Starstruck - Book Two (6 page)

He pulled me up into a standing position and kissed me
deeply. My heart fluttered, and I felt like putty in his arms once again. I
didn’t want to leave him either, but I had to check on things back home.

“You’re not going to see that Luke guy, are you?” he
whispered in my ear as his hands caressed my back.

“No,” I said. I was being truthful. I hadn’t really thought
much about Luke the last few weeks. I’d been too distracted by Hudson and all
the excitement that was suddenly appearing in my life thanks to him. “I’m
offended that you’d even ask me that.”

I swatted his chest playfully, but deep down I truly was
offended.

“Just checking,” he said as he nibbled my ear. “You’re mine
now. Not his. Remember that.”

Every so often, I’d catch glimpses of Hudson’s possessive
streak, and truthfully it turned me on.

“Has Luke tried to contact you or anything?” he asked.

Why were we still talking about Luke?

“Not at all,” I said. “Piper doesn’t even really call me that
much. That’s kind of why I think it’s important that I go see her.”

“If it makes you happy,” he said. “I just want you to be
happy. I’m not going to keep you away from your friends and family. I’m not
that kind of guy.”

“I never said you were,” I insisted. “I just need one
weekend at home, and then I’ll come straight back here and we can pick up where
we left off.”

“Promise?” he asked as he breathed heavily into my ear and
held me close.

“Promise,” I replied. I felt tiny and powerless, both
physically and emotionally, under his tight hold.

My  kitten heels clicked on the hardwood floors of the
coffee shop in Rock River. Up ahead, Piper was leaning against the counter,
reading some sort of magazine. She was in her own little world, not even
bothering to look up when the bell on the door rang.

“Excuse me, miss,” I said. An ornery half-smile crept upon
my lips. “I’d like to order a coffee.”

She looked up, and a small part of me hoped she’d run around
the counter to me and throw her arms around me. I missed her so much.

Instead, her eyes looked me up and down, barely recognizing
me at first.

“Oh, my god,” she said. “Brynn.”

I smiled and placed my hands on my hips.

“You look so…different,” she said as she stared.

“New clothes,” I said. “You like them?”

“No, it’s not that,” she said. “You look so…skeletal.”

“I’ve just been eating healthier out there,” I lied.
“Everything is organic this and free range that.”

She pursed her lips in disbelief, but I refused to elaborate
beyond the explanation I’d already given her.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her. I hated that she wasn’t excited
to see me.

“Nothing,” she said. “Just wasn’t expecting to see you
today.”

She kept staring at me with a blank expression, and it was
starting to bother me more and more.

“Can I order a drink and stay for a while?” I asked with a
smile. I just wanted things to be like old times.

“The usual?” she asked as she grabbed a clear plastic cup.

“Actually, just a small iced coffee with skim milk and sugar
free vanilla syrup,” I said.

She stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language for
a few seconds before she began preparing my drink. I’d given up the full fat,
full whip, sugar-laced drinks weeks ago.

She sat the drink in front of me with a straw and watched me
carefully as I took small sips.

“Your face,” she said. “It’s so gaunt. It looks so
different. You look like a completely different person, Brynn.”

She shook her head. Piper clearly disapproved of my new
look.

“I’m just getting healthier, Piper,” I retorted. “I’m sorry
you don’t like that.”

She shrugged. “Just concerned. That’s all. Did Hudson want
you to lose weight?”

“No!” I snapped. “He has nothing to do with any of this.”

“People don’t just drop all that weight like that,” she
said. “I don’t think you realize how dramatic of a weight loss you have. You
weren’t that big to begin with.”

I shrugged. “I know one thing, the tabloids have stopped
calling me Hudson’s fat ass, corn fed mystery girl.”

I laughed as I sipped my drink, but Piper apparently didn’t
think it was funny.

“The comments are not nearly as mean,” I said. “Not anymore.
That’s for sure.”

“Your hair. It’s different too,” she said as she reached
across and ran her fingers through a few strands. “It’s lighter. Softer.”

“Thanks,” I said. “If you come out to LA sometime, I’ll take
you to Hudson’s people. He hooked me up.”

“So Hudson gave you this makeover?” she asked.

“No, no,” I reiterated. “After the whole tabloid thing a few
weeks ago, I told him I didn’t feel like I fit in. He introduced me to his
stylist and some hair and makeup people and they gave me a tiny little
makeover.”

“So Hudson
did
give you this makeover,” she stated
again.

“Whatever, Piper,” I said with a sigh. She was really
starting to get on my nerves. I couldn’t fathom why she’d be so offended by my
transformation. I was pretty proud of the way I looked personally. “So how’s
Luke?”

“Fine, I guess?” Piper asked. Her words stung. “Why do you
care? He finally admitted he liked you and you didn’t even respond.”

“I care because I care,” I snipped. “I don’t have to have a
reason.”

“He’s doing okay,” she said. “He mostly works in the fields
all day and goes to the bars at night.”

My face cringed. “Sounds pretty pathetic.”

“He’s still hurting, Brynn,” she said. “What happened last
month, I don’t think he ever saw that coming.”

“Of course not,” I said. “Neither did I. No one could’ve
predicted that.”

“Are you going to leave him alone while you’re here?” she
asked.

I crinkled my nose at her funny question. “Why would you ask
that?”

“It would just really upset him to see you now,” she said as
her eyes shifted down. “To see you looking so…different.”

“I kind of did want to see him while I was here,” I said.

