Alec
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Nat asked, feeling my
forehead
for the fiftieth time that afternoon.
I hadn’t been able to bring myself to eat, so I told her I thought I was possibly
coming down with something.
Just more lies on top of more lies on top of more lies. Damn.
We
had
spent our free hours watching movies in the
room
. I didn’t have to pretend to keep throwing up. Each time she asked me if I was okay
I felt sicker. And then she started giving me a massage to
feel better, which only
made it worse. I finally resorted to pretending to sleep the last hour so I coul
d push away the crappy feeling.
I
had
woke
n
up to Demetri’s text and felt even more like a failure. Could I do nothing rig
ht these days?
I nodded and continued the short drive to the new restaurant opening just outside
Seaside. “It’s probably just stress.”
Nat’s eyes narrowed
. “
Alec, no offense, but you’ve dealt with way more stress than a stupid TV show before.”
“Right.” I swallowed the dryness in my throat
. “
But I didn’t have you. And I can’t—
”
My voice cracked. I cleared my throat. “I can’t lose you.”
And that was the God
-
honest truth. The crux of the matter. I was so afraid that if I lost her, I’d lose
me.
Wow, didn’t realize I was that incredibly selfish.
“You won’t.” She rolled her eyes
. “
Geez, you’re almost as emotional as Demetri these days.”
“Ha
ha
.”
Shit. Even my laugh was fake.
Cameras flashed as we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. Nat was used
to this part by now. Jump out of the car, make nice with the mean photographers, s
mile, wave, and say
no comment
.
I jumped out with her and put a protective arm around her shoulders as I led her quickly
into the restaurant.
“Alec! Alec! Are rumors of your split true? Are you hooking up with Angelica Greene?”
My jaw clenched. Nat just laughed, she knew how much I hated Angelica
.
S
he just didn’
t know how deep that hate went.
“Why hook up with Angelica when I have this?” I pulled Nat as close to me as possible
and kissed her head.
She looked up at me adoringly and smil
ed.
The restaurant was decked out in true Seaside fashion. Huge bay windows lined one
half of the restaurant. A bar sat in the middle wi
th hanging glass and seashells.
The lights flickered everywhere giving it a glittery feeling. People were around smiling
for the cameras and drinking champagne.
“Alec,
Nat
, over here!” A camera flashed just as I reached Demetri and pulled him into a hug.
“I’m going to use the bathroom
,
” Nat whispered in my ear
. “
I’ll be back.”
I nodded and watched the sway of her hips
as she walked away.
Suddenly a demon in the shape of a
ridiculously
dressed stripper stood in front
of
me. “She’s nice. Too bad you’re going to break her heart.”
I scowled and grabbed a glass of champagne
. “
What the hell do you want
,
Angelica?”
Weaving through the crowds, I waited until we reached the bay windows bef
ore turning and glaring at her.
Angelica downed her glass as I finished mine. She reached for two new glasses and
handed me one. I took it begrudgingly and waited. “Well?”
“Come on, Alec. Be reasonable.” Her hand moved to my cheek as her fingers touched
my lips. I tried to jerk away
,
but it was like I was frozen in terror. “She doesn’t belong in this world.
Our
world.”
I smirked
. “
Neither do prostitutes, yet here you are.”
“Funny. Sounds like you’ve been hanging ou
t with Demetri too much
.
Y
our
jokes are just as bad as his.”
“Are we done?” My eyes began scanning the room for Nat.
“Never.” Angelica snapped gaining my attention once again. “We won’t be done
.
N
ot now, not until I say we’re done
.
A
nd you and I have some business to deal with, don’t we?”
“I wouldn’t sleep with you then, what makes you think I’m going to sleep with you
now? What makes you think I’m going to thro
w my entire life out the window?
You want money? I’ll give you money. You want people to love you? Fine. I’ll help
make you loveable. But that’s it. Why can’t you just drop it? What do you have to
gain by ruining my life?”
Angelica shrugged. Her glossy black hair may as well have been Medusa’s snakes
.
T
he woman was pure evil. “Never scorn a woman, Alec. That’s your first lesson.”
“And my second?”
She leaned in. Her body nearly touching mine as her lips grazed my ear
. “
You should be more careful
whose
hotel room you go into…
as well as who may see you leave it.”
I swear I almost broke the champagne flute as I clenched my fists and told myself
it wasn’t right to hit a chick
,
even though I had my doubts about Angelica. She was possessed. It was the only explanation.
“Remember the timeline, Alec. You’ve got until the end of filming until I break my
silence.
Especially considering you’ve turned down the last offer
.
N
ot that it would have worked anyway.
”
I swore and drank the rest of my champagne. The party went on around me
,
but everything seemed hollow
—
dead.
“You know I can’t say a damn thing.” I licked my lips
. “
I promised her I’d protect her. I gave her my word that if the media caught wind,
I’d keep my silence
and let it play out
.
