Tethered (25 page)

“That’s a mighty big word for a sixteen year old,” he teased, tracing my moist lips with his fingers.

“We’re not all clueless,” I said.

“Clearly not.”

He kissed me again and I didn’t mention his lack of scruples again.

Chapter Twenty

“I can’t come up there,” Emmy mumbled on the phone. “I caught some kind of bug. I’m hurling and shitting and shitting and hurling. Sometimes at the same time.”

“Ewww,” I said, scrunching up my face. “I did not need all of the details.”

I collapsed onto the bed. I had just returned from a photo shoot, expecting to find Emmy already at our suite. A few weeks after my photo shoot and subsequent make-out session with Felix, Emmy was supposed to make the trip to New York to accompany me to a party Felix was throwing. I wasn’t going as Felix’s date because we weren’t dating.

After we saw the Bruce Willis movie, we made out in the car again on the way to dinner. As if we were in some comedy, my bracelet got caught in his hair. After the initial laughter, I looked at the charm bracelet and felt a crushing guilt on my chest. I loved Emmet, and though we weren’t together and had not spoken in months and months, I still felt connected to him, especially while wearing the gift he had given to me. How could I just kiss someone new as if Emmet had never been? Felix noticed my change immediately and had the decency to pull back.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, gently lifting my chin with a finger.

I fingered the bracelet and didn’t meet his eyes.

“Someone very important gave me this,” I said softly. Then I sighed with exasperation and looked away from him.

Why shouldn’t I move on? Emmet left without saying goodbye. Emmet made no effort to call me or contact me at all. Emmet didn’t send me a note and congratulate me on my first photo shoot or call me during the holidays.

But he gave you this bracelet, and that means a lot of somethings.

“Ex-boyfriend?” Felix asked, touching the bracelet.

“Something like that,” I said with a humorless chuckle. “Whatever he was to me…” I put a hand on my chest, feeling my heart beat wildly under my palm. I looked at Felix. “I love him. I’m not over him.”

The words hurt to say out loud. I balled my hands into fists and tried hard not to cry. For all I knew, Emmet was lying in bed beside Stella or some other girl and not thinking about me at all, but until I could not think about him, I couldn’t be with anyone else. Especially someone like Felix with far more experience in the world than me. I would do nothing but slow him down, and I had to face the fact that this may all have been just a seduction. Felix Hunter wasn’t known for monogamy – or keeping his dick in his pants.

Felix put his fingers in my hair and twirled. His voice was soft and gentle when he spoke.

“I want you to know that I really, really, really like you,” he said.

“Are you trying to make me feel bad?” I asked and bit down my lip.

“No, not at all,” he said soothingly. “But I really like you and even though I want to keep kissing you until the sun comes up, I respect you and what you’re feeling. You’ve been real to me since the moment I stepped on set and you barely paid me any mind.” He smiled at the memory. “It’s rare to find someone who is real when you’re a guy in my position. If you promise to always be real with me, Donya, we can be friends. I would love to have a friend like you.”

I looked at him suspiciously. “You’re not ‘acting’ are you?”

He laughed and shook his head. “Nope. Just being as real as you are.”

I looked away and then looked back at him bashfully. “Do you still want to take the stick in the mud to dinner?”

“I like mud,” he shrugged and grinned. “And I like a girl with a good appetite. Of course I want to take you to dinner. I’d be honored if you’d go to dinner with me.”

“You know that you’re tarnishing your bad boy image, right?” I asked with a small smile.

He shrugged and grinned. Smugly he said “Adding a little sweet to the badness makes me all that more appealing to the ladies.”

I had rolled my eyes and laughed. Moments later I followed my new friend out of the limo to show him how real women eat.

Now a few weeks later, with Emmy sick, I had no one to go to the party with. I had made a few acquaintances while in New York, but none that I wanted to take with me to Felix’s party. It was a private party and I didn’t really trust anyone enough to bring along with me. I had been stabbed in the back more than once in my months in New York and I wasn’t looking for anyone to stab Felix in the back, too. I sure as hell couldn’t go to the party alone. Well, I
could
, but my mom wouldn’t let me, and most likely she wouldn’t have approved of any of my acquaintances either. She barely approved of Felix.

