Page 134 of He's The Reason Why

“I can’t believe how well it all came together. The animators did a fantastic job,” Piper said with satisfaction. “This has been such a thrill. I want to do ten more just like it.”

“You’ll get to pick and choose the projects you want now. I bet your manager calls you with five offers tomorrow.”

“Would it be wrong to say yes to all of them?” Piper’s face sparkled.

“Blake, did you see the blog post?” a voice asked from somewhere beyond the fence separating partygoers from the public.

It sounded like the gossip rags were growing desperate for crumbs.

He squeezed Piper’s hand. “Want to get out of here? I can think of a better way to celebrate than standing on asphalt.”

“Hell no.” She pulled him toward one of the bars. “I want to soak up every last minute of this day first.Thenwe can get naked.”

He ordered two glasses of champagne and handed one to her.

He held his own aloft. “Here’s to many more adventures, both animated and live-action.”

She smiled. “Cheers to that.”

They clinked glasses.

Della and Mattie crashed into Piper, squealing with sisterly enthusiasm.

“You were fantastic!” Della gushed. “This was the best movie I’ve ever seen. It was so much fun!”

“Thanks,” Piper said with a laugh. “It turned out pretty cool.”

“I loved that duet, Piper. You really projected the love,”Mattie said. “Blake, your voice is enough to make any woman swoon. You really should sing more.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll stick to acting and leave the singing to you three,” Blake said.

“Where’s Marshall?” Della asked. “I need a selfie with him by the pile of dragon treasure. Still can’t believe I met Marshall freaking Weston.”

Blake pointed in Marshall’s direction, and Della gave Piper a quick kiss on the cheek before bopping away to corner her target.

As far as Blake could tell, Marshall was a willing participant in the selfie brigade. His friend gave Della a charming, you-can’t-resist-me smile and walked arm in arm with her toward the photo backdrop.

The Bellamy sisters couldn’t be more different. Mattie was the dreamy one, Della was the larger-than-life one, Lizzie was the steady presence that kept the others centered, and Piper was the drive that kept them all moving forward. Her passion inspired him. She made him want to try harder and do better and achieve more.

“Marshall!” someone shouted. The voice carried over the hundreds of other chattering voices.

Blake looked up and saw that his friend did too.

“Did you agree with casting Piper as the lead?” The question came from a man whose head barely reached above the fence. He had a small camera pointed in Marshall’s direction.

Marshall hesitated for a beat, then put his arm around Della’s shoulders and walked away without answering.

Trickles of unease made the hair on the back of Blake’s neck itch.

Why were they asking aboutConned? Today was aboutScorched.

He checked to see if Piper had heard it, but she was busy talking with Mattie.

“Blake, care to comment on the video?” A blonde in teetering heels near the wall asked. She looked familiar. She was with one of the seedier gossip sites, he just couldn’t remember which one.

Piper glanced at him. “What video?”

“Not sure.” He gave the woman a dirty look and glanced away.

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