Kiss the Sky (45 page)

“Consult
Lily before you make the final decisions, even if she doesn’t really give you a
straight answer,” I say. He grins, totally reveling in the win.

When
his eyes fall back to the binder, his smile disappears. “Why do you have
Scott’s name on here?”

I
don’t even have to refresh my memory to know about number twenty-seven on the
list. “It was a reminder,” I tell him. “I wanted to ask you if Scott seemed
different this past month.”

“How
so?” he asks. But I think Connor has his own theories, he just wants to hear
mine first.

“At
the beginning of the show he was a misogynistic pig, making disgusting comments
and always in my face. But ever since the Alps, or maybe a few weeks after
that, he’s backed off. I thought maybe it was because you and I had sex.
Somewhere, deep down, Scott has a sense of respect.”

Connor’s
already shaking his head.

“Yeah,
I know,” I say. “It doesn’t add up.”

“Timing
is everything,” Connor tells me. “I think he’s just waiting.”

“For
what?”

“I
don’t know yet.”

Shivers
run up my arms.

One
month left.

I
wonder if Scott has been waiting for the wedding. Or if he’s planning on
fucking something up sooner.

For
the first time, I’m as nervous as I was when we first started the show.

I
didn’t think that was possible.

[ 44 ]

CONNOR COBALT

“Don’t do this,” Daisy pleads. “I beg of you.” She
cups her hands together in a praying fashion as her head whips from Rose to me.
She sits on the edge of her paisley green bedspread while we stand in her room,
the door shut so no leering cameras can peek inside.

“We
gave you three whole days to break up with him,” Rose reminds her little
sister. “If it hasn’t happened already, it won’t be happening in the near
future.”

The
Marco Jeans campaign ended almost a week ago, which means Daisy can break up
with Julian without fearing “bad” chemistry at the shoot. But Daisy has a
weakness for hurting people’s feelings.

 
I’m supposed to escort Julian out of the
townhouse when we deliver the news. And I am
greatly
looking forward to it. I no longer have to be nice and put
on a façade that hurts my fucking jaw. He’s of no use to me anymore.

Daisy
groans into her hands. “I don’t want my older sister and her boyfriend breaking
up with
my
boyfriend for me.”

“Fine.
Will you break up with him?” Rose raises her eyebrows.

“Ye—”

“Right
now?”

Daisy’s
face drops.

“So
let’s lay out the facts,” I interject. “Everyone in this house dislikes Julian.
You
dislike Julian. And I don’t like
to generalize, but I’d say a very large portion of America
hates
Julian. But you’re still dating him because…”

“I
don’t like breaking up with people,” she admits. “It’s awkward and horrible. In
all my past flings, I would just stop talking to the guy and he’d kind of go
away. Julian’s not like that.”

Rose
snaps, “If you can’t break up with someone, you shouldn’t be dating them.

“Okay,
but still…I say we reconvene this powwow in a month or two. Like, chill on it
until Julian gets tired and moves on.”

Rose
looks to me and her lips lift. “I think this might be on my bucket list. You
and me, crushing the heart of my sister’s disgusting boyfriend.”

“Was
this boyfriend on your list named Loren Hale?” I ask with a smile.

“Maybe.
But we can always have an addendum.”

 
Daisy lets out another long groan.

“If
it’s so embarrassing, next time don’t date someone you can’t break up with,”
Rose refutes.

“She’s
watching this, right?” I ask my girlfriend.

“What?”
Daisy gawks, her eyes widening. “
No
ooo
…” She draws out the word like she’s coming to terms with
what’s about to happen.
 

“You’ll
watch,” Rose says with a nod.

“And
take notes,” I add.

Rose
turns to me, her face lighting up. “Look at us. We’re already pretty good at
this.”

I
slide my hand into hers, joining in her excitement, maybe even more than her. I
see us ten years from now. The same incredible team. Only with little versions
of us running around. But her fear of motherhood is another battle for another
day.

“After
you,” I tell Daisy, gesturing towards the door.

“He’s
here? Right now?” She blinks in a daze.

“Yes,”
Rose snaps, “so reconfigure your sense of direction and make your way downstairs.
Chop
chop
.” She snaps at her sister until Daisy
springs to her feet.

“Okay,
I can do this…” Daisy says brushing her hair off her shoulders. “I’ve swam with
sharks before. What’s so bad about listening to my sister tear the soul out of
a guy?” She cringes and gives Rose a pleading look. “Go easy on him. He’s
already half-ape, Connor said so.”

I
laugh when Rose glares at me. “What?” I say. “I watched him open a can of soup
in the Alps by smacking it against the counter. There are tools that humans invented
for such complicated tasks.”

Rose
shakes her head repeatedly and then she marches towards the door. “If no one is
going to move their ass, then you all can follow mine.”

“Fine
with me, darling.” But I wait for Daisy to walk ahead of me. She’s the type of
girl who would jump out of a three-story window for the hell of it. And we’ve
just given her a reason to do so.

Daisy
sighs and heads downstairs with Rose. In the living room, Julian waits for me
to show up, thinking I’ve invited him over for beer—like we’re friends. He sits
on the couch and flips through
Rock and
Ice
, a mountaineering magazine that
Ryke
reads.

Daisy
lingers by the staircase, unable to approach the couch any further. She looks
like she’s about to flush a pet fish down the toilet. Ben is already sitting in
one of the chairs, his camera positioned at us.

“Hey,
man,” Julian says with a nod, standing up. He tosses the magazine on the table.

I
don’t say a thing. I just head over to the couch. “You can take a seat.”

He
frowns, but he sits on command. Rose and I choose the loveseat across from him.
She crosses her ankles and rests her hands on her knees.

