Suddenly Famous (11 page)

Leah shrugs. “Syd said that they’re willing to meet us at Pinnacle, so I guess he’s okay with it.” She waits patiently for me to decide. She won’t push any further. I know if I refuse to go, she’ll support me in my decision.

“I am sick of these walls.” I put my hands on her firm ass and squeeze. “Not that I’m sick of being stuck inside with you.”

She giggles and gives me a quick kiss. “Is that a yes?” The hopeful look on her face demolishes any resistance I have left.

“Yes. We can go.”

Leah throws her arms around me in a big hug. “Thanks, Ry. I know it’s hard for you and I appreciate it.” Before I can answer she jumps up and runs out of the room.

“Hey!” I turn to face the door. I spread my arms wide in a ‘what the fuck’ gesture. “You got what you wanted so now you’re done hanging out with me?”

Leah pops her head back in, grinning. “Sorry. I want to call Syd and let her know that we’ll be there.”

I shake my head and turn back to the computer. Once Leah is gone, I silently freak out about tonight. Then I blow out a deep breath, telling myself to stop being such a fucking baby and get over it. If Sydney can do it, I can do it. I’m going to have a good time tonight if it kills me.

Dinner is great. I’m actually glad we came. Leah and Syd were thrilled to find out that Drew and I are doing a film together here in New York. The patrons in the restaurant are polite, though Drew’s massive bodyguard is probably the reason no one approaches us while we eat.

“Ready to go?” I ask after the bill is settled and everyone seems to be finished.

“Yep. We’re good,” Drew says. He whispers something to Sydney and she nods, grabbing her purse.

“Come on babe.” I reach for Leah’s hand as we head for the door. Leah and Syd are chatting excitedly about the upcoming shoot, deciding how to spend their free time together.

“Shit.” Drew comes to an abrupt halt at the door. I watch as his entire body tenses up.

My head snaps up to see why he’s cursing. When I see outside, my blood runs cold and the edges of my vision get hazy. They found us. The pulsating, screaming hoard of fans that follows me everywhere. Plus a bunch of paparazzi to make the mess that much more dangerous.

Leah clasps my hand harder. “It’s pointless to go around, they’ve already seen us.” She sounds nervous. It’s the first time I’ve heard it in her voice.

This is my reality, Leah, better get used to it.

“Evan can’t stop all of them,” Drew says to me, “and you really need to invest in some security.” He frowns when he looks back out the door at the mob.

Trying to hide my trembling, I rub my fingers together nervously. “Yeah, I guess I’ve been in denial about all this crap.” No I haven’t. I just haven’t wanted to deal with it except to hide in my apartment all day.

Drew’s big bodyguard moves to open the door. “Bruce is at the curb waiting,” he says.

“We’ll drive you two home,” Drew says to Leah and me. “There’s no way I’m letting you attempt to get into a cab.” His furious green eyes find mine, “Maybe a driver along with that bodyguard?”

I nod, knowing he’s not mad at me. He’s upset for Sydney, for her safety. He’s probably shocked at the sight of my rabid pack of fans. There’s no doubt in my mind that Andrew Forrester fans don’t act like animals.

Drew motions for the bodyguard to open the door and the full force of the Ryker Bancroft fan club hits us right smack in the face. The caterwaul is so loud, my ears physically hurt from the sheer volume. Leah, who I have in front of me with my hands on her waist, shrinks back into my chest. “Go, Leah!” I prod her to move.

She stumbles back instead, the aggressiveness of both the paparazzi and the hysterical women are too much for her to fight against. They press forward like a tidal wave of human bodies, slamming into us from all sides.

“Ryker! Oh my God!” Leah screams as someone, or maybe multiple someones, try to pull her out of my arms.

“Shit!” I grab her and hug her tight against me, clasping a hand over my wrist so we can’t be separated. Leah starts crying, scared to do anything but hang on to me.

“I’m so sorry Ry, this was my idea…”

“Stop. Don’t talk like that. We have to get to the car.”

Women descend on us like vultures on road kill. I can feel them grabbing my clothes, my ass, my groin. Their excitement surrounds me, the nauseating stench of perfume and sweat mixing in with the typical scent of the city.

“Don’t touch us, please!” I shout uselessly to the crowd. A large camera is shoved in my face, nearly knocking me in the skull. “Get that thing out of here!” The photographer is excited by my anger, snapping furiously just inches from my face.

I can feel the air closing in on me, like a thick blanket draped over my head, suffocating me and stealing my ability to breathe.

Please don’t let me pass out.

Over the heads of the crowd, I see flashing blue lights, past the bright snaps of the paparazzi’s cameras and the flailing arms of the fans.

Thank God.

The police are here to break this madness up. Knowing they’re here to get us, I shut down, curling my body around Leah. I lay my ear on the top of her head, and wait. A few minutes later, the sound of the crowd changes. The hysteria becomes anger and the paparazzi suddenly stop taking pictures.

“Come on,” Drew is next to us. He takes Leah from me, wrapping his arms around her. I’m about to protest, but find I can’t speak. My body is barely functioning. The big bodyguard puts my arm around his shoulders and helps me to the waiting car.

Red swamps the edges of my vision. The voices in the car fade in and out. I can hardly hear Drew’s bodyguard when he asks if I want the police to photograph my injuries.

Injuries?

I just want to get the fuck out of here. I shake my head no and drop it into my shaking hands.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

“Ry?”

“Ry?”

“Ryker!”

I look up from my spot on the couch. Leah is right in front of me, her eyes filled with worry.

“Are you listening to me, baby?”

“What?” I ask, confused.

She sits next to me and gently puts her hands on either side of my face. “Ry, your phone has been ringing for the last hour and I’ve been trying to get your attention for the last ten minutes. Talk to me, please.”

