HDU (16 page)

“I like that dress,” he said.
 

“They can’t
hear
through the window.”
 

He rolled his eyes.
 
“Thanks, I know.”

Through his aggravation, it took a second for Amanda
to realize that she had just been complimented.
 
It was too late to say anything, but the praise at least
carried her a bit when they arrived for the party at The Strathorne in
TriBeCa.
 
She would need every bit
of confidence that she could muster.
 
Judging by the crowd of cameras and fans outside, it was going to be a star-studded
night.

“Don’t be nervous,” Liam said.

Amanda let go of a deep breath.
 
“Thanks.”

“I’m not trying to comfort you, I’m asking you not to
get nervous and do that ugly laugh.”
 
Amanda smacked him as he got out of the car.

“You’re going to make this worse,” she hissed at his
grinning face, forcing herself to drop her hands from her stomach where they
had been clasped to contain her nerves.
 
It still twisted and turned, but she tried not to show it as the camera
flashes started again.
 
Just walk.
 
Be normal.
 
Pretend it’s any other party
, she told herself as they made their
way to the building’s entrance.
 
Liam put his hand on her back, rubbing it just slightly to put her at
ease.
 
She felt her stiff posture actually
relaxing at his touch.

“Just smile and agree with things,” he said.
 
“They’re not going to ask too much of
you.”

“Okay.
 
Got it,” Amanda nodded.

But once she stepped into the hotel, her heart began
to pound again.
 
The swanky space
was flooded with hordes of people so beautiful it almost hurt her eyes, each
person better dressed and groomed than the next.
 
Amanda touched her new coat as Liam removed it for her,
trying to remind herself that she didn’t look too shabby, though the effort was
in vain especially upon noticing the glowing stars on the indoor red
carpet.
 
So many were familiar
faces that she recognized – from movies, television, and HDU.
 
One standing before the June Magazine
backdrop was Harper Gunn, the Manhattan socialite who had gone from
model-slash-party girl to
New York Times
best selling author for her books on raw dieting and detox.
 
She boasted a neat, blonde topknot and
impossibly pearly skin.

And then there was Dylan Hardy.

Oh my God, oh
my God, oh my God, please help me
, Amanda prayed, feeling her knees giving
out.
 
She had loved Dylan for
longer than Megan had loved Liam.
 
He was everything Liam wasn’t – an Oscar nominated actor, a likable
Hollywood darling, a down-to-earth gentleman known for genuinely loving his
fans and taking the subways in New York.
 
He was just inexplicably devoid of ego, as if completely unaware of his
looks or accomplishments.
 
And of
course there was his buttery voice, that baritone English accent for which
Amanda had dedicated a whole YouTube playlist, comprised mostly of his most
charming interviews.

“Listen, you can do the ugly laugh,” Liam said.
 
“If you stop making the face you’re
making right now.”

Amanda snapped out of her Dylan-induced trance and
stared up at Liam, having forgotten for a minute that he existed.
 
She wished that he were Ian
instead.
 
Ian had long known of her
love for Dylan Hardy, and she was in desperate need of someone to be excited
with.
 
But all Amanda had was Liam,
and from the impatient way he looked at her, she suspected he wouldn’t be
receptive to a fangirl rant.

“Sorry,” was all she said, not bothering to explain
anything as they headed over to the red carpet, to the buzz of media waiting to
devour them with their cameras.
 
Amanda
hardly even noticed the microphones and flashes though.
 
All she had was Dylan Hardy on the
mind.
 
They were getting closer and
closer to him and for that reason she had to concentrate on her breathing, or
rather just remind herself to do it.
 
When they settled on a spot just a few yards from Dylan, Amanda squeezed
Liam’s hand tight, beyond giddy.
 
Not knowing her reasons, he squeezed hers back.

“Really, don’t be nervous,” he repeated as they stood
before the backdrop, his words soft this time and sounding like a real attempt
at comfort.
 
“You’ll be fine.”

“Okay.”
 
Amanda pried her eyes off of Dylan.
 
She had memorized his look with one glance anyway.
 
He was wearing a very simple one-button
suit in black and seemed to be emitting some sort of glow.
 
His wavy dark blonde hair was styled
for once, giving him a charming old Hollywood type of vibe.
 
All Amanda wanted to do was look at
him, to just see herself standing a yard away from him.
 
But instead she looked into the crowd
of cameras and tried to remember how to smile naturally.
 
Liam held her tight, as if sensing that
she wanted to move or go or do something else.

“Miss Nathan!” a few photographers called.
 
“Over here!”

They knew her name.
 
Photographers were requesting her attention on a red carpet
full of stars, but she couldn’t even absorb any of it because she was still completely
taken by Dylan Hardy.
 

“Hey, you’re okay.
 
Stop shaking,” Liam laughed, giving her a brief kiss on the
side of the head.
 
It got her
attention.
 
She looked up to see
him looking down at her, his smile full of amusement.
 
“Jesus Christ, Amanda, I didn’t think it’d be this bad,” he said
quietly.

“Sorry,” she breathed.
 
She focused and gathered herself enough to give one or two
decently normal poses.
 
By the time
their photo session was over, she noticed that Dylan had disappeared elsewhere.
 
That’s
probably for the better
, she thought as Liam led her into the main room and
straight to the bar.
 
He ordered
their drinks before cocking his head to observe Amanda and her still
nerve-racked face.

“How are you holding up? Are your vitals stable?” he asked,
actually taking her wrist to feel her heartbeat.
 
Amanda blushed, feeling her pulse pound rapidly against the
pressure of his fingers.
 
“Wow,” was
all Liam said, giving a laugh of disbelief.
 
“You’re a freak.”

“Shut up,” Amanda said, yanking her hand away.
 
