Page 86 of When Stars Fall

“Ellie,” I murmur. For the first time in years, her name on my lips as I wake up is a comfort. I reach out an arm to secure her warmth against me again. Instead, I’m met with a cold mattress. With a frown, I rub the heels of my hands into my eyes and sit up.

“Ellie?” I squint into the semi-light sneaking through the curtain. She must be here somewhere. Please, let her be somewhere. Anywhere but gone.

The curtains to the balcony are still shut, so I check the bathroom first and freeze. “Shit!”

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

My shorts are on the floor, and I fish out my phone from the pocket. No messages from her. I hit redial on Calshae’s number and rub my forehead.This is not good. You fucked up, Wyatt.

“Need a ride?” The buzz of the hotel in the background almost drowns out her voice.

“Yes.” I yank out clothes from my packed bag and tug them on while keeping the phone to my ear. “To Ellie’s.”

“Wyatt, you’ll miss your flight if I take you to Ellie’s. What happened?”

I check the clock on the bedside table and realize she’s right. I’ll be lucky if I make my flight as it is. Being with Ellie last night made me forget anything else existed. I didn’t set an alarm. Tanvi won’t ever agree to watch Jamal again if I don’t show.

“Fuck.” I grab the tips of my hair. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

With my dirty clothes from the floor tucked into my bag, I practice deep breathing. I sweep the room for anything I might have left behind and try to keep a level head.

Maybe it’s not that bad. Maybe she’ll be reasonable.

A piece of paper is propped against the bottles in the bathroom. In giant letters, she’s scrawled:How could you? What else have you lied about?

Reasonable is out the window.

Each bottle represents my weakness, and I throw them at the shower wall. A few are glass and shatter on impact. The sharp sound is satisfying, but the tang of alcohol fills the room again, reminding me I’m an idiot.

A fucking mess. I drag my hands down my face. Tommy, my manager, has probably been earning his money this week. I scroll through my recent calls.

“I need the name of whatever family lawyer you turned up,” I say as soon as he answers.

“Hello to you too, Wyatt. Why would you want that? Your little family promotion parade yesterday was gold. TMZ has taken the bait. They’re running with their version of reality. You, Ellie, Haven—a secret family for years, everyone was duped.”

“I fucked up.” I sink into the desk chair. My leg bounces. I need a run. Or to go box. Something physical. The flight home will kill my nerves.

Silence greets me on the other end of the line. “What’d you do?”

“I was drinking,” I admit. Even saying the truth out loud is a betrayal. So stupid. I was so close to getting everything I wanted. “There’s no way in hell Ellie’s going to let me near Haven now.”

“Who knows?” Tommy is in damage-control mode. He’s scrambling for a pen and paper, I’m sure.

“No one. The hotel owner’s daughter, who is also Ellie’s friend, thinks I poured them down the drain. I had myself half convinced I did.”

“Hmm . . .” Tommy taps the pen on the table. “She believed you?”

“Yeah, I think so.”I hope so.

“Bluff. Have her confirm to Ellie you weren’t drinking, that you poured them down the drain. Come back at her hard, full of confidence.”

“With what?” Adding more lies to the mix seems like a bad idea, but if I’m honest, I’ll take any chance I have with Ellie and with Haven. She won’t believe I can control this, that alcohol doesn’t spiral into drug use.

“You and Ellie have been getting along?”

If this morning hadn’t happened, I would have said we’d been getting alongverywell. Even before last night, there’d been an ease between us, as though we both remembered how good it could be if we let ourselves go there. That ease will be gone now. I lean forward in the chair, resting my elbow on my knee, letting my head fall into my hand.

“They’re still after a costar for your next movie.”

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