equal measure.

That’s our girl.

If only she were here so I could pull her into my arms and show her everything I’m feeling. I’ve never been good at talking. But we can’t do that now. That’s how fucked this situation is.

“Why?” Everett pushes, his sharp eyes narrowed on Ezra.

Ezra shifts his weight nervously, his expression pinching with... guilt?

“She’s—Andi’s made it clear we’re over, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see her happy. And... she says she’s the happiest she’s ever been with you guys, so—so if you guys care about her half as much as she cares about you, then you should know that we’ve got the best chances of getting her out of that hell hole together, okay?”

The guy obviously still likes Andi. Even I can see it. But still, he’s standing here after I fucked up his pretty-boy face, saying he wants to help even though it sounds like she rejected him.

That bothers the hell out of me.

Not the fact that Andi told him to fuck off, but the fact that he’s still sticking around. If he just wanted to get back with her, he wouldn’t be putting himself in a situation where he knew he’d be the target of one of our fists, considering what he did to her is common knowledge. He’s not that stupid.

It tells me this desire to help is genuine, that it doesn’t have to do with him trying to get back with her.

Throughout the past month or so, I’ve already been grappling with my own worldview about what alphas should be like. Growing up with my dad, the traditional, masculine, macho, take-no-shit, but never-give-a-shit kind of alpha, gave me a real complex around masculinity and what made a “proper” alpha. Then I met Andi’s Dad, and Edison is the complete opposite. He’s the least alpha-like alpha I’ve ever met, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all.

And now Ezra comes waltzing in here, not fitting into either rigid binary.

I want to stick him in the box of abusive assholes who deserve to have their own faces beaten in, but if he’s actually here to help, that means I have to cooperate with him. As much as that eats away at me inside, if he’s really one of the only people allowed to see Andi, we need his help.

“I get it if you don’t believe me. I wouldn’t, if I were you,” Ezra grunts, wiping the last trickles of blood on the back of his hoodie sleeve. “I’ve got a video of her. A message for you.”