Page 65 of Stone Promises

I check my phone along the way, quickly replying to some texts from Hayden, Kyle, and Megan. I feel guilty that I haven’t been to see Megan since I returned from my weekend in New York. Megan senses something, I can tell, and I don’t want to hurt her, but seeing her would feel like I’m betraying Mallory. I can’t tell Mal. Not yet. She wouldn’t understand my having a relationship with another woman. And she especially wouldn’t understand why.

I return with two bottles of water to find Mallory perusing some of the scripts I was reading. “This one sounds interesting,” she says. “Out of the Deep.”

“It’s pretty sci-fi,” I tell her. “Different from what I’m used to doing. Paul wants me to do it to show my range of acting ability.”

“I’d think that should be pretty clear after seeingDefcon One,” she says, with a prideful smile that makes my heart grow.

“Thanks, babe.” I pull my chair next to hers and watch her page through the other scripts.

Her entire body tenses when she picks up the third one in the pile. “They want you to do aMalibu 310movie?” she asks, fear gripping the lovely features of her face.

“It’s a possibility,” I say. “But only if the entire original cast signs on.”

“That would mean you’d have to work with Heather Crawford again,” she says. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

I narrow my eyes at her.

“Kyle told me she’s the one who got you into drugs,” she says.

“Kyle said that?” I ask, angry that my little brother is telling her shit about me before I get the chance. “That little cock-sucker. What else did he say?”

“Uh, that you liked to gamble and, um . . . that you stole money from your parents.” Her gaze fixates on the patio pavers. She’s disappointed in me. And she has every right to be. I fucked up so many times in so many ways.

I nod, taking responsibility for my sheer stupidity. “You must think I’m a terrible person. I guess I was afraid to tell you.”

“Don’t be,” she says, reaching over to put her hand on mine. “You can tell me anything, Chad. I know it’s all history, but I’d rather hear it from you than find out from anyone else. And I don’t think you are a terrible person. You’ve proven to be quite the opposite.”

Words collect on the tip of my tongue, begging to come out. She’s given me an opening. I should put it all out there once and for all. Rip off the Band-Aid. She’s here in L.A. in my house. She couldn’t exactly run away. Well, not easily. I should do it now. “Mal,” I thread my fingers through hers at the very second her phone starts ringing.

She glances at it and says, “Oh, shoot, I forgot to call my dad when I arrived last night. He’ll be livid. I’ll just be a sec.” She glides her finger across the phone. “Hi, Daddy.”

I point to the house and hold up my finger so she knows I’ll only be gone a minute. I want to give her privacy. I also want to kick myself for being a damn coward, because all I feel is relief that her phone call robbed me of the perfect chance to tell her the things I know I should.

Chapter Twenty

Mallory

I throw an arm over my head after I see the entertainment news on TMZ, frustrated over being tabloid fodder for the second time since I arrived three days ago. I hop off the bed, open the bathroom door and shout, “Chad, it happened again!”

“What is it now?” he asks, peeking around the side of the glass block shower.

Wow. My eyes quickly rake over his wet body, dripping with soapy suds. He looks good enough to eat. If I weren’t so upset about the story, I might jump in with him. But I am upset, and he’s got a meeting to get to, so I don’t.

“They stood outside the gates of my school until they found someone who would talk,” I tell him.

On Saturday, the story of the mystery woman broke and my name was plastered all over the tabloids and social media. I’m glad I was out here when it happened, cocooned away with Chad in our private little world.

“Is anyone even there? It’s spring break,” he says, his voice echoing off the shower walls.

“It was one of our janitors,” I say. “He told reporters that it was my second year teaching fourth grade. And . . .”

When my voice trails off, Chad sticks his head out of the shower again. “And what, Mal?”

“And he said he can’t understand why a celebrity like you would choose such a tawdry hometown girl like me.”

“Tawdry?” he scoffs. “Did he actually call you that?”

I nod.

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