“I guess I’m not going,” I sighed miserably. I had met a few more celebrities through work and hanging with Felix, but his party would put me elbow to elbow with people that could really elevate my career. I wasn’t using him that way – that was what he had told me when he insisted that I attend.

“You’re going,” Emmy said groggily. “I sent someone in my place. They’re probably almost there now.”

“How can they almost be here if you’re just now calling me to tell me you’re sick?” I questioned. Anyone she could possibly send – and I couldn’t think of anyone – lived well outside of the city. She couldn’t have called anyone moments before me and have them almost to my doorstep.

“I’ve been sick all day, Donya,” Emmy sighed. “When I knew I wasn’t getting any better earlier today, I made the arrangements. I waited until now to tell you so that you wouldn’t freak out, but you’re still freaking out.”

“Who did you send?” I demanded, not denying that I was freaking out.

“Why don’t you go get ready?” she suggested, remaining aggravatingly obtuse. “By the time you’re all dolled up, your plus one will be there.”

“Why won’t you tell me who it is?”

“It’s a surprise, damn it!” She made an ugly sound that made
my
stomach churn momentarily. “Gotta go,” she said quickly. “Go get ready.”

The line went dead. I slammed the phone down and growled in frustration as I got to my feet to go get ready.

I had no idea who Emmy could send. Did she send Tabitha? No, Tabitha wasn’t really talking to her. Mayson? No, Mayson was going through some unpleasant things. Leo?

I groaned, hoping she didn’t send Leo. I liked his off again on again girlfriend Leslie and I did not want to get tangled in that web.

Feeling extremely frustrated and worried, I quickly got ready for the party. I dressed in a flirty yet classic black, strapless, asymmetrical dress by Coco Chanel. Felix had been kind enough to buy it for me and I had been appreciative enough to accept it. It fit my body as if it had been made specifically for me. I paired the dress with a pair of gold Manolo Blahnik stiletto sandals that wrapped sensually around my feet and ankles. I had my hair pulled back in a tight ponytail at the base of my skull secured by a gold barrette.

I had always liked looking through
Vogue, Elle
and
Cosmo
and other fashion magazines when I was growing up, but in my everyday life, I dressed like a normal person. Maybe a few pairs of designer jeans - thanks to the Graynes, but I otherwise dressed pretty basic in jeans and a t-shirt. Since my arrival in New York, I pushed myself to learn about the various designers and whenever I could get my hands on any of their clothes and shoes, I did. I never went to a casting call without being draped in designer clothing, and since this was my first big party, I splurged on the Blahniks.

“I still think that you’re too young for what you’re wearing,” Mom had said from the doorway.

I stood in front of the floor length mirror smoothing my dress and adjusting it needlessly. Like I said, it fit perfectly.

“What do you want me to wear, mom?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.

“I think you’re moving too fast with everything,” she repeated. She had been saying it since the day I took my shirt off for
Rolling Stone
.

“I’m working and more work is coming in all of the time,” I reminded her. “I can’t drag my feet in this business. I’ll be too old by the time I’m old enough to legally drink.”

She sighed in response. She knew what I said was true. Max and his partners had told her repeatedly whenever she tried to stop me from doing something. I really appreciated that she was being a mom, but under the circumstances, I needed her to take a step back.

“I am really nervous about you going to this party,” she said. She had been repeating this statement since she found out I was going to the party.

“Mom, I’ve been to parties before,” I said, turning around and grabbing my black clutch off of the bed. “I’ve been to parties that would give you a heart attack. I really don’t think that I can get into that much trouble tonight.”

“You’re so naïve,” she said, turning away from me.

I rolled my eyes and balled my fists so that I wouldn’t argue with her. Maybe I was naïve, but how many more opportunities like this would arise for me?

I took a breath and marched into the living area of the suite, a nice upgrade from the one room we had when we first arrived months before.

“Do you know who Emmy sent to go with me?” I asked my mom, knowing she had to know because she had to approve the person as good enough to accompany me.

