Page 46 of The Fate Of Us

“You know, the silent treatment from you, Nate, doesn’t hurt me as much as it used to.A few minutes barely compares to years of radio silence.” I finally peel my face away from the cave of my hands, clocking her dimmed, fiery eyes and hating the twinge of guilt in my stomach seeing them so dull. “Keep this up for the rest of the shoot, by all means.” Her eyes soften. “This is far more comfortable.”

Asher’s booming laugh steals my attention away, reminding me all too well who wasto blame for all of this.“And whose fault is that, Addy?” I ask her, my eyes not budging from Asher, butwhen she stays silent, I shift my gaze to her.

I didn’t realise until now, that it was possible for anger to look so beautiful onsomeone.

Stunned was too small a word to describe her expression, and gaped wouldn’t evenbegin to cover how far her mouth hung open. The fire that lived in her eyes iced over, burning me cold, becoming an amber glacier that had the power to make me take back every bad thing I’d ever thought about her.

But building up a barrier against someone who once owned your heart does the trickwhen you get the itch to tear that barrier down brick by brick. It’s tall enough that I don’t let myself fall into those eyes. It’s thick enough that, when I get the urge to break it down, I couldn’t, even if I had help.

And that was always a good thing.

But now, watching her tear out of the booth and storm off the set, her hand flying toher face to swat away the tears I’d made fall again, I wasn’t so sure.

Chapter sixteen

Adaline

Nate’swordshavebeenringing in my ear ever since I left the lot an hour ago.Constant and deathly, like the chime of cursed church bells.

But I suppose his words always seemed to follow me when I didn’t want them to,stalking me until I finally started writing. Even then, I find myself injecting an argument between my characters that always seems to spark from whatever Nate says to me.

“I thought you would’ve been bored of playing this part by now.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

And the way he was glaring at Asher? Berating me for smiling at him?It was enough for my guilty conscience to loom behind me in my reflection, its bony fingers digging into my shoulder.

I would say I had no idea how much of a grudge he could hold… but that would be alie.

He knew I never felt that way about Asher. Sure, it was obvious to even the blindest of people that Asher wanted me like that, but it was never going to happen.

Until it did. Kind of. But what happened between us was make-believe, at least forme, anyway.

Just as I go to open my laptop, ready to distract myself from Nate and his newfoundlove for being cryptic, the buzz from my phone stops me. I slip the thing out from my jeans pocket, shuffling with excitement when I see it’s Goldie calling.

“Hey, Goldie!” I squeal, standing up from the bean bag I was becoming one with anddancing over to the floor-to-ceiling window of my office. My eyes hovered over the fierce sapphire sky, taking in how vibrant all the trees were starting to look across Central Park, as I waited for her voice.

As much as I loved New York in the fall, the springtime was easily my favourite wayto see the city blossom.

“Hey, Addy, how’ve you been?” Goldie asks, the familiar tones of her voice warmingme like the sun was.

“I’ve been… okay, I guess.” I mull, resting the phone between my shoulder and myear, picking at the lilac polish on my nails.

“Okay, spill it,” she demands.

“What?—”

“Spill. It.”

There was no point in holding anything back from Goldie. Even through the phone, shecould always tell when something was wrong, like I could with her.

I sigh and drag my eyes away from the sky. “It’s just the Forever and Always shoot.It’s draining me more than I thought it would.”

Her voice was coated with confusion. “But you’ve got Nate there, right? I thoughthaving him there like you had in Defenders would make the whole thing easier?”

Sometimes, I wonder if being honest with Goldie and telling her that Nate hates myguts would be easier than lying to her. But I can’t. Not yet. Especially not when we are due to fly to L.A. in a few weeks, where they’ll no doubt cross paths.

And I don’t have to tell Nate to pretend that we're still friends; he thinks of Goldielike a little sister. He’d do anything to keep that sense of magic floating around her head all her life if he could.

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