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"I’, Reid, if you touch her or pressure her in any way before I do my part of this, it’s over and we’re screwed"
"Or not," he quips
"Ha Ha" God, I have had just about enough of his horseshit
"Look, I’ he left that wide open I would dearly love to deliver the retort he expects, but it’s just too easy "Everything else inre your orders, because you’re the irl I’ve ever known, plus I can smell how badly you want Graham"
If it wasn’t true, how much I want Graham, I’d end this here and now But Reidhi ful than all of the faceless boys and men I’ve been with in the last few years None of the to be whatever he wantsabout that?
I’ve always been a crap judge of character Grahah the existence of our friendship was all due to hioff of guys like the shiny silver ball in uess Graham could tell that about me He was one of the feho turned uy would reject me morphed into uber-bitch mode He stuck around and beca I didn’t deserve, and sorow into more
Graham has this quiet, steady aura about him, and of course I’m drawn to a disposition so coht we’d balance out, like a relationship seesaw When we both scored roles in School Pride, I was sure my chance had come Close quarters for three months, and my very real need for emotional protection from Reid that only Graham could provide
Then he met Emma
At first, I assumed she’d screw him over for Reid She was obviously not immune to him, and he focused exclusively on her I remembered all too well how that felt When Reid and I first met, he flashed those blue eyes at me--baby blues, because holy shit he hat, fourteen then?--and I was a goner Fifteen years old, and I was sure I’d uy I wanted to spend forever with God, what a na&iuured hih to witness hi what he does, and then she dropped his ass It would have been a joy to behold, if not for Graham I’d never seen hi out, I made careful plans to seduce him, but all he wanted to talk about was E over her--which he was more prone to do I don’t think he even noticed lad he didn’t
Because this ti to work
REID
Choosing a restaurant in a city you’ve never visited is tough Since Emma lives in Sacramento, I asked her to choose whatever she’d like This one will do, though not for ether in the restaurant The s are draped, probably thwarting the cozy paparazzi photos Brooke and I were anticipating For actual inti candles, semi-tasteful décor (points deducted for the acoustic tile ceiling and likely-artificial paneling on a far wall)
"So what’s the deal with this Marcus character? He see to htly, and she rolls her eyes
"Yeah, well, I guess that’s harder to avoid than I thought" She returns my s an ever-so-slight distance between us
I lean back, pretending not to notice her withdrahile she exa hi He also punctuates practically every sentence with either heh-heh or Mr Alexander After taking our drink order, he scurries to the back through a set of double doors where the rest of the wait staff congregates They’ve all been not-so-sneakily casting looks our way since alked in Typical
A fun fact about celebrity: If you get carded, there’s no such thing as a fake ID They already know your real naet your exact birthdate I rarely get carded, especially in LA or New York, or really anywhere we’re fil Most restaurants, bars and clubs are so freaked at having celebrities show up that they just don’t give a crap Apparently this place, which passes as "upscale" for Sacrah, when Chad the waiter co to see ID for the bottle of wine I ordered
"Dude, are you serious?" I say, and his face goes scarlet
"My er, heh-heh," he subtly inclines his head towards the back "I’m really sorry, Mr Alexander"
"It’s okay," E smile "I’ll just have water" The breath wooshes out of the poor guy and he looks back at"Yeah, uess I’hs "No, definitely not"
"So I heard through the grapevine that you were in New York recently, visiting colleges Chosen one yet?" I’ot that froht she think to knoas Graham-to-Brooke-to-me?
She doesn’t take the bait Either she doesn’t see it, or she’s too s towards NYU"
"Tisch" I nod "Cool"
"You know it?"
I laughed "You don’t have to sound so surprised I was up to ot close to finishing e was never really on my radar But that doesn’t rams You know, just in case"
She tilts her head "In case what?"
That’s right, Emma Follow the crumbs "In case I decide to take my career in a more serious direction at some point"
A crease appears on her forehead and ht you said so the crazy famous and ton of money route?"