Page 39 of Ever With Me

Why indeed? He’d wondered so many times.

He reached into the paper bag and pulled out a foil-wrapped sandwich that smelled heavenly. The chef made beef bourguignon for dinner, and while it was delicious, Brooks spent so much time trying to convince Audrey to eat her food that his own plate had gone cold while he played airplane with her fork.

“Dating in Hollywood or as a celebrity is hard. My manager thought it would look good for me to find someone to settle down with, so he set me up with a celebrity matchmaker. She paired me with a few different women and eventually Paulette.”

Evidently curious, Maddie came back over and sat. “There are celebrity matchmakers?”

He chuckled. “Sure are. And they make a small fortune for their lovely service.” He took a bite, nearly groaning.God, this is good.Maybe he had been hungrier than he thought.

“Anyway, Paulette really wanted things to work. She’d just broken up with a movie star who had cheated on her, and she wanted him to see how happily she’d moved on. She leaked our ‘relationship’ to every outlet she knew. When I realized things between us were going nowhere fast, I told her I was done, and she was infuriated. She didn’t want to be broken up with publicly again after what she’d gone through, so she asked me if she could tell the media that she’d dumped me. I just didn’t know she’d get so carried away with her story.”

Maddie stared at him, unblinking. “Wait. So let me get this straight. Youlether tell the press that you’d slapped her?”

He took another bite, thinking about his answer. “I didn’t like it. Actually, I hated it. I asked her to change her story, but she refused. Anyway, the damage was done. I just never spoke to her again.”

He’d also only told a handful of people the truth about it. Most people just assumed it was true, and his casual friends didn’t ask.Moments like those are when I’ve felt the loneliest. What sort of creep do those so-called friends think I am?

“That’s . . . terrible. Like super shitty of her to do.” Maddie leaned closer to the firepit. “Why did you let her get away with something that damaged your reputation so much?”

“People look at me and see what they want to see.” Brooks shrugged. “Apparently, I look like an abusive ass who’d hit a woman. No one really seemed to think it was out of character for me.”

“I doubt that. You have to have dated women who could speak up in your defense.”

“Like I said, dating as a celebrity is hard.” He dug around the container for some fries. “Sure, I could hook up with women after every concert if I wanted—and believe me, I did my fair share of that when I was young and stupid. But those weren’t relationships. They were one-night stands.”

“What about before then? Don’t you have a high school or college sweetheart who could sing your praises?”

The hoot of an owl from the woods beside them made him look away, his gaze piercing the dark. He didn’t need to tell her what his life had been like back then, but he was in a sharing mood for some reason. “I didn’t have time to date in high school or college. My mom died in a car accident when I was eighteen. Kayla was only eleven, so I became her guardian.”

Her eyes widened. “I’m sor?—”

“Don’t be. Everyone always says that, but it’s sort of meaningless.” That phrase had always bothered him.“Sorry for your loss.” No, you’re not. You just want to fill the awkward silence.“The point is, I don’t think anyone will step forward as a character witness anytime soon. Anyway, people have spread worse lies about me.”

She stared him down, then scooted her chair closer, plucked a fry out of the container, and ate it. “You’re crazy. If someone had said something like that about me, I would have been shouting from the mountains about what a liar they were.”

“So you believe me?” He raised a brow. She’d been surprisingly easy to convince.

She took another fry. “I guess I do.”

“That’s not too persuasive.”And why does it make me nervous that she might not?

“I mean, I do.” She chewed slowly. “I don’t know why.” She was quiet, then picked up the bag. “Didn’t they give you any ketchup?” The lid to a small container of ketchup popped, then she plopped it on the arm of his chair.

“I didn’t know we were sharing food now.”

“You have no idea how many fries I already stole out of that bag on my drive over here.”

He threw back his head with a laugh. “Why can I picture you doing that?”

She smiled mischievously. “At least I’m honest with you. We’ll both go to hell lying to everyone else, but you and me? We’re in it together now.”

“Trust me, you don’t want to be seen in public having anything to do with me. Everyone you know—and don’t know—will assume the worst.” He handed her another fry.

“God, you’re negative. Do you only see the awfulness in people?”

“No. There are a couple of people I like.”

She rolled her eyes. “Your sister and niece don’t count.”

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