Page 65 of Crave

Nausea rolled in my stomach but I managed to shrug. “Another groupie,” I said calmly. “I’m sure he’ll tell me about it later.”

Max’s face made me want to howl.

Because it was filled with sympathy, not rage. Not resentment. As if he’d known what happened and felt pity that I was being stubborn.

“Okay, Landon. It’s your call. But I can tell you’re unhappy here. I booked a hotel down the road for a few days. I’m not working at Red till Friday so I’ll hang around. Have your back. Lydia told me you were having issues.”

My jaw dropped. “Wait—why is she giving you all this information? You have nothing to do with this show or me!”

“I think Lydia wants you to succeed. Everyone is still focused on that video Gabby dropped.”

“I hate that video.”

“Yeah, but it helped get you into the spotlight where you need to be.” His voice took on an urgency. “Forget Adam. This is your dream, Landon. You talked about this and worked hard to be here right now. Are you really going to throw it away for a boyfriend on his way to stardom? You gonna chase after some guy and ignore your own ambitions? What the hell? That’s not you. Not the badass I fell in love with.”

Each of his words stung and burned like swarming bees. Confusion swamped me, along with the need to talk to Adam. Between Clayton’s kiss, Brody’s challenge, and Max coming back, I was a mess. I needed to be clear headed.

The sound of everyone stumbling through the woods echoed in the air. “I can’t do this right now. I’m so tired and they’re coming back. I need to go to bed.”

“I get it. I’m sorry, Landon. About everything. I’ll come back in the morning tomorrow so we can talk.”

He gave me a smile, and began to walk the other way, hidden by the crowd.

I hurried to the cabin and locked myself in the bathroom to gain some precious privacy. Praying, I tried to dial Adam but the call never connected. Okay, tomorrow I’d go wherever I had to for WIFI and speak to Adam. He’d explain about the picture and I’d understand. I knew in my bones he wasn’t cheating on me. Still, the road ahead was rocky.

Max was right. Adam was going to be a rockstar. He’d travel for months surrounded by groupies and naked women. Eventually, would he get too drunk and cheat, like Max? Would we grow apart because our worlds were different? Would he realize our connection wasn’t as strong as he believed due to distance and endless other choices?

Could I really let him go when I found my soul-mate?

Max wasn’t giving up. Did he see something in our future I couldn’t? I’d never love him like Adam, but what if that typeof love was toxic? If I could forgive Max for cheating, and lost Adam forever, would I give Max a second try? Or would Adam own my heart forever, leaving me in tatters?

I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed for an answer. Or the strength to let the pieces fall where they may and surrender to Fate.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Adam

Listen to Believer

by Imagine Dragons

Ididn’t sleep that night.

I couldn’t get a hold of Landon, but refused to panic. The rational part of my brain told me that kiss was a set up. She’d already warned me the producer wanted a love triangle to play out like the viral video, and Clayton was one of the guys involved. I knew actresses kissed others and it was a job. So was a hot sex scene played before the camera. All of those thoughts tried to soothe my inner beast but everything I felt about Landon was too uncivilized.

Inside, I was barely holding on to my control.

I owned her. Landon was mine to touch and kiss, and knowing another guy had his mouth on hers made me roar like a wounded predator. My blood ran hot and my cells fired with the need to get my ass to that upstate camp, rip her away, and chain her to my bed until she remembered nothing except theway I made her come. Hell, in the state I was right now, I’d fuck her right in front of her castmates to stake my claim. Violence simmered to the surface. This was the part I’d never be table to tame; the part that Landon had always not only accepted, but embraced.

I had twenty-four hours before I boarded a plane. If I couldn’t make contact this morning, I’d lose my shit and go and find her.

How could I have fallen in love with Landon the same time my career was taking off? I’d dreamed of this my whole life and now it was as if I was in a constant war with myself. I kept imagining us in LA together but I was being a selfish prick. It was even worse because I knew in my gut this reality show was a mistake. Working at Red was a great opportunity for money and contacts, but Landon was beyond that, also. There was more for her—it literally seeped from her pores. She had ambition and arrogance. She had talent and grit and passion. She was a ball of fire who needed the right man to keep her flame hot, yet control her enough to release those hidden demons. Her writing was fucking incredible. She just didn’t want to believe it.

I’d read every single of her Wattpad stories. She had thousands of fans and readers begging for another installment. Hell, with her platform, Landon may be able to have an edge over all the new writers coming up with nothing. If she took all that ambition and put it into her stories, what could she accomplish?

And damned if I didn’t know she wanted it. I also know she was scared.

Because if she failed at writing, she’d be gutted. It was kind of like my song writing. It was so important and necessary, like breathing, that I’d grabbed this opportunity even if it wasn’t perfectly for me. Landon had grabbedDumpedas an alternateway of becoming famous. But it wasn’t what she really wanted. She wanted to be recognized and read for the stuff of her heart.

---