“Julian,”
Rose says flatly. “It comes with my utmost pleasure to inform you that Daisy
will no longer be seeing you, ever again.”

“What?”
Julian scratches his cheek, more unshaven than I last remember.

“She’s
breaking up with you,” I clarify. “Don’t call. Don’t text. Don’t show up on the
doorstep expecting a quickie of any kind. You’re done.”

Julian
rotates, looking over his shoulder at Daisy by the staircase. “What the fuck?
Are you dumping me?”

“Hey,”
Rose snaps her fingers at him, and the noise draws him back towards us. “She
didn’t want to hurt your ugly little feelings.”

Julian
immediately rises. “This is bullshit.” He stares at Rose’s sister. “Did they
put you up to this, baby?”

She’s
about to answer, but the front door suddenly swings open, banging against the
wall. Rose and I stand up at the same time. Wild, angry voices pierce the room.

“I’m
not being overdramatic!” Lily yells…dramatically. She carries a towering stack
of magazines in her arms. Loren and
Ryke
push
forward, past Brett and Savannah who try to squeeze through the doorway before
them.

Lily
rushes into the kitchen.

This
doesn’t look good.

I
make my way to the kitchen to deploy whatever airbags they all need to survive
this crash.

Lily
throws the magazines into the sink and then opens a cupboard. She pulls out a
bottle of lighter fluid for the grill outside.

“Whoa!”
Ryke
and Lo yell in unison. They dart for her body as
she squirts the liquid all over the magazines. I pry the plastic squirt bottle
out of her grip, and Rose starts cleaning. She trashes all the magazines in a
hefty bag before Lily has a chance to light them on fire.

Lo
has Lily around the waist, and I stare at her eyes, filled with hatred and
hysteria. “What’s going on?” I ask her, trying to be calm so everyone else
feels reassured enough to relax.

But
my tactics aren’t helping Lily right now. “People suck!” she screams, half
crying on her words.

That
explains nothing. I reach for one of the magazines in Rose’s hand before she
tosses it. The paper is wet, and pages stick together. I don’t need to flip it
open to understand the root of her anger.

The
headline reads:
Lily Calloway, Nymphomaniac
and Reportedly Sleeping with Brothers

The
photograph shows her walking down a street in Philly with Loren and
Ryke
on either side of her, which isn’t uncommon,
especially when everyone is concerned about the girls’ safety without
bodyguards.

“I
don’t fucking care about the rumors.”
Ryke
extends
his arms. “How many times do I have to say that?”

“I’m
not a cheater! I don’t even like being an alleged cheater,” Lily says angrily.
She points a threatening finger at the magazines. “And I hate being called a
nympho!”

Nymphomania
encompasses all
hypersexuality
, not just sex
addiction. For someone like Lily, who identifies with being an addict, being
labeled a nymphomaniac strengthens the debate that sex addiction is a myth.

“What
do you want to do about it, Lil?” Loren asks. “Throw a tantrum in front of the
cameras. Done. They’ve got your reaction on film.”

She
settles down, and her face contorts in hurt. Before Lo can share in it, I speak
up. “Or you could light this on fire.” I throw the magazine into Rose’s trash
bag. “It might be cathartic.”

Lily’s
eyes brighten at my permission.

Rose
shoots me a disapproving glare. “Don’t encourage her.” She lets go of the bag
and holds out her hands far away from her clothes. I can smell the lighter
fluid on her from here. I’m about to help her clean up, but a loud voice
overtakes all of ours.

“Are
you fucking serious?!” Julian yells, his nose inches from Daisy’s. His hands
rest beside her head on the wall, her back pinned against it.

She
turns her face and winces, shutting her eyes tightly.

“Do
you know the
hell
that I went through
for you?!”

“HEY!”
Ryke
shouts, immediately sprinting over to Julian,
his features darkening in a split second. Brett races beside him, whipping his
camera towards an impending fight.

Rose
curses and tries to turn off the faucet with her wrist, her hands dripping with
water. Lo has Lily, calming her down. And as much as I want to stay and help
Rose, she gives me a look that says,
GO.

Crisis
management #2.

The
fact that we started this issue makes me want to resolve it even more. And I
don’t begin running until Julian slams his fist into the wall beside Daisy’s
head, screaming so loudly that veins protrude from his neck.

She
flinches, and
Ryke
grabs Julian by the shoulder and
slugs him in the jaw with a hard right hook. Julian stumbles back a couple
steps before barreling into
Ryke
, trying to force him
to the floor. But I grab
Ryke
and keep him upright
from behind.

Ryke
shakes Julian off him, and then hits him again in the face.

Julian
curses and staggers back—further this time. He stops, breathing heavily as he
touches his reddened eye.

He
deserved a lot more than a fucking shiner for screaming in a girl’s face. I was
kind of hoping
Ryke
would break an arm or a leg. I’m
sure Rose wanted a detached penis, but we’re going to have to settle for this.

Julian
looks up, his nose flaring as he glares at Daisy again. “You’re just going to
fucking stand there?”

“What
do you want from me?” Daisy asks.

“For
you to give me back
months
of my life
that I wasted with you, you stupid cunt.”

Instinctively,
I grab
Ryke
by the shoulders as he tries to lunge for
Julian. I hear Lo start cursing from the kitchen, about to storm over here, but
Lily has climbed on his back to stop him. Rose’s heels clap towards us.

“Go
fuck someone who actually likes you, Julius!” Loren yells from the kitchen. “Oh
wait
, that leaves
no one
on this planet. Better go find
someone who can take you to Mars, you motherfucker!”

Ryke
struggles in my grip, and he turns on me for a second. “I
swear to whatever fucking weird god you believe in, Connor, if you don’t let me
beat the shit out of him, I’m going to fucking punch you in the face.”