It’s
the Dylan Hardy Effect
, she thought, recalling articles she’d read about
how Dylan had caused several women to faint during the Berlin premiere of his
last film.
 
But not wanting to
explain her massive crush to Liam, she only said, “I’ll be better next time.”

“It’s fine.
 
I was this nervous at my first big party,” Liam said.
 
“Possibly worse.”
 
Amanda cocked an eyebrow.

“Details.”

“Nah.”

“Fine,” she laughed, taking a sip of her
martini.
 
She wasn’t sure if it was
Liam or the alcohol that was helping her relax, but at least something was
beginning to do the job.
 
Enough so
that she was even able to make small talk with a few of his friends who later
approached.
 
They, like Liam, were all
statuesque and beautiful, like walking, talking museum exhibits of human
perfection.
 
It was both amazing
and daunting to know that people like this really existed outside of movies and
magazine pages.

Amanda forced herself not to fidget, but her fingers
itched to fix her own hair and outfit as she chatted with the perfect people.
 
There was Liam’s best friend Connor, the
lumberjack chic screenwriter who shared Liam’s intelligent and laid-back
smugness.
 
From the way he showed
little interest in getting to know her, Amanda assumed Connor was well versed on
the false nature of their romance, which was a little unnerving.
 
Luckily, there was also the
actor-slash-TV writer Ben, who was self-deprecating and seemingly the nicest of
the three guys.
 
He and his model girlfriend
Jaime appeared actually interested in making Amanda’s acquaintance – or
rather Jaime was interested, so Ben followed suit.

“So where are you from?” he asked.

“Oh, Merit.
 
Merit, Missouri.
 
It’s a
really small town.”

Jaime’s eyes widened, her archless eyebrows
disappearing behind blunt bangs.
 
“I’ve been to Missouri! On a road trip! Where’s Merit near?”

“It’s a forty minute drive from Columbia, which is
–”

“Oh my God, that’s where Casey’s mom is from!” Jaime
gasped, clasping both slender hands to her heart.
 
“I’ll have to tell her.
 
She’ll be so happy to meet another Missourian.”

As Amanda asked who Casey was, she couldn’t help but
notice Liam and Connor having one of those wordless conversations with their
eyes, the type generally reserved for making fun of people in close distance.
 
She wondered if they were making fun of
her or Jaime, immediately assuming that being assholes, they had to be making
fun of one of the girls.
 
And
between herself and Jaime, Amanda was fairly certain that she provided more
material for teasing.
 
She unconsciously
gave Liam a look, which only Connor caught.

“Your girlfriend’s mad,” he said, stressing the word
“girlfriend.”
 
Liam laughed but
upon noticing Amanda’s frown, gave her a little shake of the head.

“I’ll explain later,” he said in her ear, placing a
hand on her back.
 
Amanda nodded
and suppressed her laughter.
 
He
was forcing himself to be nice for fear that she might have another meltdown
like she had on the red carpet.
 
It
was thoroughly amusing and borderline sweet, though she was sure that his
motive to subdue her panic was more about saving himself the embarrassment.
 
But as a fake boyfriend, he certainly
didn’t have to explain what he and Connor had been talking about, though Amanda
didn’t mind the fact that he was willing to.

The explanation came later when guests started
getting seated at their assigned tables.
 
Amanda and Liam got to theirs early, their chairs pulled close to one
another so Liam could speak quietly.
 
Amanda couldn’t help but laugh because through her peripheral vision,
she saw other guests smiling and cooing over their intimacy.
 
No one would ever guess that the words
being spoken were far from sweet nothings.

“Avoid Jaime and Casey.
 
They’re the worst kind of people you’ll ever meet,” Liam
said.
 
Amanda laughed.

“That seems dramatic.
 
Jaime seems sweet,” she said.
 

“I actually know her, Amanda.
 
She and Casey are manipulative and they
use people for their own entertainment.”

She frowned.
 
“What do you mean?”

“I mean they’re rich kids who grew up in Hollywood.
 
They require living toys.
 
Right now, Jaime’s game is seeing how
far Ben will let her control his life.
 
She already forced him to cast her in his pilot when she can’t act for
shit, so I’m pretty sure the next step is neutering him so she can literally
own his balls.”

“You just sound like a bitter guy friend.”
 

“No, I’m just trying to save you from being Jaime or
Casey’s new plaything.
 
They always
need new ones once they’re done with the old ones.”

“She really seemed sweet though, and she said her
friend is from Missouri, or something,” Amanda protested lightly.
 
She realized that she did have to start
building her own social circle at some point.
 
After all, her relationship with Liam had an expiration date
and networking had always been a large part of her plan with Ian.
 
“I’d be flattered if they were ever
interested in hanging out with me,” Amanda shrugged.
 
Liam made a face.
 

“Trust me, you’re not like them.
 
You’re real and natural and nice.”

Amanda raised her eyebrows at his kind words, a slow smile
spreading her lips.
 
Liam rolled
his eyes.
 
“Don’t get too excited,
you’re working with low standards here.”

“Just let yourself be nice for once.
 
I think you’d enjoy it.”

“Eh.”

With that, they turned back to the table, which
Amanda noticed was now full.
 
She scanned
through the guests and returned each of their curious smiles until reaching the
person seated a chair away from her.
 
After a double take, she gasped loudly, causing even the neighboring
table to jump in their seats.

Liam impulsively grabbed her hand.
 
“What?”

She was unable to answer as she sat almost face-to-face
with Dylan Hardy.
 
His head cocked
slightly as he looked at her with what appeared to be a concerned, polite
smile.
 
She stared back at his lake
blue eyes like a deer in headlights.
 
Oh my
God, say something, say
something
, she berated herself.