Landon & Shay: Part Two (L&S Duet #2)(88)

“Yes, well, it looks like you wiggled your way straight into his good graces. I’m going to have to let you go.”

Wait, what?

“Are you serious? Because of some tabloid magazine? We weren’t even going to kiss.”

Sarah shrugged and waved me off as if I were nothing. “Yes, well, you should’ve thought about that before betraying me.”

“I didn’t betray you,” I grumbled. “I just didn’t do exactly what you wanted me to do. Besides, I’m not Cyrano de Bergerac. I’m not going to push you into the arms of someone I care about.”

“So, it’s true?” she asked. “You do care about him?”

Of course, I cared. How could I not? He was my Satan, and I was his Chick.

I’d always care for him, even if we never received our happily ever after. The last thing I wanted to do was push him straight into the arms of a lowkey crazy person.

“None of that matters.”

“You’re right, because you don’t matter. Do you really think you have a chance with Landon when I’m in the picture? You’re nothing in the grand scheme of things. You’re as replaceable as a pair of shoes. Sure, maybe you came around and reminded Landon of his past, but you’re not his future, and you never will be.”

I narrowed my eyes at the grown woman standing in front of me, completely baffled by her actions. “Oh, give me a fucking break, Monica,” I groaned.

Sarah arched an eyebrow. “Who the hell is Monica?”

“You. You’re Monica. You’re the high school girl who thinks you can bully people into acting a certain way because you think you have power. But you know what? I’m not intimidated by you. When I was younger, and I thought you and Landon really had a connection, sure. I felt lesser than. But now that I actually know you, I am completely convinced that you’re nothing to be afraid of. So, go ahead. Fire me. But at the end of the day, I’m still going to win, because I refused to let a woman who carries around rocks to call me worthless. And news flash! I got the same damn stones from Amazon for nine bucks!”





35





Landon





It looked like my weekly trip to Maria’s yoga studio was a no-go after the cameras caught Shay and I together the previous week. The minute I walked around the corner and saw the line of people standing outside the building, I knew word had gotten out about my appearance there the week prior. Business was booming for Maria, which was excellent.

I just hated that once again something special that I truly enjoyed was being taken away by fame. I couldn’t even go breathe in peace.

“You’re really good at drawing a crowd,” a voice said. I turned to see Shay standing there, and she smiled at first, but then it faltered to a frown. “Are you okay?”

I shrugged. “I just wanted to have something that was mine for a little while. Maria’s classes were that for me.”

She moved in closer and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly. “I can’t imagine how annoying it must be—having people follow you all the time. My coffee latte drama had finally faded away, and that was hell. I couldn’t imagine having that kind of attention on me at all times.”

“It can be a bit much.” Truthfully, it was becoming more and more of a bother ever since Shay came back into my life. There were so many things I wanted to do with her. I wanted to take her out to dinner and be able to sit across from her and have a friendly conversation. I wanted to walk into a coffee shop and not have to worry about people pulling out a camera and filming our interactions.

“Do you ever wish you never got into acting?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I mean, I do love what I do, the films. But even more, I love having the means to give back to people. Because of what I do, because of this career, I’m able to help people who might not have been able to help themselves, and in a way, that makes all this madness worth it. Even if sometimes it can be a bit draining.”

She looked up toward the packed studio. People were lined up outside, obviously not dressed for a peaceful yoga stretching.

“Want to take a walk with me?” she offered. “To get away from this world for a bit of time?”

“I’d like that more than anything.”

She gave me a smile, and I gave her mine as we began walking in the opposite direction of the crowd.

“So, I was hoping I could talk to you tonight anyway. I wanted to talk to you during shooting today, but there was always someone around. Still, I figured I should give you a heads-up. It’s about Sarah.”

“Yeah? What about her?”

“Well.” Shay sighed and tilted her head toward me. “She’s kind of batshit crazy.”

I laughed out loud. “That’s the complete opposite of what I expected you to say to me.”

“I’m sorry, but she is. I know she’s been my idol for the past forever years, and I know I thought her performance of Lucy Knight was spot on and I know I raved on and on about how she played that psychopath character in such a realistic way, but now it’s all making sense to me. She was typecast in that role. She is a psychopath.”

“Well, I could’ve told you that.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Well, I’m glad you knew. She snapped on me today and fired me because of the photographs the paparazzi took of us last week.”