Page 119 of Jerk

“Good girl.”

“Hannah Alfonso, is it?” A voice comes from behind me, Rye’s eyes narrowing. When I turn around, a man in a shimmering crimson shirt and mesh pants walks towards us. He has a thick business card in his hand. “Your show. I’ve not seen anything like this before.”

Holy shit. I know this face. But I keep my cool. “Charles Antello. I didn’t know you received an invite.”

“I received a special one.” Glancing behind me, I know exactly who sent it. Ryung set me up. Again. “When I heard there would be no press, I thought I’d check it out. And I’m happy I did.” He flips his card to me. “We should talk.” I take it, blinking. Is this really happening? “By the way, who did your set design?”

“That would be me,” Rye states.

“Then take my card too,” he says. “We could work together.”

Ryung steps forward, taking his card with two fingers. He takes the card out of my hand, too. Then he reaches into his front pocket, shirt still cut open and finds his lighter.

My eyes widen as he holds the flame to the cards and… I swear I might kill him.

“We don’t work for anyone,” he says, before I can stop him. The cards burn to his finger before he drops the burnt pieces to the floor. “Thank you for coming.” With his hand on my back, he leads me towards the mansion.

“I’d ask if you knew who that was,” I say. “But you’re the one who invited him.”

“I did,” he says. “I wanted the world to know what they’re missing out on. You don’t need to work for anyone. My girl doesn’t do that. You’ve already built Paradise, and what you did for Krystal? They’ll eat from your hand. Just like you made Coach.”

My eyes shoot up to him, looking for anger or disappointment. I don’t find it. “You deserve your spot on the team." My hands come around his neck as I lean up on my toes. "You’ve made it clear what you’ll do to make sure I know I can trust you. I wanted to do the same.” I wince. “Are you mad?”

“Oh, Kitten,” he chuckles, a finger coming to my skin. “It just means you know that Paradise is ours.”

My lips meet his, an ease washing over me. “I thought I’d burn with you in this town, Rowen.” My words land between us, his forehead coming to mine.

He smiles against it. “No, we burn together. And we burn bright."