Page 37 of Certified Heartthrob

“Can we at least be friends?” she asked.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. But...we’ll see. I’ll think about it. For now, we have to get out of these. I have something you can change into.”

I walked past her to the bedroom and pulled off my drenched shirt before grabbing new shirts for us both. My jaw dropped when I returned to the living room to see her standing there with her own shirt off. She was wearing nothing but a bra, showing off that killer body of hers I was determined to be immune to.

I looked away, shielding my eyes as I blindly handed her my shirt to borrow.

“Thanks,” she said, taking it from my hand.

Before either of us could put the shirts on, the doorbell rang. Audrey clutched the t-shirt against her chest and went over to answer it, despite me telling her not to.

From the other side of the room, I watched in horror as she flung the door open to reveal Camille standing there. She was all done up, looking amazing. But the expression on her face cut into me like a knife.

“Oh, it’s you.” Audrey frowned. “We’re a little indisposed at the moment.”

Camille’s eyes darted from Audrey’s half-naked body and my shirt draped around her, to me with my shirt off.

“Yes, I can see that.” She swallowed hard, her eyes filling up with tears.

“No! No, we’re not indisposed!” I shouted, but it was too late.

“Sorry to...um, bother you,” Camille stammered, her voice cracking. She looked back up to me and added, “I guess I see now why you never made it to that press conference today. Or...or maybe this was why you actually deleted your dating profiles. Oh God, I’m so stupid.” She buried her face in her hands. “Was all of this just about getting her back? Was that all you wanted this whole time?”

Audrey’s face brightened. “Oh, I never considered that. Mark? Was that it?”

“No!” I shot back, but once again it was useless.

Camille spun around on her heels only to be met with a slew of photographers shoving cameras in her face. Audrey opened the door wider, giving them a clear view inside. I cringed, imagining the photo of Camille standing there on my doorstep, stunned and crying, with my ex and me both half-naked in the background. That it happened at all was bad enough, but the gossip and pictures wouldn’t help. A picture is worth a thousand words…

But I’d be lucky to ever get a single word out of Camille again.

She wiped her eyes and pushed through the crowd of vultures, taking off running down the sidewalk. I slid into my shirt as quickly as I could and took off after her, stopping briefly to growl at the photographers. “Don’t you dare follow us!”

19

Camille

The cold wind cut against my whole body and froze the stinging tears on my face as I bolted down the sidewalk. I could hear Mark calling out to me, but I couldn’t stop. I had never felt like such an enormous fool in my entire life...seeing him standing there like that, half-naked with her.

I felt someone grab at my arm to stop me and I knew it had to be him. I spun around on my heels and let him see the mess I was. I was too upset to try and hide how hurt I was.

“Don’t!” I screamed at him. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say!”

“Camille, please! It’s not what you—”

“Not what I think?” I laughed. “Oh, sure. Like every woman on earth hasn’t heard that same line. No wonder you were so hell-bent on proving to everyone that love is a sham! That it can only end in cheating, lies, and heartbreak! You’re living proof that it’s true. Not because you’re the victim, but because you’re the one who does the hurting!”

“No, please! I know how you’re feeling right now, but...”

“Don’t you dare pretend to know how I feel right now! Do you know how much I’ve defended you to my family? But it turns out I should have listened to them all along.”

The tears started flowing again just as I heard a camera snap and was blinded by the flash. The photographers had caught up with us yet again and were clicking away. Mark yelled and chased them off, but it was too late. As if all the gossip hadn’t been bad enough already, now one of the worst moments of my life would be plastered all over the internet.

He came back to me as soon as they had gone away, still desperate. “Can we go somewhere and talk? In private. Away from all of this.” He waved towards the vultures, still lurking nearby.

“The last time you said that to me, we ended up sleeping together,” I sobbed, full of regret. “And look where that got us! I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m not falling for it again.”

“I know what this looks like, but you have to listen to me...Audrey just showed up and then I spilled some wine and—”

---