I can’t do this.
The bathroom door opens. I never locked it. Didn’t think I’d need privacy.
Gage steps inside, takes one look at my face and my phone, and strides forward.
I take a step back.
He stops, mid-step. “Leah. Let’s talk about this.”
Tears fill my eyes. I blink them away, but one escapes. I wipe it angrily with the back of my hand. “I have to go.”
“At least let me give you a ride somewhere so you don’t have to talk to the paparazzi?—”
“I’ll call for a ride.” I wave my phone with its five percent battery remaining.
“Leah. Baby girl. You said you wouldn’t run.”
He’s right. I did say that. But I can’t stay here, I can’t do this. Whether or not he’s really with Nicola, whether or not I’m the side chick—it would never last, anyway. A celebrity? And me?
I can still hear Nicola’s voice.I don’t get it, either. She’s a nobody.
I shake my head, throw my bag over my shoulder.
“Leah, wait?—”
He doesn’t stop me when I hurry past him and out the bathroom door.
I pause in the hall, but I don’t look back. “I’m sorry.”
* * *