Page 24 of Can't Take My Eyes Off You

‘’Cause you don’t get to know everything anymore, William. Plus, it’s humiliating. They thinkI’mthe loser here.’

‘You arenota loser.’ I lean into her, kissing the top of her head. ‘Top-of-the-line security system. By the end of the week. I promise.’

‘That’ll definitely fix everything, thanks,’ she says sarcastically like she’s lost all hope.

‘Berx, look at me.’ I throw an arm over the back of the seat behind us.

Reluctantly, she glances at me. Berkley’s never been a do-as-I-say kind of girl. I love that about her. I also love that she knows despite my fucked-up way of showing it, I’d never let anyone hurt her. Maybe I’ve made all the wrong decisions lately, but my whole heart belongs to this girl.

‘Promise me you’ll tell me when you’re scared of something, alright? Call me. Text me, whatever. I will drop everything to help you.’

Her laugh isn’t jolly.

‘We both know that’s not entirely true.’ She looks away from me as she says the words, stirring her coffee with her spoon.

I have failed her in the past; I know this. Not only was doing the show a total mistake, but a few times, she’s called, and I either wasn’t near my phone, had it on silent, or was too intoxicated to help her.

‘I fucked up, baby. I know this, but I can’t go back. None of us expected the show to blow up like it did. I have to see it out now.’

‘Have to orwantto?’ she asks, our food being delivered interrupting us.

‘I’ll check back in on ya, sweetie.’ The waitress winks at me, touching my shoulder, completely ignoring Berkley, who lets out an irritated groan.

‘I love you, Berkley,’ I say into her ear. I know she’s asked me not to say those words as it’s a violation of rule number whatever, but I can’tnotsay them to her. It’s like an urge I can’t stop and technically we’re still living relapse number two. ‘Pleaselet me in a little more?’

She closes her eyes momentarily before sitting up, ignoring my request and picking up her fork.

I sigh, a little discouraged, planting my hand on her thigh again and sliding it down to her knee. A hint of a smile turns her lips as she looks my way. We don’t say anything. We don’t have to. We feel exactly the same way, and the fact that we can’t figure this out is killing us.

9

BERKLEY

Six Months Later, June 2021

PDX ROYALSFANS – CAT-FIGHT ALERT

Did you see last week’s episode,Royalsfans? We’ve finally discovered where Willy’s head is at. On his longtime girlfriend (now ex), Berkley Kaine! She’s been spotted a couple of times now as being closely related to someone on the show but looks like that relation isn’t by blood. We did some research and we know these two dated since their teen years and broke up just before Will decided to do the show. Bryce and Bianca, friends of Willy’s, have been in the background of the show since the start, but we had no idea Bianca had a fraternal twin sister who holds Willy’s heart. The woman is beautiful too, unsurprising considering Will is a stunner himself.

What we didn’t know, until recently, is that she and Felicity are not fans of one another. We don’t know the exact story, but if we had to guess, who could blame them? They’re pining after the same man! And I’m not sure Willy’s going to let Berkley go so easily even though it seems she is attempting to keep her distance from all thingsRoyals. This smells like DRAMA and we love it!

I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of her soon with the way Willy has latched on to a bottle of booze. (We previewed tonight’s episode – trust us, she’s there.) Can she help him? Or will Felicity swoop in and save the day? We don’t know, but we can’t wait to find out.

The show airs on E! every Sunday at 9:00 p.m. PST.

* * *

My phone dings with an incoming text on the counter in front of me. Will’s face flashes across the screen. I tap his text, clicking on the link he’s sent over. It takes me to a tabloid magazine website, where my face stares back at me. I knew that stupid fight would make the show.

CAT-FIGHT ALERT

Shit.

‘Liv!’ I yell her name through the shop. Longtimegirlfriend? Where the hell did they get that? If Bianca blew my cover, she will hear about it.

After a minute, Liv pops out of an aisle in her section. ‘What?’

‘There’s a photo on a tabloid site of Will and me.’ I watch the stupid show; I knew it was coming. I just didn’t think the tabloids would pick it up the way they did.

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