Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
CALLUM/CASH
Then
Charcoal Curtains & The Scars They Hide
Every cheer is static when all I hear is the crack of betrayal splitting me wide open.
It’s been a month of hell. The paparazzi chase Livianna and me around wherever we go. We’re not allowed out much anymore, but occasionally her parents let us go out to dinner after they’ve set up all security precautions.
Bren and I are in the Hemingses’ band area in their basement.
He slips his guitar off and hangs it on the wall. “Have you thought about how you’re gonna deal with touring while Liv is always working?”
“Yeah. It’ll be fine.” I slide off the piano bench. “We’ll just text and FaceTime when we can.”
“Cash, you’re like the most wanted dude right now. Chicks are gonna be throwing themselves at you.” He strides over to the bar area.
“You can have them all.” I follow and sit on one of the stools on the other side. “None of that matters to me. I’ll never cheat on your sister.”
“It’s gonna be tough, bro. Don’t fool yourself.”
“I’m not, but I know it won’t be hard to ignore girls I have no interest in.” I gaze over at an article that’s open on a laptop that’s sitting on the bar near the wall. “Why am I painted as a hero in this story and she’s the wild child ruining her life?”
“It’s a tale as old as time.” Bren grabs two beers out of the fridge. “They’ve cast you as the good guy and her as the chaos. It’s garbage, but it’ll pass. Right now, Livianna’s the enemy and you’re a knight in shining armor.”
“It’s bullshit.”
“True.” He pops the tops off the bottles and slides one to me. “Once someone new comes along, you two will fade out of the headlines.”
“Why are they obsessed with us?”
“Livianna’s a major teenage star. Everyone has an opinion about her. They either love her or hate her.” He throws back a mouthful of beer. “You’re her first love.”
“And the last.” I take a drink and twist on my stool. “They seem out to destroy her. It’s cruel.”
“There’s no proof of anything. Stick to the story that it’s all conspiracy theories and it’ll die down.”
“It should’ve by now, but in the meantime, I have to worry about her.” My stomach hardens. “You know she’s had more panic attacks in the last few days.”
“Yeah, but my mom and dad are watching her. She’ll be okay.”
“You wanna know something fucked up?”
“Sure.” He rounds the bar and takes a seat beside me.
“She was better when she was taking the painkillers.” My head aches. “I know it wasn’t real, but at least she wasn’t cutting on herself.”
“Relax, Cash. She just went back to work and she does really well when she has something to focus on.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I always am when it comes to her.” He shuts the laptop. “Don’t bring these articles up to her. They only cause more problems.”
Footsteps coming down the stairs grab my attention. I turn and Livianna comes into view.
She brings warmth to my heart and a smile to my face. “Hey, Lily. How was work?”
“Good.” She slips between my legs and gives me a hard kiss on my lips. She pulls away. “They lectured me again about my reputation and how I have to keep out of trouble, but other than that, everything was cool.”
“I’m happy to hear that.” I move my hands under her sweater and run my palms over the soft skin of her waist. “You feel nice.”
My dick twitches as I stare at her beautiful face. We haven’t had sex since we were in Big Bear and I’m about to go out of my mind. I want her more than I’ve wanted anything.
Her parents have been hanging around and keeping close tabs on us. They don’t want another pregnancy scare to pop up.
That’s the only good thing that came out of that tormented ordeal. They made her get on birth control.
“That’s my sign.” Bren spins off his seat with his beer in his hand. “I’m out, but you’ll be over tomorrow, right?”
“Yes.” I pull her into me. “Let’s go into the guest bedroom.”
“Okay, but my mom’s in her office.”
“We’ll be quiet.” I get up and lead her to the other room.
She crawls onto the bed as I shut and lock the door. I turn and find her out of her clothes. Her skin glistens like diamonds under the evening light shining in from the window.
“Fucking hell, Lily. You’re gorgeous.” I yank my T-shirt off, undo my jeans, and strip before her. I’m on top of her seconds later.
“Callum,” she breathes.
Our mouths seal together and we go at it like we’ve never had sex before. I wish I could say there’s more foreplay, but neither one of us wants to wait any longer.
I roll us over so she’s on top of me. She slides down my shaft, taking me to the hilt.
I moan. “Lily, you feel amazing.”
“So do you.” She grips my pecs and rides me hard.
She tosses her head back. I reach for her breasts and take them in my hands. They’re fucking perfect. The sight of her is magical.
