I tried not to think about how badly I’d always wished I’d had that sort of support from my own mom because I could feel everyone’s attention turn to me as I walked through the crowd of people and I didn’t want anyone to see me teary eyed and think that it had anything to do with Drake.
When I reached him, he was in full performance mode. I’d done enough scenes with him that I could easily spot when he was having an authentic emotion or one that was manufactured. The emotion on his face when he saw me was maybe Daytime Emmy worthy but definitely wouldn’t be considered for an Academy award.
“Sasha.” His voice cracked as he said my name.
I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. If I was directing this scene I’d yell, “Cut, back to one. Let’s try something a little more grounded and believable,” because he was milking this for all it was worth, and it was reading as forced. At least for me.
“What are you doing here, Drake?” I asked, keeping my expression and tone friendly.
“I didn’t know what I’d feel seeing you again.” He took in a shaky breath. “But I…I missed you. I miss you so much.”
As he stared at me, he pretended that he’d forgotten there was a crowd of people around us and that he didn’t hear the “awes” and sighs from people who were buying his act. I knew it was all for their benefit, not mine. When Beau looked at me, I could see in his eyes that no one else existed but me. When Drake looked at me, I could see that he was acting like no one else existed but me. Now that I’d experienced the real thing, I knew that I could never accept the fake again. I also knew that if there was any shot at having a real conversation with Drake, I had to remove him from his audience.
“We should talk.” I didn’t wait for his response, instead I headed toward Gam’s house.
Seeing Drake again had felt like a splash of cold water on my face. I’d felt so safe, so comfortable, so secure here and he’d just ripped that away from me. It was time to face my life. My real life. Not the life I’d been living the past week.
Chapter 28
Beau
“The best revenge is forgiveness, but where’s the fun in that?”
~ Barbara-Jean Nelson
I watched as the crowd surrounding Sasha’s ex turned toward her as she approached him. I could see in her eyes that she was horrified that he was here and that their reunion was in such a public setting. Every single part of me wanted to go over, pick her up, and carry her out of there. But I knew that would only draw more attention to her and that would be the last thing she’d want.
For being an actress, she honestly was quite shy. It surprised me how little she enjoyed the spotlight since her job was to be in it.
“Beau.” I heard Rachel’s voice and turned to find her standing behind me.
Exes were coming out of the woodwork today. The last time I’d seen mine, I was loading her into Tami Lynn’s truck at The Cow after she agreed to get Rachel home safe.
She bit the inside of her mouth, clearly nervous. “Can we talk?”
I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy at the thought of a heart to heart with Rachel, but it might be better than witnessing Drake and Sasha doing the same thing. “Yeah.”
“Really?” she asked, obviously shocked at my response.
I nodded.
“Hey, can you hold things down?” I asked Linc to take over my duties which consisted of letting kids climb on the rig and take pictures.
“Yeah, man.” He looked between Rachel and I and then back to where Drake and Sasha were. “Sure.”
I knew that I wasn’t going to hear the end of this from the guys. They’d already been giving me shit about the kiss at the wedding, Sasha attending Lilah’s birthday (which I’d had nothing to do with) and us dancing at The Cow. I was sure that today’s battle-of-the-exes was going to give them plenty of new material.
Rachel followed me as I walked through the bay and back into the break room. Since the guys were all out in front, I figured that no one would be there. Sure enough, the room was empty.
“Can I get you some water?” I asked as I shut the door behind us.
When we were younger,