“I…” My mouth opens but nothing comes out. “I need to take a shower.” I bolt for the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

Shit.

I can’t talk about this. I can’t. Bracing my hands on the sink, I stare at the reflection in the mirror. Gone is the smiling, good-looking young guy I used to be. The man who stands there is tired, dark circles ring his eyes. His eyes are dull. The playful spark that used to reside in them has been extinguished.

I reach up and touch the long red slashes that run down my neck. Battle scars from the tussle with fans last night outside Pinnacle. My head drops forward in defeat, causing the knots in my back to stretch painfully.

There has to be a way to fix this. This can’t be my life.

“Ry? Can I come in?” Leah is outside the bathroom. She sounds pretty freaked out. I don’t want to fuck up my relationship with her on top of everything else, so I unlock the door and open it.

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you about hiring a few guys to do security for you.” She jumps up on the counter, crossing her legs underneath her tiny body.

“Yeah, it’s a good idea.” I don’t move from my position leaning against the wall opposite the sink where Leah sits.

“Drew contacted the company he used to get his guys. They’re going to set us up with a couple of our own. They’ll be here tomorrow for us to meet them.”

“Okay.”

“Can you look at me please?” Leah’s tone is concerned, not angry. Reluctantly, I meet her worried stare.

Her face crumples in pain at whatever she sees in my expression, which makes me feel like shit. I take the three steps across the tiled floor to stand in front of where she sits.

“I’m sorry babe. I’m just…”

She holds up a hand. “I know. You don’t have to explain yourself. Just don’t let this define you. Don’t let it ruin your life.”

“I’m trying, Leah. What should I do? I can’t fucking leave the house! You saw what happened. Look at my face! They scratched the shit out of me. How long will it be until someone does to me what they did to Sydney? Or worse, they do it to you?”

I run my hands through my hair in frustration, angry enough to want to kick the crap out of something.

“Ry.” Leah slides her hands up to mine and untangles them from my hair. She holds our joined hands in between us, refusing to let go. “We will fix this. We just have to figure out how.”

“I know.” But I’m lying. I have no idea if this will ever get better. If I’ll ever be able to walk outside without falling to pieces. If I’ll ever be able to trust anyone I don’t already know.

It feels as if I’m balancing on the edge of a knife blade. The question is, which side will I come down on?

“This is so much fun!”

I smile at Leah, watching her throw another piece of her sandwich to a bunch of pigeons that have landed near us.

“You shouldn’t feed them. You’re a New Yorker, you know that.” I can’t help but laugh when the pigeons double in number and start getting too close for Leah’s comfort.

“Ahhhhh! They’re attacking me!” She ducks her head as one wildly flaps around her head.

Leah dives for the blanket we’ve spread out in an open field in Central Park. “Hey! Don’t bring those gross things over here!” I yell, still laughing pretty hard at the sight of a flock of pigeons getting the best of my feisty girlfriend.

Even while covering her head, Leah giggles and curls up at my side for protection from the pigeons. “God! They’re worse than you fans,” she laughs, keeping her voice low so nearby people won’t hear her.

“Not quite, but yeah, I see the resemblance.” I stand up, spreading my arms wide, and run right into the pigeons, sending them scattered in all directions. “There. I saved you from being pecked to death in Central Park. That headline would be great, though.”

When I flop back down on the blanket, Leah fake-punches my arm. “No, it wouldn’t. Don’t be mean.” Her pout is adorable. Even though I know it’s not real. I lean over and brush my lips over hers, lightly at first, then deeper when she opens her mouth and invites me in.

“Mmmmm, you taste like chicken salad,” I murmur.

She huffs, “Well, you taste like fake beard. Chicken salad is better.”

I push her back until she’s lying on the blanket, never once breaking contact with her mouth. We lay side by side like that for a while, enjoying the early fall sun, sharing passionate kisses in between chatting about random things.

It’s heaven.

“Sydney was brilliant to suggest disguises,” I say to Leah a few hours later as we pack up our picnic. “I can’t believe we didn’t think of it sooner.” I grimace. It was so easy to get high quality wigs and goatee. It was even easier to dress in hideous, shapeless clothes to make ourselves look less… trim.

“I know,” Leah agrees, wrapping an arm around my waist. “We can go anywhere we want now. It’s so…”

“Freeing? Fantastic? Unbelievable? Amazing?”

She pats my abs with her free hand, “Yeah. All of those.” Leah looks up at me with adoring eyes. I put her through hell this summer, refusing to leave the apartment except for work or my appointments with Dr. Benton. She deserved better, but she stuck by me and I couldn’t love her more for it.

I twitch at the thought.
Love?
I think about it as we walk the few blocks back to my place. Do I love Leah? Am I even old enough for that? I only just turned twenty-two, is it possible to be in love this young?

My parents met at nineteen and married as soon as they finished college at twenty-two. They’ve been together ever since. So yeah, it’s possible.

“Ry?”

“Huh?” I’m yanked out of my thoughts by Leah’s worried voice.

“Are you okay?”

She’s looking up at me, clearly concerned.

“What? Yes, why?”

Her eyebrows scrunch together in that cute way of hers. “Because I’ve been waiting for you to open the door. I told you I didn’t bring my keys.”

“Oh.” I look around and see that we’re standing in front of my apartment door. How did we get here? Shit, I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t realize we were home.

Home. My home, not her home. It feels like our home. She stays here most nights. I want her here. I sleep better wrapped around her. I love waking up next to her and coming home from work to find her here. It’s not home without her.

“Ry? What is going on?”

“Huh?”

Crap, now she looks really worried. I’m sure my spacing out has her thinking I’m on the verge of a breakdown or something.

I dump the picnic items on the kitchen table and reach for her hand.