Page 27 of Not My Fault

Emily

Ican still feel Gus’s kiss on my lips all throughout rehearsal. Subconsciously, I keep running my fingers over my lips like I’ll somehow enhance what I’m feeling. I know we agreed on PDA, and we were in front of the paparazzi, but I didn’t see it coming. We were normal one moment and the next they were kissing me with all this passion and lust. We didn’t talk about it afterwards. I was too nervous to talk about it, and Gus didn’t say a word about it either. Which makes sense; it was essentially a stage kiss. Just two actors playing their respective roles.

“DID YOU SEE?!” Georgie jumps on me in bed this morning.

“No, all I see is my eyelids because I’m sleeping.” I groan, trying to push her off me.

“You and Gus made the front page, again!” She holds up my phone in front of my face and I open one eye to peek.

“Huh?” I forgot all about the kiss since I was sleeping, and Georgie was sleeping by the time I got home. But there it is, front and center.

“You guys kissed!? Is that part of the deal, because this looks real as hell.” Georgie slides off me and climbs into bed next tome. I’m not wearing any pants, but this is G, and she doesn’t care. She wants gossip.

“Yes, we kissed. We talked about it when we made the plan, that PDA to make it look real is okay,” I explain, turning over to face her. Her makeup and clothes are already on, even though we don’t have to be anywhere for a few more hours. G is a morning person, and I’m often tortured because of it.

“That’s disappointing, but I still think they’re into you.” G shrugs.

“Can I get some sleep? I do have to rehearse later today.” I groan. In some ways, I’m glad my best friend doesn’t treat me differently for being famous.

“Fine, I’ll wake you up in an hour with some breakfast. Eggs?”

“Yes please.” I nod.

G places a soft kiss on my head and hops out of my bed and back to the kitchen. I fall back asleep almost instantly. An hour or so later, I’m woken up again, this time with G placing a cup of steaming tea on my nightstand and retreating out quietly. Sitting up in bed, I pull my phone off the charger and brace myself for any messages. Viv left me a voicemail; she was thrilled to see Gus and I on the front page of every social media outlet this morning. Sure enough, the photoiseverywhere. I can’t scroll on my phone without it popping up somewhere. Even Gus sent me a text about it.

GUS: Heard we made the news, guess the kiss will be as memorable as you are

“Lu! Are you okay?” one of the backup dancers asks, and I realize I’ve been completely lost in thought for too long. I have no clue where we are in the song or what we’re up to.

“Sorry, brain fart. Remind me where we are?” I hate being unprepared. I’m trying to break the stereotype that pop stars are conceited airheads.

“First moves of‘Teach Me’,” she says with a soft smile.

“Got it, sorry guys.”

I get back into position, and I make sure to stay on task for the rest of rehearsal. I don’t even check my phone during breaks because I don’t want to get distracted again. Gus is in the forefront of my mind whether I want them there or not. The kiss replays over and over in my head. The way they kissed me left more than a lasting impression on me. I know this is all for the plot, for people to believe that we are together. We were surrounded by the paparazzi, and they had begged for us to kiss. But what confused me was how long they made it last. It would’ve been believable after a few seconds, but I started to get dizzy from the lack of oxygen.

Viv waves me over at the end of rehearsal, barely looking up from her phone. “Did you talk to your partner about theirschedule?” she asks, not hiding her disdain.

“They’ll be here for the show, and they’re free after for any interviews you need. Should I prep them in any way?”

“Nope, it’ll be the usual. How did you meet? Are you in love? Are you exclusive? Blah blah. I need to run, but you haven’t seen Ken anywhere, have you?” Viv asks, finally looking at me.

“My accounting manager? No, why?” He handles all of my financials, including paying Viv. I check the monthly statements but for the most part, I never hear from him directly.

“Just wondering. I need to have a little chat with him is all.” Viv takes off before I can ask any further questions.

“Em!” I spin around, facing Gus being walked onto the stage with security.

“This okay, Miss Ryan? We didn’t have them on any list, but we know this is your partner,” the security guard says.

“Yes, and please add Gus to the list for the future. It’s Augustus Russo for identification purposes,” I say.

“Sorry, I just wanted to stop by, I didn’t know there would be so many hoops to jump through.” Gus chuckles nervously.

I smile, looking at them, a million butterflies appearing in my stomach. Where the hell had those come from? Gus is holding a pink bouquet of flowers and a small pink bag. I don’t know what’s inside, but I have a feeling it’s for me.

“Gus! What a surprise!” Georgie appears out of backstage.

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