Page 26 of Overexposed

“Are you for fucking real right now?” Seven demanded. “What about me?”

“What about you?” I said without looking away from Gem. “You’re a dick, for one, and I don’t know you, for two, and I don’t owe you shit, for three.”

“It cost me my girlfriend.”

“Buddy,” I said, sliding him a look. “Trust me when I say I did you a favor. Particularly since she’s milking the scandal for all the press she can get.”

Behind me, Olivier snorted and earned the wrath of Seven. “What? She’s not wrong.”

“Thank you,” I said over my shoulder.

“Don’t mention it,” he muttered. “Really. Just don’t.”

“Are you four quite finished?” Jerry asked into the sudden silence between us.

“No,” Olivier and Gem answered with Seven just barely echoing at the end. Currently, I didn’t like these odds. Gem was in front of me, still quite firmly between my legs, with Seven at the end of the island and Olivier right behind me.

The British manager person wasn’t going to be any help. So better to just defuse their bullshit so I could leave.

“What about last night?” Gem asked.

“What about it? I told Olivier to leave me alone and just let me go home. I told him not to bring me here.” I jerked a thumb back toward the other man. We’d already gone over this, but I’d say it as many times as necessary. “Heinsisted.”

“You had a concussion,” Gem murmured, then raised his hand toward my head. He hesitated, waiting for me to give him permission.

“Just be careful. It was hurting when I poked at it last night. But it doesn’t hurt now.”

“I will be,” Gem promised, and with gentle fingertips, he explored my scalp. The moment he grazed the bump, I winced. Definitely still sensitive. “The headache is gone?”

“Yep, sex is pretty much the best pain reliever ever.”

“Wait,” Seven said, planting his hands on the island. “What the hell did I miss?”

“A lot,” Olivier said. “Are you sure you didn’t set me up?” The question came from behind me, and I sighed as Gem held my gaze. The same question was right there.

“No, I didn’t ask my ex to slam me into my car and try to throttle me just to play coy about you bringing me back to your house where I didn’t want to go.” The wordthrottlehad Jerry whipping back to look at me, and Seven’s frown deepened. “I told Gem thank you last night and I should have said it to you as well. Thank you, Olivier, for bailing me out of that.”

“Oh, this is good,” Jerry said abruptly. “Not the pap part, but you were saving her. We can spin that.”

“Dude,” Olivier said with a groan. “Some of us are still hungover, just relax.”

“I want to believe you,” Gem said even as his brother threw up his hands.

“Are you crazy?” Seven asked. “She’s a hack looking to make a few bills off notoriety and painting the worst possible image she can of people.”

“One, I am not a hack,” I informed him because, just fuck you, Mr. Harrison. “Two, if you didn’t want the attention, you wouldn’t be out there courting the public and the studios.” With a dismissive wave of my hand, I focused on Gem again. “I wasn’t trying to use you. I still don’t want to use you. I was planning to leave before you got up.”

He grimaced. “Again?”

I shrugged. “To be fair, this…” I waved to our audience. “This is part of why I just wanted to go. I need to get my car. I have to go home.” I wanted to check on my dad. He was used to the all-nighters; he’d done more than a few himself. But if he didn’t hear from me at all, he’d worry.

“Yeah, you trying to put me on video this morning really looked innocent,” Seven snarked.

“I only did that to remind you that you don’t get to kidnap or coerce people. I don’t care what your box office receipts are. You make shitty movies.”

Oh, that comment landed. He glared at me. “Excuse me?—”

A whistle cut through the room and I winced. That was just a little loud. Too loud, really, and while my headache had gotten mostly better, the agitation and anger were not helping.

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