Page 141 of Behind the Net

Rage drums in my blood, and my molars grit. This guy made me feel like I wasn’t enough. He broke my heart, and then he invited me to thatstupidwrap party so he could shove it in my face.Have you met Layla?He took something I created,laughedat me, and then made it his.

“All that stuff with Layla,” Zach starts, shaking his head. “It’s not working out. I made a mistake.” He shifts on his feet. “She’s not you.”

Something splinters through my rage. She’s not me—is that because she stood up to him? Did she want to be treated as an equal, instead of some groupie muse solely for his use?

I thought this moment would be sweeter than it is. I thought I’d feel vindicated, but instead, I’m sad for Layla.

I’m also really fucking angry.

My eyes narrow as I study him, watching him get more and more uncomfortable. He expected me to wilt and fold for him, no doubt.

I made a mistake, he said, but I wonder what he thinks the mistake was.

He’s not sorry for hurting me. He’s not sorry for what he did. He’s just sorry it didn’t work out the way he wanted.

“What’s going on?” Hazel’s standing ten feet away, gaze darting from Zach to me to Jamie.

“Pippa’s handling it,” Jamie tells her, and when I meet his eyes, I see that he believes it.

Jamie knows I can stick up for myself.

Hazel folds her arms over her chest and stands on my other side. She and Jamie are like two bodyguards, hovering.

“Let’s try it all again.” Zach’s words rush out, tinged in frantic desperation. “It’ll be different.” His throat works again, and he clings to my gaze.

Shit, he must really be in trouble. I do the mental math. The tour is over and his record label is likely planning the next one. And in the meantime, he’ll be recording a new album.

Oh. There it is. He doesn’t have someone to feed him ideas without wanting credit.

Too bad I’m not that girl anymore. That rage from before echoes through me.

“You took my song.” My voice is confident, and I channel Jamie’s glare. “I heard it. The song I played for you? You made it yours.”

Zach rears back, bemused. “What,that? That wasn’t a song, Pippa. That was a mess, and we cleaned it up.”

The anger pours back into my blood, and I blink at him.

He waves me off. “Artists take from each other all the time. Nothing in art is original.”

He says it in such a condescending way, like I have no idea how the music industry works. My heart pounds, and I’ve never been so pissed. All the hurt from the past few months swirls in me like a whirlpool, gathering energy. I feel like I’m about to breathe fire and torch this whole hotel.

Hazel makes a furious noise in her throat. “Finish him,” she says under her breath, like in the video games we used to play as teenagers.

Something strong courses through me, and I let it free.

“You don’t want the best for me,” I tell Zach, a wry smile twisting onto my mouth. “You want the best foryou. You always have.”

He blinks, stunned.

“We were never equals.” Even though my hands are shaking, my shoulders slide back, and that flame in my chest flickers brighter, hotter. “And we still aren’t, are we? You think you’re doing me a favor.”

He blanches before scoffing, and he’s never looked uglier than when he’s looking down at me like this, like I’m nothing. “Iamdoing you a favor.” He snorts, and it hurts. “What are you doing now? Nothing in music.”

“She recorded a demo with Ivy Matthews,” Jamie cuts in with a sharp tone.

His words hit their mark, because Zach looks stunned all over again. Ivy is his white whale, and I got her. Even if nothing comes of my demo with her, she chose me and not him.

I give Zach a sad smile. I don’t want to be mad at him anymore, because while this anger energizes me, it’s going to leave me drained. I just want to be rid of him, to move on to a better life.

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