24. Sienna #2
Henry hops up and takes Eli’s hand as they head up the porch and inside.
I hear the click of the front door locking, and my stomach turns.
Fuck. This better not be happening again.
I start to look over my shoulder when I hear an engine, but Cash hisses my name.
“Go inside, Sienna.”
“No.”
“They’re here for you.”
“Exactly, which is why the two of you need to go inside. I don’t want to bring you into my mess.”
Cash stares at me long and hard, clearly remembering our earlier conversation when he said those exact words to me.
“Cash is right,” says Knox, standing up. “You’ve taken enough bullshit from them.”
“No! Knox!” I shout, but he’s already marching down the hill to where the vehicle is parked.
Cash is following.
And now so am I.
I wrap my shirt around me as it flaps in the wind.
“Cash! Knox!” I yell, but they’re stubborn as always, marching toward the car.
The car doors open, and multiple people get out.
The paparazzi have officially arrived.
I suck in a breath and break into a run. But the boys are already over there, causing a scene. The cameras are more blinding than the car’s headlights. I shield my eyes, suddenly aware of my appearance.
I threw on the first shirt I could find, and I think it’s probably dirty. The sweatpants I’m wearing barely fit me, since they belong to Eli. My hair is down and scraggly. Like a rat’s nest.
They’ve also never seen me without makeup but there’s nothing I can do about that now. I could put on my sunglasses if they weren’t in my bag which is back at the house.
I always make sure to put something on my face in the morning if I know I’m going somewhere I might be photographed.
BB cream goes a long way. It’s my holy grail.
It does wonders to the skin and helps smooth everything out.
I could definitely use some of that right now, along with a hair tie.
Even a messy ponytail would look better than what I’ve got going on right now.
I feel every goosebump stand at attention as the cameras start flashing.
“Sienna! Tell us what you’re doing out here?”
“Sienna, who are these men you’re staying with?”
“Over here, Sienna.”
“Undo a few of those buttons, Sienna.”
“Let’s see a bit of skin.”
Fucking typical. I roll my eyes. This is your average day in LA. They love it in the summer when you’re strutting around in a cute little cami and a short skirt. Not so much in the winter when it’s time to throw on a jacket.
I catch Knox and Cash’s faces in the camera lights.
Holy shit.
They look like they want to kill these people.
They need to go inside before they make this worse for themselves.
These guys don’t do social cues like people in LA.
They don’t understand the consequences.
But before I can pull them away, Knox is already dragging one guy by his collar and launching him down the hill.
Yes. Launching. Like he’s throwing a bowling ball.
But he’s not. He’s throwing a whole fucking person.
My mouth gapes open. Living here, seeing them every day, I forget how enormous they are compared to the average man.
There is nothing fucking average about Knox, Cash and Eli though. I knew that the moment I first saw them. But now it’s undeniable.
I look at them, feeling a little smug that they’re all mine—for now, at least. Every woman on this earth probably wishes they were me.
Knox stalks down the hill and pulls the guy to his feet.
I keep my eyes fixated on the cameraman. It’s dark, so I can’t see faces. But I can feel the cameraman’s terror.
In his world, the cops come to your defense. Out here, you’re screwed if you don’t know how to fight, especially when you’re up against someone like Knox.
What the hell is this guy gonna do? Retaliate? Yeah, right...
Paparazzi don’t know how to throw punches. All they know how to do is take pictures of others without consent.
“You speak to Sienna like that again, and I break your fucking jaw,” growls Knox, holding the man by his collar. “Understand?”
My own jaw falls to the ground as I watch Knox pick the man up, holding him in the air. The guy’s legs swing as his feet try to find the ground again.
But Knox just raises him higher.
I stand there in complete awe. Knox is holding the guy up with one hand, and he’s not showing any signs of fatigue.
“Answer me.” Knox shakes the man, eliciting a gasp from him. “Do. You. Understand?”
The guy nods, and Knox drops him. He crumples to the ground.
I catch Cash watching the rest of the crew. “You people filming this?”
