Page 94 of The Boss I Can't Stand

“I’malwaysgoing to worry about that.” Because that’s what my family did. “But it would be nice to not want to punch you in the face every time I see you on set for our next movie.”

“So that’s still on?” X asked.

“There’s a pile of scripts on my desk waiting for you to review.” I reached my hand out to shake his. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.

X smiled a bit, releasing my hand. “Guess I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Guess you will.” I glanced at Mom. “I’ll see you later at Liam’s. Can’t wait to see the look on his and Connor’s face when you tell them.”

Mom rolled her eyes but beamed. “They’ll get on board.”

And they would, because not everything needed to be perfect. “I should get over to my interview before Jillian sends her assistants after me.”

X nodded. “And we’ve got lunch reservations.” He took Mom’s hand, leading her from the room, and the two of them walked off down the hall together. Staring after their retreating forms, I suddenly missed Sierra so viscerally that tightness pulled across my chest.

I knuckled the space between my ribs, willing it away. But I couldn’t. There were so many little reminders of the ways my life was emptier and less colorful now that Sierra wasn’t in it.

I wished she was here now, just down the hall at the costume shop, where I could meet her to steal a kiss in between meetings or tell her about Mom and X. I wanted to whisk her away for a romantic dinner to celebrate how wellEvery Daywas doing at the box office and ask her opinion on what Hart of Gold should work on next and show her the silly meme Grace had sent me this morning from Connor’s phone.

I wanted to share all these little things with her. But right now, more than anything, I just wished I could hold her hand.

And if I was going to have any shot at that, I needed to repair things between us. My brothers were right.Momwas right.

If I wanted Sierra—and I did—then I needed to embrace the mess and uncertainty that came from loving someone.

I needed to try again.

34

SIERRA

“We should totally join a league,” Ro said, dragging me inside the bowling alley for what she called my enforced weekly fun. “We need to get back to our roots.”

“I don’t know if we’re good enough for a league anymore. And we hardly have the time.”

“We’ll form our own team then. Like we did when we were ten.”

“Lord.” I laughed and winced at the same time, clutching my head at the memories. “We’re resurrecting the Gutter Punishers?”

Ro smirked, dragging me toward the shoe counter. “Hell yes we are. Oh, the shoe guy is kinda cute!” She surged forward, tugging me along. “Let’s see what his deal is.”

“Hard pass.”

“You agreed to be open-minded, remember?”

“Yeah, well, shoe guy is about twenty-five. That’s way too young for me.”

“Sure, but maybe he has a cute older brother.”

Since the breakup, Ro had been dragging me out of the house at least once a week, hoping I’d lock eyes with a stranger across the room and fall hopelessly in love so I could effectively wipe Finn from my mind.

It wasn’t a terrible plan.

It was just a plan that had zero chance of working.

Finn Lockhart was a fixture in my life whether I wanted him there or not. It had been two months since the breakup, and he still cropped up in little ways, making my stomach ache. When I put my coffee in my to-go thermos in the mornings, he was there. When I cracked open a can of RevX, he was there, complaining about my addiction. When I spotted a glowing article online aboutEvery Day, I imagined turning to him to see that crooked half smile. The real one I’d come to know.

To miss.