Breaking Stars - J. Sterling Page 0,101

They would have had a hard time buying it before, but not now. Thanks for helping my cause, buddy. I’ll make sure the paparazzi know you’re in town and how heartbroken I am that Paige left me for you.” He started dialing on his cell phone before putting it to his ear, and I growled as Sam reached out to steady me.

“How has everyone not seen through your act yet?”

Colin sneered before looking me up and down. “Because they don’t want to believe the bad. They want to love me. Just like your girlfriend does.” He snickered as he pulled his black sunglasses over his eyes.

I clenched my fist and pulled out of Sam’s grip to storm over to Colin.

“What did you say?” I practically spat in his face.

“You know you can’t erase the history I have with Paige. You’re nothing, country boy. And as soon as you’re gone, I’ll be the one fucking her every night just like before. She is a good lay, don’t you agree?”

Everything around me blurred except for Colin and his shit-eating grin. I pulled my arm back and swung, the sound of my knuckles meeting his jaw echoing in the otherwise empty lobby. Colin’s head practically spun around on his shoulders as he reached up and cupped his face.

“Say another word like that about Paige and I’ll hit you again.” I glared at him as he tried to smile, but grunted with the pain instead.

“Thanks for that. You’re real good at giving me ammunition, country boy,” Colin said before he turned and ran out of the building like the little coward he really was.

Turning toward Sam, the reality of what I’d just done hit me like a tsunami wave as I looked down at my already bruising hand.

“Shit, Sam. Did I just completely screw it all up? Did I ruin everything?”

Sam shrugged. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time now.”

His unexpected response made me chuckle. “Hit Colin?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So, now what? How long until that’s reported?”

I hadn’t necessarily thought everything through, what my being here might do to Paige’s hard-earned reputation; I hadn’t even considered it. All I knew was that I needed to make things right with Paige, and I was only screwing it up more.

“I’d say it’s probably already live.” He pointed across the street where Colin stood talking to the lone paparazzi guy I had spoken to earlier, holding his cheek and swaying back and forth.

“Paige is going to kill me.” My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it from my pants, seeing my mom’s name.

“Ma?”

“I’ve been following the gossip sites since you left. They’re saying awful things, things that polite people don’t say, Tatum.” Her voice cracked, and I knew her heart hurt for both myself and for the girl she’d grown to care about.

“I haven’t seen anything since I got here, but I appreciate the heads-up…again. And just so you’ll know…it’s going to get a little worse.”

“What have you done, son?”

“I might have hit Colin.”

She laughed into the phone, my mom actually laughed, which eased my anxiety a bit. “Good. I’m sure he deserved it. Now, have you seen her?”

“Briefly.” I all but sighed as the lobby telephone rang in the background, and Sam moved to answer it.

“She’s mad, isn’t she?” my mom asked.

“She is.”

“You don’t come back here until you’ve made things right. You hear me?”

“Yes, Mama,” I said with a smile, not wanting to let her down.

“’Bye, son. I love you,” she said, then ended the call before I could say my own good-bye.

“Tatum?”

I turned to find Sam holding the phone receiver out toward me.

“It’s Miss Quinn.”

“Quinn?” I asked before remembering that Paige’s best friend was named Quinn. “She’s calling for me?”

He nodded, and I reached over to accept the phone he offered me.

“Hello?”

“Oh, good,” a woman’s voice said. “You really are in town. Don’t move, I’m coming to get you.” Then she hung up.

A little numb with surprise, I handed the phone back to Sam. “She’s bossy.”

Sam laughed. “That she is, sir. But it suits her.”

I glanced outside where Colin had stood and noticed he was no longer there. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I braced myself for what was to come.

• • •

Quinn arrived shortly after hanging up in my ear.

I blew out an exasperated breath as she exited her ridiculously overpriced car, her blond hair blowing in the breeze. Being a young actress in Hollywood sure had its perks. The paparazzi that had gathered again attempted to swarm and