Page 56 of Behind the Net

Pippa. Focus. I force a smile at Zach.

He’s wearing a fluorescent yellow hoodie with reflective strips, what people on construction sites wear as safety gear, and I kind of hate him for it. A few months ago, he told me he needed to start dressing to set trends, because he was a celebrity now. He’s trying to be fashionable, but it feels insincere, like he’s trying too hard.

He swallows, still staring at me in that funny way, before gesturing at my dress with appreciation. “You look amazing.”

I can’t lie, I’m pleased. This look on Zach’s face? It’s satisfying as hell.

Just like everyone downstairs, Zach turns to Jamie and balks.

“Jamie Streicher.” Jamie holds his hand out. He’s way taller than Zach, and I stifle the urge to laugh. “Pippa’s boyfriend.”

Zach’s hand freezes mid-air before he recovers and shakes Jamie’s. “Yeah, we went to the same high school,” he says, and the words are toneless.

“Right.” I nod.

When Zach looks back at me, there are knives in his gaze. He gestures behind him, and his platinum blond appears, gliding forward like she’s been summoned. “Have you met Layla?”

Jamie’s hand tightens on my waist. No, I have not fucking met her, and Zach knows that.

I hate pretending to be okay with something. I hate how everyone’s playing their little roles, including me and Jamie, and I hate that I ever felt the need to show these people up.

Zach doesn’t matter, and these people aren’t my friends. I realize that now. I knew it before, but it’s smacking me in the face tonight.

“Hi.” I smile at her and shake her hand. Her hand is so tiny, like a child’s, and I try not to roll my eyes. “Pippa.”

She nods with wide eyes. “Layla.”

The way she smiles at me, though, it’s kind and shy, and I pause. I thought she’d be this Cruella type, cackling in victory that she stole my man, but she seems young, small, and quiet. Zach takes a step forward, and her eyelashes flutter as she backs up.

Oh. Pity, or maybe empathy, rises in my stomach at the way she’s dismissed. I know how that feels.

Zach waves us over to the group. I recognize a few people from TV shows and movies, a couple guys from a band I like. Jamie takes a seat, and before I can sit beside him, he pulls me into his lap.

He’s so warm and solid, and his hands settle on my waist like they belong there. I know this is just for show, but my face heats with shyness. I think back to standing outside Jamie’s building for the first time, psyching myself up to go in. How intimidating he was at first. How handsome I thought he was—and still do. Sitting in his lap isnothow I thought this would go.

I’m not complaining, though.

Zach’s eyes snag on me sitting there, but I turn away like I don’t care.

“When you make a deal,” I tell Jamie quietly, “you really deliver.”

His gaze drops to my mouth, and I wonder how far he’ll take it tonight. Heat moves over my skin, and even though my legs, shoulders, and arms are bare tonight, I don’t feel cold.

The server brings me another drink and a water for Jamie, and he gets pulled into a conversation about hockey with the guitarist on Zach’s tour. I pretend to listen, but really, my attention is on Zach and Layla.

She sits beside him, listening to him talk to the group. He doesn’t address her once, and she wears a forced smile. No one talks to her.

I feel bad for her.

I also wonder, was that me? I think back to these parties and how I felt lucky to be there, lucky to have Zach’s attention on me. Layla glances over at me and smiles, and I feel the urge to hug her. It’d be weird if I did, I know that, but it looks like she needs one. I showed up here tonight, ready to hate her, but now I just want to drag her with me when we leave.

The guy Jamie was talking to gets up to greet someone, and Jamie’s hand slides from my waist to my hip. His gaze is on Zach.

“So that’s the kind of guy you go for.” His tone is flat and unhappy.

I watch Zach regale the group with a story. He’s thriving as the center of attention, and as he says something and everyone laughs, I catch him glancing around to gauge their reactions.

He wants them to like him so badly.

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