She nodded with a small smile. “They are the only reason I’m letting you go without me.”

I didn’t know who it was that my mom trusted so much to escort me to the party without her, but I was grateful because the one thing I was dreading was showing up at my first VIP party with my mommy.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Emmy asked me to surprise you,” she shrugged.

I frowned. I still had no clue. Emmy had some cousins that lived in the area, maybe it was one of them, but I hardly knew them. It definitely couldn’t be Emmet because that would just be bizarre. Why would Emmet show up to take me to this party after we had gone three quarters of a year without speaking? That option just seemed highly unlikely, which left me wondering once again.

I adjusted the charm bracelet on my wrist, wishing for the unlikely. I snorted. What would I even say to him? What would he say to me?

“Is something funny?” mom asked me from the couch.

“Nope,” I said, deciding to go look in the mirror once more.

But then I felt it.

That tug.

That pull.

I hadn’t felt it so strongly in nearly a year. It made my gut clench and twist and lurch. My heart raced so fast that it made me light headed. The bracelet burned into my skin.

Abruptly, I turned away from the bedroom and just barely kept myself from stumbling to the door of our suite. With a trembling hand, I touched the door handle but didn’t immediately open it. What if I was wrong? What if I just ate something that disagreed with me and I confused the feelings? What if I was right? Could I handle it? Could I handle it if I was wrong?

“Damn it!” I bit out in a harsh whisper.

I pulled the door open. There was no one out outside of the door. I stepped into the hallway and found it empty.

The invisible tether strummed and vibrated and hummed.

The elevators at the end of the hall made that pleasant
Ding
indicating that a cab had arrived on my floor. I stood there waiting for someone to appear around the corner, but all I heard were carpeted footsteps going in the other direction towards the other wing of the hotel.

I stepped back into the suite, confused. I rubbed my sternum, trying to ease the pressure and pulling I felt there. I began to believe that I had conjured the feelings by subconsciously wanting the person coming for me to be Emmet. I had somehow, in the deeper parts of my mind, convinced myself that Emmet was coming for me. Now disappointment washed over me and weakened my knees. I held onto the wall to keep myself from falling over.

“Are you okay?” mom asked, getting to her feet.

“Fine,” I whispered. “Who is coming for me, mom?”

“I told you Emmy wanted me to keep it a secret.”

“That’s stupid!” I snapped. “Don’t I deserve to know? Is it one of my friends from New Jersey?”

“Yes,” she said simply.

Andrew? Would Emmy send Andrew Newland?

I had run into Andrew on my last trip to New Jersey. Emmy thought there was a spark between us. If there had been a spark, it was all on Andrew’s side.

I was angry that I seemed to have no control over my current circumstances. Bitterly, I stood on one foot and reached for my shoe. I was going to take the damn shoes off, take the damn dress off and close myself into my room for the night with my hidden stash of junk food and watch reruns of
My So-Called Life
, because this was a bunch of bullshit.

My hand had just curved around the bottom of the shoe when someone knocked on the door. Even though my chest was almost exploding with emotion and it felt like that damn binding was on fire, I told myself that I conjured it. Whoever was at the door I was going to send away and carry on with my plan of junk food and television.

I opened the door, with curses on my lips, but the only one that made it through was “Shit.”

Emmet stood in front of me, gazing at me with those green eyes through that little-too-long hair in said eyes, and smiling with lips that I knew could knock Felix’s kisses out of any park, out of any universe.

“Emmet.”

Chapter Twenty-One

“One more picture,” my mom said, grinning like it was her birthday.

“No,” I sighed.

“Just one more, one more,” she said. “Emmet put your arm around your sister.”

I glowered at her. “This isn’t prom!” I said and then thought how pathetic it would be if my prom date
was
a sibling.

“You’re never going to get to go to a prom, so humor me,” she said with a note of sourness. “Emmet. Arm.”

I liked her better when she was a near-dead blob on the couch.

Emmet’s arm slinked around my waist. I gasped lightly as I was pulled close to his body. I wanted to pull away. I wanted to move closer.