My love for her makes my chest burn with passion. “Vixen, it’s too much.”
“Don’t come yet. Keep fucking me, Callum. Fuck me until it hurts. I want to feel you inside of me for days.”
I pop her off me, turn her around, and take her from behind, pounding into her as hard as I can. “Is that good? Is this the way you want it?”
“Yes.” She arches back. Her hair cascades to her waist.
“Fuck, Lily.” I grip it in my fist and tug on it. “Make yourself come.”
She reaches between her legs. Her fingers circle over her clit.
As I plow into her, she rubs against me from time to time. It’s a sexy sensation. Just the thought of her getting herself off for me takes me to the next level.
“Tell me when you’re close.” My balls pull up high and tight. “Vixen, I’m almost there.”
“Me too.”
“Let’s come together.”
She rubs herself faster as the sounds of our skin slapping against each other fill the room. Her walls pulse over me and I lose myself inside her.
We both groan as our orgasms rip through us and shoot me out of this world. My nerves fizz as gravity remembers me.
She collapses onto the mattress. “God, I needed that.”
“You and me both.”
I pull out and climb up to lie next to her. “Get over here.”
She snuggles into me. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
We hold each other and take a moment to catch our breath. As we do, I run my palm over her arm.
She flinches like I’ve pinched her. The heat radiating from a spot on her arm makes me peek down at it. It’s swollen and bright red like a spider bit her.
“What’s this?” I press on it.
“Oww. Don’t touch it. It hurts.”
“I bet.” My gut turns to stone. “Lily, this doesn’t look normal. A spider bite isn’t this big.”
She gazes at it. “I’ll show it to my mom.”
“Okay.” I trail my fingertips over it again. “Why is it so hot?”
“I don’t know. It’s been like that for a while. It’ll go away soon.”
The closer I inspect it, I notice a little blue streak in it. Something about it isn’t sitting right with me.
My blood pumps harder. “Lily, did someone hit you?”
“No.”
I shift her up and sit. “Let’s get dressed and find your ma.”
“Why?”
“Because I want her to look at it.” I scoot off the bed and grab my clothes.
Livianna huffs like I’m being ridiculous. “Fine.”
We get dressed and go upstairs. Her ma and pops are talking in the kitchen as she makes dinner. Her pops glances between us like he knows what we’ve been doing.
My cheeks heat. “Hi, Mr. Hemings.”
“Hi, Cash.” Mr. Hemings gazes down the staircase. “Where’s Brendan?”
“He’s in his room.” Livianna bypasses her pops and strolls over to her ma. “Callum wants you to tell me what this is.”
Her ma’s brows come together. “What am I assessing?”
Livianna works her arm out of her sweater. It creeps up over her shoulder, showing her bra.
Fucking hell. Now it’s obvious I had her shirt off. She can’t just say I noticed it while we were cuddling and watching TV.
I slide my hands in my pockets and peek over at her pops. Surprisingly, he doesn’t appear mad. If anything, his eyes are dialed in on Livianna’s arm.
Her ma takes Livianna’s wrist and brings her face closer to the spot. “I don’t know. Maybe a bug bite.”
Her ma pushes on it.
Livianna winces and flinches her arm away. “Why do you guys keep touching it?”
Her dad hurries to her. “Show me.”
She does and his face turns white as a ghost. The hairs on my skin stand at attention.
He grabs her wrist and shoves her arm into her ma’s view. “Lorna, this is a blood clot.”
“Greg, I don’t…” She studies it closer. “It did feel hot when I placed my finger on it.”
“My mother had one just like this and she died because of it.” Mr. Hemings drops Livianna’s arm and grabs his keys off the counter. “Livianna, get in the car.”
“Why? Where are we going?” Her fear-filled eyes dart around us.
“I’m taking you to the hospital. If this isn’t taken care of, you could die.” He guides her out of the kitchen with his hands on her shoulders.
A wave of dizziness hits me and I start to sweat. “Can I go with you?”
“Yes. Just hurry.” Mrs. Hemings grabs her purse.
We race out the door and to the hospital. They take Livianna somewhere to run a bunch of tests while Mr. Hemings and I wait for them in the waiting room. I rest on a chair, bent over with my elbow digging into my knees.
He paces back and forth. “Thank God you saw that.”
