people made the announcement that her next four shows would be canceled. The official statement was she had doctor’s orders to rest her voice. On Friday night, Cady boarded a plane for L.A. On Saturday afternoon, she showed up at C-Samp’s doorstep, and we hear from a friend of Cady’s who’s in the know that it was most definitely not a romantic rendezvous.
According to what we’ve heard, Lil Sugah was at C-Samp’s house for less than fifteen minutes. When she left, she wasn’t in tears. In fact, she seemed happy as could be later that night when she was spotted having dinner in Newport Beach with her suspected new beau, Alex Perry.
The same can’t be said for C-Samp. While band mate Tyler Briggs organized a little brodeo for him at Molly Malone’s pub this weekend, a friend in attendance said the singer was down in the dumps and barely spoke five words to anyone other than Tyler the entire time he was there.
Buck up, Cory. We’re sure there are plenty of other gorgeous singers out there who are more than willing to rise to fame on your coattails, then leave you high and dry. We have to say, we’re Team C-Samp on this one.
What kind of friend would spill all that to the tabloids? Emily felt a twinge of sympathy for both Cory and Cady. She knew now, firsthand, what it was like to have private moments broadcast to millions of people she’d never even met.
She looked at her phone and considered texting Cory to see if he had time to finish the conversation they’d started on Monday. Before she could start a new text, a message from Shelby popped up on her screen.
Tell me you didn’t make out with Jesse. And if you did, tell me he didn’t stay the night. Emily could picture the horrified look she knew was on her best friend’s face. Shelby must have had a pretty busy day if she hadn’t seen the photo of her and Jesse until now.
Relax, she typed, then smirked at herself. Of all people, she was telling others to relax about her love life. Before sending the text, she added: That was a kiss on the cheek, photographed at a pretty creative angle.
Emily’s phone rang a moment later.
“Hey,” she answered.
“You didn’t kiss him?” Shelby demanded.
“Nope.”
“But you realize anyone who has seen that photo thinks you did.”
“Yep. Thanks for the reminder.”
“It just confirms what I’ve been saying all along. Hanging out with Jesse is bad news.”
“Cut him some slack,” Emily told her. “We were hanging out because he thought a night out would help me get my mind off of Cory. He actually does care, you know.”
Shelby snorted. “Of course he cares. He lost your attention to another guy. That makes pretty much every guy suddenly care really fast.”
“It’s not like that,” Emily protested.
“No? Then can you explain why Jesse’s gone from ghosting you in the middle of the night and then not answering your calls and texts, to only resurfacing when your dates with Cory made headline news? And now, all of a sudden, a night out he suggested becomes a tabloid scandal? It’s all pretty suspicious if you ask me.”
Emily rubbed her temples. “Shel, I can’t really deal with a lecture right now.”
“You wouldn’t need one if you’d listened to me before and kicked Jesse out of your life.”
“If I listened to you, I’d never go out with anyone,” Emily snapped. “You can’t stand Jesse and you didn’t approve of Cory.”
“And I was right about both of them, wasn’t I? Forgive me for caring about my best friend.”
Emily didn’t answer. She heard Shelby take a deep breath.
“Look,” Shelby continued. “You can listen to me about Jesse or not, but I hope you’ll think about who’s had your back all these years, and who’s had you in tears more times than I care to remember. Once you figure out who it is you want to trust, call me.”
Emily opened her mouth to speak, but realized it didn’t matter. Shelby had already hung up the phone.
Chapter Sixteen
Emily stood in Jesse’s kitchen, looking around at the clutter in every corner that had replaced the mountain of boxes she’d seen on her last visit. Black road cases were piled high against one of the walls. A stack of dishes peeked out of one side of the sink, and open bags of cookies lined the kitchen countertop, along with an empty bottle of Don Julio and five shot glasses. The scent of stale