TAMING HOLLYWOOD'S BADDEST BO- Max Monroe Page 0,72

said was amazing?” she asks, a teasing tone still evident in her voice.

I shake my head, trying to soften the blow of my words with a conciliatory tone of voice. Still, my answer leaves no room for argument. “Nope. Not even for that.”

Instantly, her face falls and the playful mood takes a nose dive. She opens her mouth to say something, but she quickly shuts it and moves her eyes to her plate, sliding the fork through her eggs without any intention of eating them.

Impending doom settles into my belly, and I know, I just fucking know, the subject of me going to LA has only just begun with her. Billie Harris doesn’t know the limits of normal people. She doesn’t see hard lines and concise answers. She sees a jumping-off point. And like it or not, I’m going to have to run myself raggedly through the mud to get my point across.

Unbidden, inklings of anger start to flood my veins.

God, I hate that she’s going to push me on this.

I said no, and with everything I’ve told her, if she cared about me, she’d understand that enough is enough.

She knows why I left, what I felt like I lost—she should know this is a sore spot for me.

“But…” She pauses, and I meet her eyes.

What else is there to say at this point?

Doesn’t she fucking get that Hollywood stole my family from me? Doesn’t she get that it almost ruined me?

“But, what?” I ask her. “But what, Billie?”

She stares down at her plate and slides her eggs around with her fork again. “I don’t know, I just thought maybe you’d at least fly to LA to take a meeting with Serena. I mean, you told me you loved acting. You told me you loved the screenplay. Even Lou thought you should look into it all more.” Her voice goes quiet. “I guess I just thought you’d at least do that.”

“That I’d at least do that?”

“Yes.”

Even after everything I’ve told her, things I’ve never fucking told anyone, she really, truly doesn’t get it. Or maybe, she doesn’t care to get it.

Maybe she’s like everyone else. Maybe she doesn’t want me at all—maybe she just wants what I can do for her and her fucking Hollywood career.

Hell, the only reason she came to Alaska in the first place was because she lied to her boss.

Maybe this has all been a lie. All the quiet laughs and soft touches and heartfelt conversations—maybe it’s all just a load of shit designed to get me right where she wants me.

Maybe Billie Harris doesn’t want me at all.

Billie

Can you hate someone’s guts and still love the rest of them? Asking for a friend.

At least, I wish I were asking for a friend. In reality, I’m asking for me.

What is he so afraid of?

I understand that LA—Hollywood—wasn’t good to him, and I understand why he had to leave.

But that was eight years ago.

He’s had space. He’s grown. He’s found himself.

Isn’t it time for him to start living his life again? To trust himself enough not to fall into the same old traps?

Because, fuck, sitting out here in some cabin in the middle of nowhere with his closest friend miles away isn’t a fucking life. He’s just avoiding everything and everyone.

“I’m not asking you to say you’ll do the movie, Luca,” I say quietly, my eyes still fixated on my plate. “I’m just asking you to come to LA for a few days to hear more about the project and Serena’s vision. This part is perfect for—”

He slams his fist down onto the table, and my body jumps. I look up to meet his eyes, and I hate what I see there.

His entire body is vibrating with irritation. With anger. “Goddammit! I’m not doing the fucking movie!” he shouts at the top of his lungs. “Don’t you understand? Don’t you get it? I don’t want to do it! We might’ve fucked a few times, but that doesn’t equate to me letting you use me as some kind of pawn in your fucking Hollywood career games.”

His words have claws, and they dig their way into my chest until I bleed.

Fucked a few times.

As if what happened between us didn’t mean anything. As if I don’t mean anything. As if I’m the same as all the women the old Hollywood Luca went through.

God, that hurts so fucking bad.

Maybe he hasn’t changed at all.

Even though he thinks he’s grown and changed and become a better, more grounded person, maybe he’s