Chase Me (Broke and Beautiful #1)(63)

Louis didn’t turn around. “I can’t have this discussion with you right now, Roxy. I’m too f*cking mad.”

“We’re having it anyway.” She stepped to the side so she could see Johan. “Did he call you? Did he . . . ask for a favor to get me this part?”

Johan gave an exaggerated smirk. “No good deed goes unpunished, I guess.”

A sob rushed past her lips. “Dammit. Dammit, Louis.” Misery rolled through her in a wave as the last couple of weeks played through her head in slow motion. A casting assistant calling her on a Saturday night, giving her the opportunity she’d always dreamed of. An opportunity she’d thought she’d earned but hadn’t. How na?ve could she be? This whole time she’d been secretly proud of herself, assuming she’d done something right somewhere down the line, impressed the right people. Gotten noticed on her own merit. When in reality, it had been handed to her by the guy who’d wanted to sleep with her. It enraged her. It made her heart squeeze so tight that she thought it might rupture in her chest. No. She couldn’t handle any more. Since this morning, she’d been pulled through an emotional ringer, and it was her fault. She’d left herself wide open for it. The pride she’d carried out of Johan’s office after her audition was now littered across the sidewalk like yesterday’s trash.

Louis turned around slowly, wincing at whatever he saw on her face. “I only got you the audition,” he said, pulling her further down the sidewalk, out of Jonah’s earshot. “You earned the part. It was just a matter of getting you in the door.”

“Bullshit. I don’t believe you.” She smacked her forehead when she remembered being only one of three actresses auditioning that day. It had seemed so odd, but she’d ignored it. “You must have been laughing at me when I got that phone call. You must have thought I was so stupid.”

“You could never look stupid to me. Never.”

“I thought you understood . . .” She swallowed hard. “I told you how important it was to do this on my own, and I thought you understood that. Me. You took that goal away from me.”

He swiped his hair back impatiently, knuckles dotted with blood. “Yeah? Well, that’s not how the world works. People hire their friends, they make phone calls and repay favors. It’s ugly, but it’s true. I know you wanted to do this on your own, but your way wasn’t working.”

She flinched as his words stabbed her in the belly.

“God, I’m sorry. That came out wrong.” He made a frustrated noise. “I can’t talk about this now. Not when all I can see is you standing there with a ripped shirt, looking like you’ve been crying.”

No. She wouldn’t let him get to her. Wouldn’t feel sorry for him. “You can’t just make decisions without consulting the people involved.”

“You would have turned down the help. I had no choice.”

“Why didn’t you have a choice?” The answer dawned, making her queasy. “You needed to date someone worthy, is that it? If you were going to date an actress, she better be a successful one. Right? Not one who needed to strip to make rent.”

“No.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I just wanted you happy.”

Knowing it wasn’t fair at all but wanting to take a strip of flesh with her, she gestured to Johan where he sat bleeding on the ground. “Well, you failed. I guess he didn’t mention sleeping with him was part of the deal. Nice job.”

His body deflated right before her eyes. She hated herself in that moment. Hated him for making her feel so goddamn lousy and important at the same time. I’ve got to get out of here.

“Good-bye, Louis.”

She made it to the street corner before the tears fell.





Chapter 22



ROXY OPENED ONE eye, saw Honey and Abby perched on the edge of her bed, and promptly closed the eye. Maybe if she stayed completely still, they would think she’d fallen back asleep and they’d go back to watching Bridesmaids or baking shit. Or whatever the living did outside of their bedrooms, out in the open. Anything but force her to acknowledge that she’d been in bed for two full days, still wearing a ripped shirt.

She wanted to take it off, but she’d forced herself to keep it on. It was silly, and yeah, kind of unhygienic. But she felt ripped in half, and having a visible representation of that allowed her to wallow with impunity, didn’t it? She had no intention of un-wallowing anytime soon, so she wanted her two pain-in-the-ass roommates to bail, pronto. Even if she knew the moment she closed her eyes, she’d have to deal with memories of Louis. It was better than not dealing with his memory, though, as she’d be doing for the rest of her life. She’d lost him. Or he’d lost her. Who the f*ck cared? They weren’t together, but as long as she stayed in this bed, at least she’d have the heartache he’d given her. Right now, it felt like she didn’t have anything else.

Someone, probably Honey, nudged her elbow.

“What,” Roxy said through clenched teeth, “do you want?”

“Another delivery of falafel came for you,” Abby said.

“We ate it,” Honey added. “You ignored the last two, and where I come from, we don’t let food go to waste. It was amazing. Thinking of coming up with my own recipe.”