Page 68 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

She sat down on the couch and dropped her gaze to the floor. “Nothing.”

“You know you can’t bullshit me, so you may as well just tell me,” I said, calling her out. Mom and Dad had always insisted on us having an open and honest relationship. Mostly because of the career I’d chosen and the crap that went down with it, so I knew I could get her to talk.

She sighed and chewed on the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know. Paul’s just been weird lately. Like he’s keeping a secret from me or something.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Explain.”

“I don’t know,” she said, irritation rising. “It’s probably nothing. It’s just a feeling, really. Like sometimes it seems like he gets off the phone as soon as I walk into the room. Like he’s hiding something.”

I let my mind run over possible explanations. “It’s your birthday next month. Have you thought of the possibility that he could be organizing something for that?”

She stared at me, her eyes sparking with thought. “I hadn’t considered that. I guess it’s a possibility.”

“So is him cheating, Carls. I just don’t want you to jump straight to the negative. Sometimes, it’s good to just come right out and tell him you’ve been noticing things and you’re worried.”

“I know, but what if he is cheating, Josh? I don’t know what I’d do. What about Liam?”

Moving over to sit beside her, I pulle

d her into a hug. “Life if full of what-ifs, Carls. If you worried about all of them, you’d be a constant bundle of nerves. Like I said, talk to him. Tell him how you’re feeling. Ask him questions. And whatever the answer is, you deal with it then.”

She sighed. “Obvious isn’t always that easy, Josh, but okay. I’ll talk to him.”

I smiled and kissed her on the forehead. “Atta girl.”

She gave me a shove and smiled her normal shit-stirring grin. “So, what’s really going on with Hannah?” she asked.

I scowled. “Nothing is really going on with Hannah. We went on one fucking date. And it was mostly for work.”

“Oh, that’s funny.” She giggled. “I love the stories they make up. They have the best imaginations. You better make sure whoever you really date has a good sense of humor and a large amount of trust.”

My mind immediately went to Liv. This was one of the biggest reasons why I would never drag her into my world. Even though the crap they made up about me wasn’t anywhere near as bad as what Lucas got, it was still enough to hurt someone as sweet as Liv.

“Okay, who is she?”

I looked up to see Carly watching me with a curious tilt to her head. “Who’s who?

She smirked. “The girl you were thinking about just now.”

I paused. My intention was to never talk to anyone about Liv. For a couple of reasons. The first being the fact that I really needed to stop thinking about her, and the second being that I didn’t want anyone getting wind of her being involved with me. For obvious reasons. But just as Carly had spilled to me, I owed her the same.

Drawing in a deep breath, I met her gaze. “I met someone.”

Her eyes sparked, her gaze instantly serious. “Really? Who? Do I know her?”

I shook my head. “She’s not an actress. Actually, she’s not in the entertainment industry at all.” I watched the questions swim through her eyes. “And, no, she doesn’t want to be either.”

“Then who is she? Where did you meet?”

Leaning forward, I rested my forearms on my knees and pressed my fingers together. “She was staying in the house next to mine. Her name is Olivia, and she’s nineteen,” I said, not liking the way my gut ached when I talked about her. “She had no idea who I was, Carls. She’d been living over in Africa for the last six years.”

Her eyes widened a little. “Whoa.”

“I know. It was surreal.” I gazed out the window and allowed myself to let my mind run free. “It was so good to just be me again. You know what I mean?”

She gave me a sad little smile. “Yeah. I do.”

“What do you know?” Mom asked, carrying a tray of food in with her.

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