Page 143 of Dream On

The touch of my hand brings him back to life. He blinks back to the dinner table, glances at me. Another dazed blink. “Right. Yeah, we should get going.”

“So soon?” Veronica dabs her mouth with her napkin, giving sad puppy-dog eyes to her son. “They have fried ice cream. Your favorite.”

“Sorry, but I’ve got that…thing tomorrow.” Swiping a hand down his face, he clears his throat and reaches for his wallet. A wad of hundred-dollar bills lands on the table. “I’ll call you later.”

“Looking forward to it. I’ll keep you posted on the time and place for dinner with Willa and her mother.”

“Yeah.” Lex stands from the chair, takes my hand, and leads me away from the table.

The moment we’re outside the restaurant, I tear my hand from his.

“Stevie—”

“Don’t.”

“Just ignore her. That’s what I do.”

“I noticed.”

The limo rolls up a minute later as I wrap my arms around my body, maintaining a three-foot gap between us. I can’t touch him right now. I can’t even look at him.

It’s a quiet drive back to his condo as he sits slumped in the seat, staring straight ahead. When he reaches for my hand, ten minutes into the trip, I dodge him, shifting away and icing him out.

No.

He doesn’t get to comfort me, especially when no one is looking. There’s no point.

A text message pings from my cell phone a moment later, and I glance over at Lex, watching as he stares down at his own phone with a tense jaw and weary eyes.

I don’t want to look, but I spare my screen a glance.

My Christian: I’m sorry.

Blowing out a breath, I flip my phone over in my lap and ignore the message.

I can’t do this right now.

The silence loudens, and all I want to do is roll down the window and launch myself at the California coastline. It’s a treacherous forty-five minute drive back to Hollywood Hills. My thoughts are disbanded, my breathing turning more erratic with every mile, and I feel my fingernails digging into my palms, leaving angry crescent moons behind.

I close my eyes and block everything out, waiting for this hellish drive to be over.

When Adrian finally helps me from the limo, I give him the kindest smile I can muster, then storm away as Lex trails behind me to the main doors.

“Stevie, come on.”

I don’t respond. I can’t.

Nothing I have to say is fit for public consumption, and there are people everywhere.

But the moment we’re inside—when we’re behind closed doors, trapped inside his enormous, stifling condo—I don’t hold back.

I unleash.

Chapter 35

Lex

Pretty sure I fucked up.