Page 135 of He's The Reason Why

“Something wrong?” Mattie asked. Little frown lines etched her forehead.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Blake reassured her.

“Blake!” A tall man with a loud, deep voice shouted. He stood near a break in the fence. He had a pinched face and receding hairline and a serious-looking camera pointed right at them. “Why wasn’t Piper your first choice for the romantic lead? Jessica Bullock had the role first, right? Piper, how does it feel to be sloppy seconds?”

Mattie’s sucked in a breath.

Piper stilled.

“They’re just trying to stir up trouble,” Blake said. “Let’s get away from the fence. They’ll move on to an easier target.”

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

Piper hesitated, then shook her head. “Not yet. I want y’all to enjoy the rest of the party. If we leave, the assholes win, and I’m not letting that happen. Not tonight.”

Mattie looked doubtfully at her sister. “There’s another party at the studio, right? There won’t be reporters there.”

“That’s not a bad idea. We don’t need to stay here,” Blake said. The party no longer felt like the celebration it was supposed to be, and most of the cast had already gone. He didn’t see Gina or Jeremy anywhere, and he knew Tamar and Paul had left earlier. “A lot of people have moved on already.”

Piper glanced around. “Okay, maybe you’re right. Where’s Lizzie?”

“I’ll find her,” Mattie said. “We’ll call for the car.”

Mattie melted into the crowd.

“Let’s move,” Blake suggested.

The bulk of the paparazzi were stationed at the front because that’s where the limos were parked. It gave them a clear shot at whoever was coming or going, and from what he could tell, they’d be getting desperate for money shots by now.

They turned toward the cave of treasures to avoid attracting attention until the car arrived, and they had almost reached it when someone wedged themselves into the gap between the makeshift fence and the building. They held out a phone and shouted, “Piper, what do you say to the rumor that you’ve been screwing your way to the top?”

Blake reflexively made a fist. “Fuck off, asshole.”

Security guards moved in to block the jerk from view.

Piper fidgeted with her glass. “I expected some of this, but…”

“Hey, everybody, check outBuzz,” someone else shouted. “They posted a video of Blake.”

Blake froze. A horrible sense of doom crept into his stomach.

BuzzHollywoodwas one of the worst gossip websites, filled with lies and twisted rumors that could take down even the strongest of careers depending on what dirt the magazine had managed to scrape out of the sewers.

“What video?” Piper asked through clenched teeth.

“I don’t know.”

He saw Rachel near the backdrop. She had the calculating, ruthless expression she got whenever she watched bad things happen to someone else, usually because she’d been the one to stir the pot.

The things he’d said to Rachel the last time he saw her had been a slap in the face.

It had been weeks, but Rachel knew how to play a long game.

She’d been acting funny all day. She was up to something, and he had a feeling he was about to find out what.

Piper opened the small bag she carried and pulled out her phone.

“What are you doing?” he said under his breath. He kept his head tilted down and his glass raised to cover his mouth.

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