If I tell the truth then it will ruin her, it will ruin him, I can’t do that.
”
“That’s too bad.” Angelica’s bottom lip went into a pout
. “
Because when I go with my story, you better believe it’s going to look bad. Alec Daniels,
golden boy no more. Tsk, Tsk, your own brother won’t want to be within ten states
of you. You know,
since you royally screwed him
.”
“So that’s it?” I sm
irked
. “
You just ruin my life?”
Angelica’s eyes turned dark
. “
Yes. Just like you ruined mine.”
“You can’t blame me for your mistakes
,
” I countered.
“If it wasn’t for you
,
I wouldn’t have stumbled into that hallway. I wouldn’t have been caught—
”
She poked me in the chest
. “
I wouldn’t have been locked out of my room. I wouldn’t have passed out in the damn
hallway, and I wouldn’t have missed the morning flight for the biggest movie role
of my life. They fired me
,
Alec.
Fired me
. It was the last straw, according to producers. So yeah. I do blame you. You ruined
me, all because you said no. And now I’m going to give you hell until it’s fixed.”
“Three million.” I almost choked on the words as they flew out of my mouth
. “
Invest in a better publicist, get the right wardrobe, and I’ll get you on the phone
with the best casting agent in L
.
A. You’ll be filming by the end of the month.”
“Tempting.” Angelica winked
. “
But I like my way better. After all, he’s promised me the lead in the next three movies
regardless of what happens. You go to the media and he’s happy
.
E
veryone knows what a whore his wife was, and he
gets his production company back because she cheated
. I go to the media and the
story’s
the same. So basically…” She tapped her long fingernails against her chin
. “
Yeah, basically I win. Have a good night, Alec.”
I grabbed her arm
. “
You’d sell your soul for the lead in a movie? You’d ruin countless lives
—
for your career?”
“I’d kill for my career.” Angelica jerked her arm free
. “
Let’s hope it doesn’
t come to that though.”
“You’ve lost your damn mind.”
“Oh
,
but Alec
…
”
She sneered
. “
At least I’m pretty and
my fans like me
. At least they’ll like me more once they know the truth…
in a few weeks
,
you’re going to be knocking down my door for a favor.”
Demetri
“Why’s the devil talking to Alec?” Nat asked as she leaned against my shoulder. We’d
both been watching the tense exch
ange for the past five minutes.
“Beats me.” I wrapped my arm around her and sighe
d
. “
But I’ve got a theory, want to
hear it?”
“Always.” She grinned, a waiter passed. I grabbed a bottled water and handed her
a glass of
champagne
,
knowing it was one of her favorite things in the world. Alec was seriously spoiling
the girl. She probably had
no idea how much Cristal cost.
She hesitated at first then took a small sip. “So the theory?”
“Ah
,
yes.” I took a swig of water
. “
It’s quite simple. She’s the A
nti-
Christ
.”
Nat sighed
. “
So many things ma
k
e sense
now
. Wow, you’re brilliant.”
“I know.”
Angelica leaned into Alec, he didn’t move a muscle but his hand was flexed so tight
around his champagne glass I was surprised it didn’t expl
ode into a million tiny pieces.
A few minutes later she was walking
toward
us. “May-day.” I looked to Nat for help. “Abandon ship, abandon ship.” Seriously why
weren’t my feet moving? See
?
J
ust like I said
.
T
heory proved. Anti-Christ.
Nat patted me on the back and made a bee-line for Alec. Little traitor. “You’ll pay
for your sins!” I yelled after her as cameras went off. Great. Now the papers were
going to say I found rel
igion and was preaching to Nat.
Sigh.
“What brings you over to my side of the room?” I asked once Angelica regained her
seat where the rest of the c
rew was sitting
.
“Bored with my brother and me so soon? Moving on to Jaymeson for real now? Let me
see if I can grab him. Hold on
…
” I whistled and yelled Jaymeson
’
s name.
Girls were draped all over him. Geez, hope the guy at least knew their names. “What?
I’m busy!” He smirked as a girl kissed his neck.
I missed Alyssa.
“Looks like it’s just you and me
,
” Angelica said in
a
sing-
song voice that made me want to run headfirst
through
the large bay windows. If I didn’t lose blood from the glass piercing my skin
,
at least I could look forward to the thirty
-
foot fall.
“So, it’s weird that Nat doesn’t know, right?” Angelica said after a few minutes of
awkward silence where she was drinking like a fish
,
and I was t
rying to kill her with my mind.
“Know?”
“Yeah, about Alec.”
“Come again?” I tried not to sound interested, but I was a bit confused, not gonna
lie.
“You know…
when he left Seaside for a few days last fall.”
“Huh?”
Angelica tilted her head, and then placed her hand on mine
. “
You really don’t know, do you? And I thought you guys were super close. I mean, think
of all you’ve been through. It’s a shame he’s not even man enough to tell you the
truth about his naughty little past.”
