Page 16 of We Own the Stars

I wedge myself between Lacie and Kallista. “Youpushed her.”

Lacie’s useless entourage gasps in unison and exchanges looks. Lacie scoffs, looking around in bewilderment, like I just slapped her.

“No. I did no such thing. She fell. Isn’t that right, Kal?” Lacie looks around my side, trying to find Kallista, who Margot is trying—and failing—to dry off.

This is bad. Really bad. The drones are still swarming, people have their terminals out and filming, and here I am, standing between two feuding women, trying to figure out how to get my charge out of this situation.

“Besides,” Lacie continues, “you weren’t even here when it happened, were you?” Her dark green eyes find mine and crinkle slightly at the edges. “So … are we supposed to just take your word for it?”

The crowd murmurs, and I bristle visibly.

Lacie looks around and laughs loud enough for everyone to hear. “Did anyone see me push Kallista into the pool? Anyone? Anyone?”

No one says a word. Because that’s how this is going to play out, I suppose. The birthday girl gets to do whatever the fuck she likes in her own home, even if it almost leads to someone’s drowning.

Margot wraps her black suit jacket around Kallista’s shoulders and shoots a saccharine smile toward Lacie. “I’m sorry for the fuss, Lacie. I’m going to get Kallista home now.” And with that, she starts to lead Kallista away.

Unbelievable. Makes me miss the raging keggers from years ago. At least, at those, no one got into fights or arguments. Not many, at least, because we took out all our aggression in the water.

Lacie lifts her fingers and wiggles them in farewell. “Ta-ta,” she says in a sing-songy voice. “Thanks for coming,”

But I can’t help myself. I lean down and growl into Lacie’s round ear, “Happy fucking birthday, snake,” before turning to catch up with Margot and Kal.

A look of pure contempt twists Lacie’s face, and I smirk. Happy birthday, indeed.

11KALLISTA

The media fallout is immediate and intense. Before we get back to the hotel, Margot’s terminal screen flickers with bold-faced headlines that read,“Kallista crashes Lacie’s party: Ends up humiliating herself!”Videos of me thrashing about in the pool go viral. Before my hair is even dry, I’m watching the third video of myself jerking around in the water while people point and laugh at me.

Absolutely degrading. And what’s worse is that they’re calling me aparty crasher.

I lean forward in my seat as the car hovers at a red light. “Why are they calling me a party crasher, Margot? You said I had an invite. That Lacie wanted to bury the hatchet.” I point at the blue screen, cringing as a close-up shot of me in the pool comes into view. “That is not burying the hatchet. That’s burying me, and my career.”

Margot’s looks at me, maintaining her passive expression, then back down to the screen. Like she’s watching the evening weather report and not the most humiliating moment of my career. This is worse than the cheating allegations. So much worse; those were unsubstantiated claims. Because of the damn pap drones, no one can deny I looked like a fool at this party.

Xavian remains silent at my side, staring out the window, but the heat radiating from him is distracting enough that I shuffle away an inch on the seat. He’s still damp from his valiant pool rescue.

“You … weren’t invited, exactly.” Margot’s voice wavers, like she’s embarrassed to be caught lying to me. I know her voice isn’t cracking because she’s afraid of my reaction. She’s never been afraid of me, or my outbursts, before. “Lacie’s manager and I thought it would be a good idea for you to show up. Put those feud rumors to rest. If you were seen at her party, then it would end the fight.”

I straighten. So, this was all an elaborate set up between two managers? “There’s no way Lacie knew about this plan, that’s for sure.”

Margot winces. “Not entirely. But it was a gesture of sorts. Lacie didn’t know about it, but Vittoria noticed she’s been getting off track lately. Obsessed with you when she should be focusing on her upcoming album.”

I roll my eyes and look up at Xavian again. He still hasn’t said anything, like the good employee he is, I guess. Pushing my pride aside, I murmur, “Thank you for the save.”

He tears his gaze away from the window to glance down at me, his blond hair still stuck to his forehead. But unlike me, who looks like a washed-up rat, he looks like he’s about to do a beach photo shoot.

“Just doing my job.” He narrows his gaze on Margot. “But was anyone going to inform me that Kallista can’t swim? That’s important information I need to have.”

Margot scoffs. If there’s one thing Margot hates more than me causing her headaches, it’s being called out. “I didn’t know Kal couldn’t swim. Kallista, why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t swim?”

Right. Of course. It always comes back to me. A person on the other side of the galaxy is currently falling down the stairs, and deep down in my heart, I know I’m to blame.

“You’ve known since high school, Go. Why are you even acting like you didn’t know?” I shoot back at her, and she flinches.

“I absolutely did not know! We’ve been to hundreds of pool parties in the past year.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, and how many of those pools went deeper than three feet? You ever notice how I stand in the water up to my waist?”

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