Page 61 of Delicate Storm

“She’s hot, right?” The guy working the store cuts into my thoughts, unwelcome. “You know, I think she lives near here. I swear I’ve seen her around. Although I’ve been staring at that cover for so long that maybe I’m imagining it.”

“What?” I snap. “Are you talking to me?”

“Who else would I be… Wait…you look familiar.”

I still, and the tension already coursing through me thickens.

“You’re that actor, right?” He snaps his fingers and I almost sigh in relief.

“That’s me. And I’m not in the mood. I’ll take this one.” I hold up the sports magazine still in my hand, and the guy fucking laughs.

“Yeah, okay.” He rolls his eyes and lifts Paige’s magazine off the stand. “Here, I know you want this one too. I’ll put it in a bag so your girlfriend doesn’t see it.” He puts on a voice and I almost deck him.What the fuck?

“I want what I goddamn asked for. Nothing else.”

“Jesus. Okay.” He takes Paige’s magazine out of the bag and grabs the cash from my hand, mumbling to himself about asshole actors.

And I instantly regret my outburst.

I want that magazine.

No, Ineedit.

But at the same time, I need to chill and walk away.

So what if it’s her. She can do whatever she likes. Paige isnotmy business.

At all.

So why do I care?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Paige

I’ve been staring at my notes for so long it’s beginning to look like foreign handwriting, but for some reason nothing is standing out. I initially dove headfirst into this event like I would for any other. But at around three a.m., my brain decided to remind me of one tiny little difference—my dad is relying on this event to help save the team’s image.

What the hell kind of pressure is that?

He didn’t even make a big deal out of that piece of information, and yet, my mind has turned it into a goliath of an issue. Yes, he only meant it in the form of the team needing some positive exposure, but that’s still something I can fuck up.

It wouldn’t be the first time my name has been thrown around negatively.

Hell, I’m going through that right now, only no one’s discovered that it’s me the stories are referring to.

But it sure as hell pisses me off.

In the past two days, I’ve seen three separate gossip sites reporting on the alleged leaked letters about a New Yorksocialite. The letters are written as though they’ve come straight from a teenager's diary, which is leading the said sites to assume it’s someone younger than me. À laGossip Girlstyle. But my guess is that someone paid someone much younger to write them, like someone’s much younger dog walker that’s been trying to get noticed by that someone for years.

That someone being Christian’s mom.

The latest…

Gossip Central has your exclusive look at the newest mystery letter from New York’s high society.“Dressed as a Succubus, she set her sights on a wealthy pirate and his superhero friend before sucking them both into her web. They disappeared for hours and when they returned, a young fairy was crying over her boyfriend’s seduction. She’s what people call a man-eater, and she’s not to be trusted.”

Keep reading for more.

A man-eater. A succubus that sucks men into her web? I mean, what the hell? It was a freaking costume party.

---