“Can’t argue with that,” she says, and the smile in her voice puts one on my face. “I’ll be there in thirty.”
“Thanks, Bri. And if you talk to your mom—”
“Oh, trust me, I’m avoiding her like the plague. I got read the riot act at 5:00 a.m. for not keeping a leash on you last night. I don’t even know if I still have a job.”
Crap. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that going rogue for a night could put Bri’s job with Jade in jeopardy. “Oh, no. Bri, I’m so sorry. I’ll talk to Jade—”
“Van, stop. I couldn’t care less about this job. The only part of it I actually like is the excuse to hang out with you. And trust me, I’m not complaining about any part of last night.”
Tingles. Everywhere. God, is this what it’s like for Ally and Liam, or Jamal and Theresa? How do they even function? There’s a ridiculous storm of crazy happening outside, and all I want to do right now is curl up with this girl and hide away from it forever.
Which is probably another sign this is all a terrible career move.
“I’m about to get into my car, so I’ll see you in half an hour, okay?”
“Okay. And again, thank you.”
“It’s my job,” she reminds me playfully. “At least for now. See you soon.”
We hang up, and I stick my head back out to glance up at the main house. Still no sign of Josh. Which means I get to ignore all of this for just a tiny bit longer.
I run a hot bath and strip off my clothes. In half an hour, I’ll buck up and deal with the paparazzi, and Zander, and Jade, and the tabloids. But for the next thirty minutes, I have much, much better things to think about.
It takes Bri forty-five minutes to get to Josh’s, thanks to traffic, which gives me plenty of time to get anxious all over again. By the time I see her walking through the pool area, looking over her shoulder every few seconds, I know I’m screwed. That’s definitely the look of someone who’s just been accosted by the paparazzi. The fact that I’m the one who put her through that only makes me feel worse.
I jump up to let her into the guest house, and with the doors open, I can hear the paparazzi now. I quickly yank her inside and close the doors behind us. “Are you okay?” I ask, checking frantically to make sure no one’s ripped her clothing or anything like that.
“Fine,” she says with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I went through worse to bring Lana Malcolm a purse she left in a limo. But man, those guys are human vultures. Are you okay?”
“For now.” I drop onto the bed. “But then, I’ve just been hiding out here, ignoring everyone’s calls and text freakouts.” I look up at her and smile at the sight of her System of a Down T-shirt and cutoffs. I like how comfortably she dresses; it puts me at ease. “You look really cute,” I tell her, then immediately blush. It’s something I’ve said to Ally or Carly a billion times, but with Bri, everything takes on a different meaning I’m not used to.
Of course, I’ve never looked at Ally or Carly and thought about how badly I wanted to kiss them, either.
Bri blushes too. “It’s just shorts and a T-shirt. I was still in pajamas when you called, so I had to grab the first things I saw to rush out.”
“I appreciate your hurry,” I say, swinging my legs underneath my butt. “It still does not negate the cuteness.”
Her blush deepens, and I feel that same buzzing I felt last night. I love that I can make her blush. “Thanks,” she mumbles. “Though you’re one to talk.” She gestures at where I’m sitting on the bed, still wearing Josh’s pajamas. “I’m not really sure I wanna give you actual clothes. Although, if I’m being perfectly honest, I’d rather see you in my stuff than Josh Chester’s.”
I laugh at her sour face and grab for the oversize purse in her hand, but she holds it out of reach. “I get thirty more seconds to check you out in those shorts, and then you may have the clothing I brought you.”
“Bri!” I leap off the bed, but she twists away, laughing, and makes a show of looking me over as she holds the bag behind her back and dances away from my hands. We’re both cracking up as I chase her, and I’m just reaching forward to tackle her to the ground when a shadow falls over us both and I stumble over my own feet instead.
Josh is standing at the door.
I glance warily at Bri before going for the handle and letting Josh in. The expression on his face is unreadable, but there’s no way he hasn’t heard by now. He confirms as much as he drops onto the bed. “So, explain something to me, K-drama. If you and I are hooking up, why do I feel so gosh darn unsatisfied?”
“Well, I’m glad someone finds this funny.” I glare daggers at him. “This probably only makes you look better, doesn’t it?”
“Hard to make him look worse,” Bri points out.
“What are you doing in my house again, Mini-Jade?”
“She’s here to bring me clothes so I can get out of here,” I explain to Josh, reaching for the bag. This time, Bri lets go of it easily. “Who called you?”
“Who didn’t?” he says dryly. “Holly’s all psyched because apparently it hooked me in to some sort of Bad Boys of Hollywood photo spread. Liam texted me that it better be bullshit or Ally would cut my nuts off.”
“Ally knows everything. I talked to her this morning.”
Bri raises an eyebrow, and I realize she thinks “everything” means everything. A little smile plays at the corners of her lips, and my stomach twists at the thought of having to tell her that, no, I didn’t quite get to that part with Ally.
“Oh well. Would’ve been fun to see her completely lose her shit for a minute, but that’s probably for the best. Now I just need to deal with the five billion interview requests that Holly says have been blowing up her phone.”
“Isn’t Holly your agent?” asks Bri.
“Josh refuses to get a publicist,” I explain, “so Holly ends up dealing with all his annoying shit. Lucky lady.”
“Very,” Bri agrees solemly.
“If you’re looking for a job, Mini-Jade, I’m not hiring.”
“Trust me, she’s not,” I answer for her. “And what are you planning on saying in these interviews, exactly?”
He shrugs. “I dunno, that you’re like a six, seven tops? Maybe a seven-point-five when you’ve had some tequila?”
“Josh!”
“Chill, K-drama. I’ll tell them it’s bullshit, that you’re madly in love with your Bieber boyfriend, and that friends crash at my place all the time.”
I try not to wince at the “madly in love” part, especially with Bri standing right next to me. “Thanks,” I say, and I mean it. I know it takes effort on Josh’s part not to take the jerky route. “And thanks for letting me stay here again last night, even though it turned out to be the world’s worst idea and I probably should’ve seen this coming.”
“Eh, this kinda stuff always blows over. I’ve been in the tabloids a billion times for all kinds of stupid shit, and then someone else does something dumber and no one cares anymore.”
“This kinda shit always blows over for you,” I point out. “Sort of like when Liam and I ‘broke up’ and everyone was all psyched to see him return to bachelorhood while I was the sad and pathetic dump-ee? This business is a little different when you have a dick. And thanks, but it’s already hard enough for me.”
“It’s hard for you?” he says in disbelief. “You realize you’re a lead in a primetime network show, right?”
“Um, hi?” I gesture at my face. “How many Asian actors did you see on the cover of Vanity Fair’s latest Rising Young Hollywood issue? When’s the last time you saw an Asian actor carry a movie that wasn’t about martial arts? My only shot at being in a rom-com is getting thirty seconds of one of those massive ensemble things like…St. Patrick’s Day. So, yeah, it’s hard for me, and I really don’t need anything making it harder.”