On the inside, though, I have more baggage than I ever anticipated.
I’m arriving home from Malibu with a broken heart.
CHAPTER 35
Chase
Olivia left. It was inevitable. It was what needed to happen. But not yet. Not until I could make sure she was safe.
And now I have a group of pissed off friends staring at me, looking for answers.
“Chase, why did Olivia get on a plane to San Francisco?” Daisy holds up her phone. “She just texted me goodbye and apologized. She said she would explain later. What did you do?” Daisy gives me her death glare. It’s the same one she gave the boy next door who called her Rags because her clothes were dirty and torn.
I want to rage at the thought of Olivia on her own without protection. I called in every favor to get a team of bodyguards to meet her plane as soon as she landed. Subtly of course.
“You two went on a date, stayed out all night, and she comes back here, packs her bags, and leaves.”
“Dude, how bad was the sex?” Sebastian asks with a yawn, wearing a black silk smoking jacket, Hugh Hefner-style.
It is 4:00 p.m., and he’s obviously just gotten up. On a normal day, I might tease him about his lounge attire, but this isn’t a normal day.
“Our little Olivia flew the coop after spending the night with you.” He slaps me on the back. “That doesn’t bode well for your technique, my friend. I know someone you can hire. She teaches tantric sex and gives an advanced class on foreplay.”
“I don’t need a sex class,” I growl. “This is serious. I know the media has died down now that they think I’m dating Cassidy. But what if the paparazzi decide Olivia’s still a story? What if the fire investigator was wrong, and the fire wasn’t started by faulty wiring? What if the fan who sent her those letters is dangerous?”
“You’re being dramatic, Chase. The tabloids don’t care about her anymore. You made sure they’re too busy chasing Chassidy. And I doubt the fire investigator is wrong. Olivia is a full-grown adult and could leave, so she left. She wasn’t kidnapped and held in a house full of celebrities,” Emma says.
“Ha!” Sebastian says. “That would make an awesome script.”
“I saw her on her way out. She looked pretty upset,” Emma says.
“What did she say?” My stomach drops.
Emma shakes her head. “Nothing. Just said she was sorry she had to go, but it was for the best.”
Sebastian slaps his hand against the counter in triumph. “I told you. Bad sex.”
“It wasn’t bad!” I snarl.
“I knew it! You had sex!” Daisy cries, pointing an accusing finger at me.
“No! We didn’t. Not that.” I cross my arms over my chest. “This is none of your business.”
“Well, you made it our business when your little bedroom antics led to my friend bolting for the airport,” Daisy retorts.
“Dude, we’re not dumb,” Sebastian says. “She had a massive crush on you. Anyone could see it. If you didn’t bang her, then what happened? Did you turn her down? Shatter her dreams?”
“I didn’t turn her down.” I close my eyes. “Well, kind of. But I was trying to protect her.”
“Did you tell her the truth? Is that why she left?” Daisy chews her lip. “Was she mad? At both of us?”
“I told her, but that’s not why she left. She didn’t understand why it could never work between us.”
“Chase, you are a first-class idiot sometimes,” Daisy says. “You have this false belief that you have to protect people from being in your life. You don’t let anyone get close. Yes, you have a fucked-up life. Fame does that. Plenty of people are fighting all kinds of obstacles but still find love.”
“Hey, I’m famous, but I’m not fucked up,” Sebastian says.
“You are so fucked up,” Emma says. “But Daisy has a point.”
“I love you, Chase,” Daisy continues. “I’m so grateful to have you as a brother. But if it weren’t for the stalker, I wouldn’t be here with you because you wouldn’t let me be. You call me. You support me. But you keep me at arm’s length. You’re so afraid of what happened that summer happening again, but it won’t. I was young and hurting. You weren’t to blame. And neither was your fame.”
Guilt twists in my gut, churning up black memories of how unresponsive she’d been. Waiting in the hospital, not knowing if she’d survive. The pain of possibly losing someone else I dared to love.