Page 40 of Shy Girls Can’t Date Celebrities (Shy Girls Sweet Romances #6)

I shift my weight awkwardly as she towers over me. “Yeah.”

“You must be loving the five star treatment, being back in Wyatt’s life all these years later,” she says, sizing me up.

“I, I, I,” I stammer under the weight of her intimidation, until something snaps inside me. I stand taller and click my tongue. “Look, just stop crowding him. He’s not the same guy you remember.”

Portia smirks, popping a hip. “I could say the same thing to you, honey.”

“Joze,” Wyatt croaks, rubbing the side of his head. “Thanks for sticking up for me, but I’m okay.”

I stumble on my footing, disarmed by my boyfriend.

Portia turns to him, rising on the balls of her feet and grinning at him.

I huff in deflation. The smugness oozing from Portia makes me want to gag. Wyatt basically made her feel in the right, and me in the wrong.

I shouldn’t have dared open my mouth in her highness’s presence.

Hubert moves in with Wyatt’s pain medication and a glass of water. Erika suggests he take a seat on the couch, and I breathe a sigh of relief when he’s off his feet.

Portia clasps her hands in front as she looks me up and down. “Everyone says how incredible your visit has been. Oh my gosh, you have no idea how grateful I am that you were here while I was stuck overseas.”

I rub behind my neck, slouching under her height atop stiletto heels. “Ah, yeah, sure.”

She gives my arm a slight pat. “At least you don’t have to feel guilty about leaving now. I’ll be by his side as he gets back to work.”

My mouth falls open, but before I can muster a single syllable, Portia has moved over to the couch.

“How you doing, baby?” she asks Wyatt as he sets down his glass of water.

He rubs the side of his head. “I’m okay.”

Portia sighs, sitting beside him. “I hate that you’re in pain. It physically hurts me. ”

“Really?” Wyatt asks with an air of doubt.

“Yeah. You don’t believe me?”

“It’s not th-that. It’s just... I-I don’t...” Wyatt shakes his head and sighs. “I’m sorry that I don’t remember you.”

“Why would you be sorry,” Portia rushes, caressing the side of his face. “Ugh, baby, I hate that you’ve been going through this alone.”

Wyatt’s body angles toward me as he says, “Well, I’m not alone. I have...”

“I know, I know,” Portia cuts in. “You have a whole team. I just hate that I wasn’t here. I’ve missed being with you.”

Wyatt winces. “Being with me? Does that mean... It’s just... Umm, you keep calling me...”

Portia deadpans him, trying to read where he’s going with this.

My stomach plummets and oozes an excruciatingly gross feeling throughout my abdomen.

“You know,” Wyatt wipes his brow, fidgeting uncomfortably. “Calling me baby. Is that a girlfriend nickname?”

I retch quietly, hoping no one notices me dying inside.

Portia giggles, wiping a crooked index finger under her dark eye lashes. “We never wanted to label our relationship.”

Wyatt sucks in a breath. “Oh.”

“We’re just very close,” she says, curling her hand around his wrist. “We’re always at parties together, and we work so well together. You’ll always be baby to me.”

Wyatt looks down at her hand on him. “Okay?”

“Does it bother you?” Portia asks, releasing him. “It never used to.”

“Like I said, I don’t remember you.”

Portia swallows hard and nods. “I get it. I need to pump the brakes. I’m just so excited to see you again.”

“It must be weird for you too,” Wyatt says. “We had a relationship, but it’s gone now. ”

“Not necessarily,” Richmond says. “If we get you two back in the recording studio, it might be the magic fix that brings everything back to you.”

“I... I...” Wyatt looks up at Richmond, and then pans around to the others on his team. “I don’t kn-know if I’m ready.”

“Your voice is exceptional as always,” Erika encourages.

“And what about that magic moment?” Lexy cheers. “You sang with Portia and then it was like your memory was coming back. It’s like you’re getting pieced back together.”

“Portia’s the key to getting your life back,” Richmond says. “You two can pick up where you left off.”

How am I still standing?

Wyatt flinches. “But, I... I...”

“You should do it,” I blurt.

Wyatt turns to me with surprise.

I nod, giving him a smile. “You’ve got to. What if it brings your memory back?”

“But we...”

I cut him off. “You’re so close. You said it yourself. Don’t you want to clear the fog?”

“Yeah, but we were...”

“It’s okay,” I say, pushing harder for a smile. “This is important. You’ve got to try.”

It’s agonizing, but this is the life he chose for himself before the accident. The fame and the popstar by his side. I need him to know he can forget about going to Victoria Falls with me. I’m not going to hold him back.

His parents were right all along.

I’m an unwanted distraction.

Portia curls her arm around Wyatt’s. “ Yay . We’re going back to the studio, baby. ”

Wyatt looks down at her arm around him, and then he gasps. “Wait, I remember you.”

All the team members angle themselves closer to the couch, waiting on bated breath for confirmation Wyatt’s memory has finally returned.

“You were on that TV show,” Wyatt says, furrowing his brow to recall the information. “What was it called, ‘Boy Crazy,’ or something? You were the one who sang, right?”

Portia lets out a giddy laugh, flicking her long, sleek hair over her shoulder. “Yeah, that was me. I played Heather on the show, but left after season two when my concert tours blew out.”

“Yeah, I remember watching you after school.”

“That’s so cute,” Portia gushes. “Did you ever imagine back then we’d end up singing together?”

“Ah, no, not at all.”

Portia giggles and traces her index finger under his chin. “We’ve done a lot together.”

Seemingly hypnotized by her dark, almond eyes, there’s only slight hesitation from Wyatt as he tilts his head back.

“Right before your accident, we were in the middle of working on a song together,” Portia says.

“And you can get right back to your duet in Ferndale,” Richmond says, driving his point home.

“You and Portia starred in ‘Without You’ together,” Erika explains. “And she had a role in your latest film.”

“It was only a small role,” Portia says. “I’d already wrapped so I could get back to Europe for my music.”

Wyatt winces, turning to look at Erika. “The movie you want me to get back to making?”

Erika beams. “When you’re up to it.”

Portia squeezes Wyatt’s shoulder. “Getting back into the studio with me might feel more like home. Once we finish the song, I can help you run lines from the script. It’ll be like old times.”

Lexy squeals with glee. “You’ll be back to your old self in no time, Wyatt.”

Randall checks an alert on his phone, and then says to Erika. “Savanna from the clinic is due soon for an assessment with Wyatt.”

“Okay, that gives us some time to figure out this week’s schedule before going over it with him.” Erika then turns to me. “And we’ll need to get Josie organized if we’re all headed to Ferndale.”

My heart plummets to the pit of my stomach.

All I wanted when I woke up this morning was to go home.

Now, the thought of leaving Wyatt makes me want to puke.

Portia’s wrapped around him. It’s only a matter of moments until I’m completely wiped from his memory.

Randall starts suggesting options for my travel arrangements, but it only makes the blood pump louder in my veins. As it thunders in my ears, I find myself backing away. I mutter something to the effect of, “Needing a minute,” and escape into the hallway.

With a weight on my chest, and oxygen barely getting through, I collapse onto my knees on my bedroom floor. It takes a few moments before my gasps subside and I finally hear a different ringing in my ears.

Through blurry vision, I find my phone lighting up on my bed, a call coming through.

I gulp the need to sob and my trembling hand reaches for the phone.

It’s Mom.