Crickets.
Oh my god.
Cash barrels toward them, throwing his fist straight into the lens. The man drops his camera in horror, hands shaking like crazy as glass rains to the floor.
“Do you know how much these things cost?” he whimpers.
Cash takes one look at the third guy challenging him and swings his hand around his neck, pulling him into a headlock. “Come back here again,” he says, addressing all of them, “and I chop off your dicks.” His gaze drops. “That’s if you’re not already dickless, which I suspect you may be.”
Cash shoves his victim to the ground and backs off. “I want you back in your car. Now. Don’t let me ever see your faces again.”
I clamp a hand over my mouth as the paparazzi turn to me, waiting for my reaction. I’m surprised they still care, since the cameras are no longer rolling.
I really can’t believe this just happened.
I glance at Cash, my heart thumping in my chest. A few days ago, he was blaming me, saying it was my fault I brought everyone into this mess.
But the mess he and Knox have just caused is much worse.
Cash lived in LA, so he’s well aware of the consequences.
Unlike the other two, he knows how toxic the media is, prioritizing the perfect shot above all else.
Privacy doesn’t matter when it comes to getting your photograph on the front cover of a good magazine.
Cash knows that. And he still chose to cause a scene.
“Let’s get you back inside.” Knox curls an arm around me, and I feel like crumbling.
“I’m…I,” I stutter, trying to vocalize that I can't move.
Looks like I can’t speak, either.
Knox tosses me over his shoulder like I weigh nothing, and the three of us return to the cabin.
Cash walks behind us. It’s hard to make out his face in the darkness, but the energy between us feels different. More intense. Like he’s tired of hating me.
“We’ll do the s’mores another night,” says Cash, stamping out the fire.
A cold breeze blows hard. I use Knox as a personal heater, but I still feel cold. I have chicken skin, even once we make it inside.
Henry is in bed, and Eli is staring at me, concern etched between his brows.
“They’ll still be able to recover the footage,” I manage to say when Knox sets me down. “It’ll be?—”
“It doesn’t matter. They have to learn to respect your privacy,” says Knox.
I stand in the middle of them, feeling small. Usually, my heart swells when they’re all surrounding me like this.
But right now, my heart sinks.
Reality is starting to set in. This whole situation is temporary.
Perhaps if I hadn’t committed myself to being an actress, my life could be like this. I could be the kind of girl who toasted s’mores on the weekend, who was married and had beautiful children.
But I chose a different path. I made my bed. Now I have to lie in it.
Because if I don’t, I’ll drag innocent people into my mess.
And if there’s one thing worse than ruining your own life, it’s ruining someone else’s.
“Sienna,” says Eli, breaking the tense silence. “Are you okay?”
“I’m gonna head to bed.”
I walk away, the floorboards creaking under my feet as I slip into Knox’s room.
I crash onto the mattress, tossing the covers over my head.
My hormones are all over the place at the moment—big thanks to my period.
I think about how complicated all of this feels.
That’s why I don’t want to leave. I’ll move back to LA, get busy with life again, film the second movie, and probably never see them again. LA has a way of sucking you in, forcing you to forget about what truly matters.
I don’t want to ever forget all of this.
But maybe it’s the only way.
It’s fun now, but everything has an expiration date.
The only true happiness I had in my life was Grammy, and I wasn’t there for her when she needed me. I didn’t respect her time or the sacrifices she made to raise me. She lost her daughter in a plane accident, and all I cared about was making it big. I didn’t repay her kindness. I abandoned her.
Why should the world give me another shot at happiness when I failed to recognize it the first time?
I slide further under the covers, noticing a devastating pattern, especially when it comes to men. Holden left me. So did my own father. I can barely remember what he looked like.
What makes this time different?
I’m feeling things I didn’t feel with Holden, but that doesn’t mean anything. When I look at the facts, I see the same patterns.
My stomach churns. This is going to be over soon, and it hurts like hell.
But I have to burst this bubble and make amends in LA. The sooner I do that, the better.