Breaking Stars - J. Sterling Page 0,7

my gaze in their direction and fought back my laughter.

For as long as I could remember, Quinn and I made up fake middle names for each other and used them whenever we tried to get the other’s attention. The more ridiculous the middle name, the more fun it was.

She bolted upright in an attempt to stop his fingers from moving and squealed to Ryson, “Okay, okay. I love you. Please stop.” Then she turned to me and said incredulously, “AmberLynn? Really?”

I shrugged as Ryson planted a soft kiss on top of her nose and asked, “Was that really so difficult, AmberLynn?”

Quinn frowned. “Obviously.”

“Obviously,” he mimicked, and he wandered back inside just as my phone blared out the ringtone for Colin.

“Ooh, give me the phone!” Quinn practically shouted as she reached for me. “Please! Please let me talk to him!” She reached toward me, nearly falling off her chair as she grabbed at my phone.

“You’re not talking to him. Stop acting crazy,” I said, slapping her hands away as I pressed Ignore and breathed out in relief.

“This isn’t acting, honey,” she drawled, waggling her eyebrows.

I almost laughed. I’d done a lot of that today. Almost smiling. Almost laughing. Almost forgetting that my screwed-up love life was currently splashed across every tabloid and entertainment channel across the country. Squeezing my eyes closed, I couldn’t stop a few new tears that forced their way out. I sniffed and wiped them with the back of my hand.

Quinn reached over and patted my shoulder. “Hey, don’t cry. Are you okay?”

“I don’t want to talk to him. And as angry as I am at him right now, I’m also hurt. Is that stupid?”

“He cheated on you, Paige. He took whatever trust you had for him and broke it. I think you’re entitled to feel hurt.”

“I do. My heart hurts. As much as I don’t want it to because I feel so stupid about the whole thing, my heart is hurting. Every breath hurts,” I reluctantly admitted before allowing myself to let the pain flow.

“Breakups suck.”

“They do. Especially when you’re in the public eye like we are. Then they’re even suckier.”

I leaned my head back against the lounge chair and let tears slide down my face as the sun continued to warm my body. The sound of water trickling in the gorgeous water feature tucked in the landscaping next to the pool soothed me, and the ocean waves crashing on the beach on the other side of the privacy wall helped me to relax.

I had trusted Colin. Truly and completely. It made me sick to think about how wrong I’d been and how naive. My phone blared out Colin’s ringtone again, and I covered my eyes with a forearm and groaned.

Quinn reached for it before I could stop her. “What do you want, asshat?” She scowled into the receiver, and I couldn’t help but stare at her as she spoke. “No.” She paused. “I said no. Because she doesn’t want to talk to you.”

She rolled her eyes, and her hand opened and closed in my direction as she mimicked a mouth talking. “I swear to God, Colin, if you show up here I won’t let you in. I’ll feed you to the vultures outside just dying for a piece of meat. You’ll be the meat and I’ll help them devour you whole.”

She shook her head as his voice blasted in her ear. “Are you joking? God, you’re so pathetic. She doesn’t want to hear your half-ass apology. Honestly, Colin, what could you possibly say to her that could fix what you’ve done? She saw the video. The whole damn world saw the video.” She stayed quiet as she listened. “Exactly. There’s nothing to say, so just leave her alone and let her get the hell over you. I already have.” She pulled the phone away from her face and stuck her tongue out at it as she ended the call.

My mouth hung open. “Holy crap.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” she said as she placed my phone back on the table.

“Don’t be sorry. That was sort of amazing,” I admitted.

“Well, I am awesome.”

“You kind of are.”

“Kind of? Clearly this breakup has broken your awesomeness meter.”

“You’re so weird.”

“I know. Hey, not to change the subject or anything, but have you talked to your mom yet? I’m only asking because she sent me a text earlier.”

Grateful for the subject change, I said, “Not yet. I should probably call her.”

“You should. She’ll make you feel better,” Quinn said with a smile.

“She’ll