“Yeah.” I pushed her hand away from mine and poured
my bottled water over it just i
n case I caught an STD from her, not that I should pass judgment but still. “I’m going
to call your bluff.”
“Call it all you want. But you should ask him. It was right when you guys moved her
e
. I think it was after the first two weeks of school. He went to L
.
A
.
for a movie premiere. Another one of Jaymeson
’
s I think…
I mean
,
I would know
.
I was there.”
“And Alec was there
,
” I said trying to make sense of everything she was saying.
“Yup…
he was in really bad shape, something about being in love with a girl that chose you
over him? I don’t know. I’m guessing it was Nat, but whatever
.
I
f he really loved her he wouldn’t have messed up so bad, right?”
“Right.” M
y mind reeled and
I felt like I had left my body and was now replaying everything that had happened
over the past year and over the past few days. Was that why Alec was acting so weird?
Had he slept with Angelica or something? Shit. Been there done that. I mean
,
that’s all kinds of screwed up
,
but hell, Nat wouldn’t flip. It wasn’t as if they were dating
then
.
“So…
just to clarify…
you
slept with Alec?” I whispered.
“No…” Angelica got up from her seat and
leaned in to whisper
. “
I didn’t…
but you should ask him who he
did
spend the night with.”
Just like that she was gone. And I was left staring into space. Shit, I wanted to
finish her champagne more than breath
e
. I quickly got up from my seat and approached Nat and Alec
.
T
hey were sitting in one of the booths laughing and whispering.
Yuck. Seriously. From here on out if Alyssa abandons me, I’m going to put her in handcuffs
and throw away the key.
On second though
t
…
handcuffs
…
“Dude.” Alec waved in front of my face
. “
Why are you looking at the ocean like it makes you horny?”
I shook my head as I felt my face flush red with embarrassment. “Handcuffs, idea…
you don’t want to know.” I waved my hand flippantly into the air
. “
Anyway, Nat, can I steal your favorite Daniels away for a few minutes?”
“Aw, Demetri, you know I don’t pick favorites.” She winked.
“Right.” I rolled my eyes
. “
Oh wait
…
you did pick. I lost
.
P.S.
T
hanks for reminding me
,
especially considering I kept rehearsing my own death since you left me with Satan.”
“Angelica?” Alec guessed.
“Anti-Christ
.”
Nat nodded
. “
Demetri can explain. I’m going to step outside and get som
e f
resh air
.
I don’t feel very well. Alec probably passed me some of the bug he had today.”
She waved and walked t
hrough the crowds to the door.
I waited until she went outside then turned to Alec and crossed my arms. “Spill.”
“Spill what?” He reached for another glass of champagne, but I grabbed his h
and midair and smacked it away.
“Stop avoiding. Just tell me. We’re brothers
,
we can deal with it. I mean
,
we’ve dealt with some pretty serious shit. Right?”
“Damn
it, Demetri.” Alec shook his head
, and
his eyes pooled with tears
. “
Not like this man. Not even close to being like this.”
“Did you get a groupie pregnant?”
“No.”
“Start doing drugs again?”
Alec laughed
. “
I wish. And no.”
“Find out you’re a chick?”
“No.”
“Get a sex change?”
“Seriously? No.”
I sat down and leaned against the leather seat
. “
So…
I’m out of guesses.”
“Your guesses were sex changes and drugs. I’m surprised you didn’t ask if I woke up
this morning thinking I was Batman or something.”
I paused
. “
Are you
B
atman?”
Alec laughed and then rubbed his face with his hands
. “
Not that I know of.”
“So what is it?” I bit my lip and asked the question I didn’t want to ask but couldn’t
avoid. “Did you cheat on Nat?”
Alec wouldn’t meet my eyes. Instead he stared hard at the table as if it would som
ehow sprout the answer for him.
“Alec? Did you?”
“It’s complicated.” He groaned
. “
I can’t say.”
“You can’t say?” I repeated
. “
As in you don’t remember if you did or didn’t? Or like you
really can’t say because you’ll get your a
ss sued? I’m sorry
,
I just don’t
understand how the hell you wouldn’t know. You either did or you didn’t.”
Alec ground his teeth together
. “
Like I said
,
it’s complicated.”
“Then you’
re
making it that way.” I fought to keep my voice even. My heart clenc
hed in my chest. What the hell
made him think he had a right to even put the girl we both loved in that position?
Nat was family. She was like my sis
ter. Suddenly I wanted to puke.
“Well
,
w
hen you decide whether or not you kept it in your pants, let me know.” I pushed away
from the table causing glasses to fall on the ground. The first thing I did was walk
outside to find Nat. I had to find her. I had to see her smile and see her face. Maybe
if I saw her I’d be reminded of how perfect she was for Alec and how much he loved
her
.
B
ecause right now
,
I had my doubts. And I really, really wanted to turn around and punch my o
wn flesh and blood in the face.
Since when did I become the mature one?