Page 137 of He's The Reason Why

When we know, you’ll know.

His blood ran cold.

Their conversation had been carefully edited to make what he’d said sound even worse than it had to begin with, and knowing what he did about Piper, the unedited version would have been bad enough.

He knew her well enough by now to know how secretly sensitive she was underneath all that confidence.

She’d spent her childhood feeling like a runner-up.

It was something he worried about before he offered her the lead forConnedso close to the start of filming. He hadn’t wanted her to feel like she was his backup choice.

Now here it was, her secret fear coming straight out of his mouth, loud and proud and there for the world to see, forever. Nothing on the internet ever disappeared. This video would be replayed until they were old and gray. It would be pulled out every time they did anything.

During every movie premiere. Every concert tour. Every album release.

Every time they went out, either with each other or if they moved on to other people.

It was a surgical strike, delivered with precise cuts at the exact vulnerable spot for maximum damage.

He wanted to kill Rachel for baiting him that day and then go back in time and kill himself for saying those stupid things in the first place.

Rachel stood ten feet away with the pseudo-stricken look she’d used in their last film.

She’d done this. He knew she had.

“You psychotic bitch,” he said louder than he’d intended.

Marshall put a hand on his arm. “Not here, man.”

A calculated smile lifted the corners of Rachel’s pretty mouth. She raised her chin, all but daring him to say something to her.

Blake turned his back. He didn’t give a shit about Rachel. He had to get to Piper.

He pushed Marshall out of the way.

“Piper!” Blake shouted.

Lizzie stepped in front of him, her hands out in a placating gesture. “I think you should go home, Blake. You can talk to her later.”

“No. I want to talk to hernow. This video is bullshit. Complete bullshit.”

“Is it?” Piper asked.

Lizzie shifted out of the way, and Piper stepped out from her cocoon of support.

“That’s you, isn’t it? You said…” She swallowed. “You said those things.”

“Piper, we should go,” Mattie said softly.

“The car’s waiting,” Lizzie said. “We can sort this out later.”

“No,” Piper said. “I want to sort it out now.”

“It was the first day of filming.” That sounded lame, even to his own ears. “That damn video’s been manipulated. Look at the cuts. I said more after that. I said you were the right choice.”

“But not the first choice.” Dangerous sparks flashed through her eyes. “Was I second, or was I further down? You didn’t even know me.”

He was hyperaware of all the phones raised to record everything.

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