Chapter 26
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
EZRA
Thought of you today. Mostly because I saw a squirrel get hit by a Prius and remembered your laugh. Wouldn’t you know that little sucker still made it?
—Matteo
“ H arper!”
She didn’t stop walking away from me. Not when I shouted her name, not when I chased her down the hall, not when she shoved through the double doors and out into the sun.
Gone.
I pressed my palms to my face and swore until my throat went raw.
The producer had already slipped away, smug bastard, probably rushing to report back to Graham. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I didn’t need to check to know who it was.
I checked anyway.
Graham
Got it all. Her reaction was priceless.
I wanted to smash the phone into the wall. Instead, I typed back with shaking thumbs:
Me
I told you this wasn’t for the show.
Three dots appeared, taunting me.
Graham
Keep telling yourself that. The contract says otherwise. You wanted dirty. We’re giving the people dirty.
I slammed the phone down on Harper’s desk, ran both hands through my hair.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. The perseverance sign, the setup—it was for her. Only her.
But now? Now she thought I’d sold her out.
And maybe I had.
Because no matter how many times I told myself it was real, the cameras were always watching. And the girl I wanted more than anything now thought every kiss, every touch, every look—was a lie.
Harper
Went back to school.