fingers to my cheek, but I jerked back as if it burned.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Why are you being like this?”
Frustrated at how clueless she was, I spat out, “Are you on drugs? No, seriously, are you on something that makes it impossible for you to live in reality? Have you heard a single word I’ve said?”
Scuffing at the dirt with her boots, she said, “I heard you. I just don’t believe you.” She tilted her head flirtatiously and pulled out the smile that used to do me in every time.
Disgusted, I shook my head. “I don’t know what else to say to you. I don’t want you. I don’t love you. And I think you’re a bad person,” I added with a shrug.
Apparently that shot hit its mark. Brina narrowed her eyes at me as she hooked her hands on her hips. “Oh, right, I’m a bad person because I got rid of my competition. Because I made sure the one person who didn’t belong here in this town left. She wasn’t going to stay anyway, Tatum. God, I did you a favor!”
“The fact that that’s how you justify your behavior speaks volumes about your character, Brina. I don’t know what I ever saw in you.” I raked my gaze up and down her body and knew immediately what I’d seen in her as a kid. Unfortunately for her, that wasn’t enough for me anymore.
“Stop saying that!” Her eyes filled with unshed tears as she looked up at me.
That old trick used to work with me, but not anymore. “I won’t. I don’t want you.”
“What do you want then? You want her?” she spat out.
My breath hitched as I looked Brina straight in the eyes. “Hell yes, I want her. And I was actually on my way to go get her before you interrupted. So I need to go.”
I turned away from Brina’s shocked expression and walked back toward my mom’s house a short distance away.
“It will never work!” she shouted at me as I walked away. “You’ll be back here in a week, begging me to take you back.”
I did my best to ignore her words because they mirrored my worst fears.
“Don’t hold your breath, sweetheart. You’ll die. Guaranteed,” I shouted over my shoulder as I pulled open the screen door with new resolve.
I’d prove them all wrong. Especially myself.
Find Somebody New
Paige
I’d spent the last few days laying low in my apartment, except for the single afternoon and evening I’d spent at my parents’ house. Despite the paparazzi camping out on the street, it was really nice to be home and enjoy the comfort of my supportive family.
My mom had agreed with Quinn about the open letter to my fans on my website, and my sister thought it was the perfect thing to do to reach them directly. She said that they would love reading something like that from the person they admired, so I’d spent half the day writing and rewriting it so it would be perfect. It would be a personal message from me, in my own words, that I could continue to add to if necessary. Or I could just let it stand on its own and be done with the whole situation.
It felt good to take control of my life, to be in charge of my reputation in the public eye. I sat on my bed with my legs crossed, typing away at the laptop on my lap as my mom walked into my room and sat down next to me.
“Have you heard from him?” she asked.
My fingers froze on the keys as I sucked in a breath. At least she was thoughtful enough not to mention his name.
“No.” I turned to her and blinked away the tears that threatened, but that was harder to do considering who I was talking to. Confiding in your mom about things made it that much more emotional. You could be vulnerable with your family in ways you couldn’t with others.
“I’m sorry, honey. I can’t imagine what that boy’s going through with you gone,” she said as she pulled me close and kissed the top of my head.
“What do you mean?”
“I just think that you were probably like a tornado of the best kind, coming into his life and ruffling him all up, and then leaving just as quick as you touched down. He probably doesn’t know what the heck to do with himself.”
“Are you defending him? He pretty much shoved me out the door and into Colin’s arms. It