“Are they dangerous?” I roll my eyes at myself. “Of course they are if your ma died from one. I’m sorry I asked a dumb question.”
“It’s okay, Cash. You wouldn’t have known.” He rubs his neck. “Livianna’s built just like her. If you saw a picture of my mom, you’d swear it was Liv. They have the same genes.”
“Is she gonna be okay?”
“Thanks to you, yes. She should be.” He faces me and seriousness washes through his eyes. “If you hadn’t noticed while you two were... We might’ve missed it. Thank you.”
I swallow and pull inward. “Mr. Hemings, it’s really hard—”
“No. I mean it. There’s no way she would’ve told anyone about it. It would’ve gotten worse and she could’ve—” He chokes on his words. “She’s self-destructive. Especially when it comes to her health.”
“Why?” I shift in my chair. “I know she hurts herself, but I don’t understand it.”
“Her doctor says it’s a way for her to release her stress or overwhelming anxiety. Whenever they’ve assessed her, they always conclude she makes superficial cuts, but what if one day… Honestly, it scares the hell out of me.”
My pops comes to mind. An icy shiver runs through me.
“Mr. Hemings?”
“Yes, Cash?”
“She wouldn’t do what my pops did, would she?”
So far, the first three months of this year have been riddled with one terrible thing after another. I’m about at my breaking point.
The stress is more than someone my age should have to deal with. We’re about to go on the road for the summer and Livianna’s been working nonstop.
Since her blood clot diagnosis, her parents hover over her. I don’t blame them because she’s on blood thinners and if she injures herself, she could bleed to death. Their fear does nothing to calm my always electrocuting nerves.
She can’t seem to catch a break, and because of that, we get very little alone time together. On top of that, she can no longer take any kind of birth control with hormones.
They say they think she’s prone to blood clots. Since she’s so young and got one, they won’t take any chances. I guess it’s highly unusual, but that seems to be our luck.
A pit grows deeper in my stomach every day that gets closer to us being apart. I’m not sure how much more either of us can take.
Trying to fill the emptiness that’s creeping in, I decide to take her a dozen roses to the studio. I’m still scraping by, but I need to see her smile again. It’s been way too long since her eyes have sparkled when she does.
She’s on set in front of a live audience when I get there. A studio hand shows me a place off to the side of the stage where I can wait for her.
My chest swells as I take her in. She’s not only gorgeous, but she’s sexy as fuck. Nobody in the crowd can take their eyes off her. My breath comes in faster as a zap of fiery jealousy strikes my heart.
Is this how she feels when I’m working?
Sebastian Holloway strolls onto the set, wrapping his arms around her waist. I haven’t seen him since my birthday.
Before that, he was at my concert trying to force Livianna against the wall to get her to make out with him. I clench down on my teeth.
He twists her around and dips her backward. He says something to her. Then they kiss. I can’t stop staring at them pressed together. My heart thunders.
And then it happens. His tongue slides over her bottom lip and dips into her mouth. It steals my breath and my hands start to shake. I’m about to throw the rose down and tear him off her, but some guy slaps me on the shoulder.
“I see you still don’t mind sharing her.” He releases a wicked laugh. “I can’t stop thinking about her. She may not have been a virgin when I got her, but her pussy sure was tight like one. I could barely slide two fingers in.”
I spin around to have the douchebag my uncle hired on New Year’s Eve grinning at me like I’m the stupidest guy in town. The satisfied gleam in his smug gaze has me seeing red.
The second my fist slams against his jaw, it swings to the side. Blood spittle flies through the air. I tackle him to the floor and pound on his face over and over. He grunts as the cracks from my blows echo around us.
“Callum! Stop!” Livianna screams, but it doesn’t register.
I keep hitting this motherfucker who tried to rape my girlfriend and did a hell of a lot more to her than she owned up to. I can’t stop. The scorching heat running through my veins takes over and rips through me like a volcano.
Someone grabs my arm. My elbow flies back and smacks hard against something behind me. From the corner of my eye, I see Livianna fall to the ground.
I jump off the guy and rush to her side. “Lily, fucking hell. I didn’t know it was you. I’m so sorry.”
She’s on her stomach, pushing herself up when my heart breaks into pieces. Blood runs from her nose and the corner of her mouth like a hose. A huge dark red puddle forms and expands below her in seconds.
The blood thinners… She could die.
Everything in my world goes black as my life shatters. What the fuck have I done?