“But why?” Piper asked. “Haven’t you hurt him enough? Leave
the poor guy alone.”

I wanted to ask her whose side she was on, but I was afraid
of her answer.

“He was my best friend for a long time. I miss him. I still
want him in my life,” I said.

Piper stopped what she was doing and looked up, her big,
blue eyes locked with mine and the most serious expression covered her face.

“Maybe he doesn’t want that,” she said. “Maybe he’s written
you off.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “It’s not my fault Luke
couldn’t have forgiven me any sooner. He waited until it was too late.”

“So he forgave you?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I mean, he said he still loved me.
I guess I assumed he forgave me too? That’s kind of why I want to see him. I
want to clear the air. Leave things on good terms. See if we can still be in
each other’s lives.”

“So you have someone to come back to when it doesn’t work
out with Hudson,” she snorted.

“That’s harsh, Piper,” I said.

She couldn’t even look at me.

“I should get going,” I said. “I’m only in town until
Sunday.”

I slid off the counter stool and clicked my little kitten
heels on out of the coffee shop. I didn’t know what her problem was, but I knew
I didn’t have to put up with it for another second.

I walked into the Manhattan bar that Friday night dressed to
the nines. My skinny jeans hugged every little curve I had left, and I wore the
lowest cut, shimmery tank top and the tallest high heels I could find.

It wasn’t that I wanted start anything with Luke, I just
wanted his attention. I wanted him to talk to me. I wanted to see if we could
still be friends. And I wanted him to be sorry he waited until it was too late
before admitting how he felt about me.

I stepped into the tiny bar as the speakers blared in my ear
with country music and the familiar faces of locals all turned towards me
wondering who the hell I was. I knew I didn’t look like I was from Rock River
anymore, but I didn’t care.

Perched on a bar stool sat Luke. He was handsome and
strapping in his green plaid shirt and dusty blue jeans as he sipped a frosty
mug of beer. I watched as he turned towards me, looked me up and down, and then
turned back away. I knew he knew it was me.

“Whoo hoo!” I heard a man yell.

Another man whistled.

“Who do we have here?” a third man called out. “Miss
Hollywood? Aren’t you that girl who ran off with the actor?”

My cheeks blushed, though thankfully it was so dark in there
no one could tell. I ignored their cat calls as best I could. My eyes focused
on Luke as I approached the far end of the bar and ordered a bottle of beer. I
just wanted to fit in again. I just wanted to feel like I was welcome back home
still.

With my beer in hand, I mustered up the courage to approach
Luke. It was such an odd sensation to be afraid to talk to him. He’d been in my
life for as long as I could remember. And a month ago, I would’ve said he was
my world. Now the thought of talking to him nearly gave me a panic attack.

“Luke,” I said as my heart pounded in my ears. “Hi.”

He turned towards me, looked me up and down again, and then
turned back away on his stool. Just like that, he rebuffed me.

“It’s Brynn,” I said. Maybe he didn’t recognize me?

“I know,” he said as he took a sip from his mug, still
giving me the cold shoulder.

“How are you?” I asked. Maybe if I pretended nothing was
wrong, he’d warm up to me?

He ignored me. It was quite obvious that it was intentional
too. I slammed my brown bottle of beer on the counter next to him and
hightailed it out of there. I wasn’t going to put up with that from Piper, and
I certainly wasn’t going to put up with that from Luke. I never realized what
fair weather friends I had until then.

As my heels struggled to carry me across the gravel parking
lot, I couldn’t get to my car fast enough. I just wanted to go home. I just
wanted to forget about Luke and Piper for a second. I wanted to go back to L.A.
I wanted to see Hudson.

“Brynn!” I heard a man call out behind me.

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned my head to see Luke
standing with his hands in his pockets by the door of the bar.

My shoulders fell as I stood frozen. I wasn’t going to walk
back over to him. He could come to me if he wanted to talk. I said nothing.

His boots scuffed the gravel beneath him as he walked
towards me. Cars whirred past us on the highway.

“What did you want tonight?” he asked. “Why did you come
here?”

“I don’t know, Luke,” I said as my arms dropped to my side.
“I guess I just think it’s weird that we’re not in each other’s lives anymore.”

“That’s not my fault,” he said with a cocky shrug.

My mouth dropped.

“I’ll admit that I left town,” I said. “But you’re the one
who waited until I was already gone to tell me how you felt.”

“And you didn’t even respond!” he yelled, his hands waving
in the air above him. “How do you think that made me feel?”

“You shouldn’t have waited so long,” I said. “Luke, I’ve
loved you for years! And I know you knew. And now it’s too late.”

“Yeah,” he said. “You’re right. Now it’s too late.”

“Everything okay out here?” a bar patron on his way inside
asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Everything’s fine.”

Luke and I were a good ten feet apart. I knew we weren’t
getting any closer than that.

“I need to get going,” I said to Luke as I accepted the fact
that this wasn’t going anywhere.

He pinched his face as he spun around on his heel and headed
back inside. He wasn’t going to try to stop me.

I climbed in my car and tried to fight the tears from
falling. I was happy with Hudson, but I also didn’t understand why Luke and I
couldn’t still be friends. I didn’t understand why Piper suddenly resented me.
Rock River wasn’t the same Rock River it was a month ago. Either I had changed
too much or everyone else had. I wasn’t quite sure.

I headed over to my mom’s house to check on her. When I
walked in, I noticed the place was unusually clean. The lingering cat odor was
almost eliminated, and there were only a few beer bottles along the sink
instead of twenty.