Don't Trash the Heartthrob (Rockford High Book 5)

by Victorine E. Lieske

  “Brandon, baby. I want to dance.” Her whine hurt his head.

  “You can go dance,” Tony said, motioning to the dance floor and picking up his drink. “I don’t mind.”

  Tony Perry was the closest thing Brandon had to a best friend. He was a rising star as well. Seventeen and starring in his own sitcom. They usually hung out together if they ended up at the same party. But it was all surface talk between them. An acquaintance. Party buddy. Nothing more. They didn’t have much else in common besides acting.

  “I have a headache,” Brandon said, trying to wiggle himself from Alisha’s death grip. It didn’t work.

  “I’ll distract you from it,” Alisha said in his ear.

  Ugh. He wanted to shove her away and tell her how despicable she was, but Rex had threatened him with fire and brimstone if he got any more bad publicity. And a photo showing him shoving away Alisha Waterstone would definitely count as bad publicity.

  He didn’t want to party with Alisha. He could think of a billion things he’d rather be doing. But the criticism of his latest performance was mounting, and he was starting to see the consequences. Converse had dropped him from their ad campaign, and the role he thought he had in the bag had been given to someone else. Alisha’s father was powerful and had a lot of connections. If she went whining to him, he could lose more than just a stupid commercial account.

  He downed his drink, then allowed Alisha to drag him out onto the dance floor. He closed his eyes and let the music drown out the echoes of Alisha’s screechy voice. Rex wanted him to try out for the part of a son in a family drama show. He hated the script. It was all wrong for him. He wanted to be the lead character, not in some supporting role.

  Alisha leaned close to him. “You look mad,” she hissed in his ear. “Stop it. People are taking pictures.”

  She was right. Flashes of light were constantly going off. “People are always taking our picture,” he said over the music.

  “Stop brooding.” She gave him a fierce look before plastering on a smile. “Honey.”

  “Don’t ever call me that again.”

  She rolled her eyes, then grabbed onto his shoulders and pressed herself to him. Anyone else would think they were having an intimate moment. All Brandon felt were her fingernails digging into his shoulders. “Be nice to me. Or you might not like what happens.”

  He pulled back from her. “Of course, I’ll be nice.” Then he tacked on, “Sweetheart.” But it sounded more like he was using the word as a weapon.

  She smiled at him, her expression sickeningly sweet. “Do you want to go somewhere more…private?”

  “No.” He smiled and pointed to his temple. “Headache.”

  “Come on, baby. Don’t you want to get to know me better? We could leave here. Go somewhere more quiet.”

  “Don’t you mean quieter?”

  She glared at him. He took a good, long look at her. She was gritting her teeth. She didn’t like him any more than he liked her. Then he turned and saw a mob of paparazzi with their cameras. That was the game. Be seen with someone more popular than you and get into the tabloids. Get your name out there. She was just playing the game.

  He leaned close to her. “If I let you be seen leaving with me, will you stop talking?”

  She scowled but finally nodded. “Deal.”

  He pulled her close, gave her his Hollywood smile, and said, “Come on. Let’s go.”

  She grinned at him, and anyone watching wouldn’t be able to tell they hated each other. Huh. Maybe she wasn’t that bad of an actress after all.

  He took her hand and led her to the doors. Cameras flashed as they left and Alisha leaned toward him, her lips pursed. At the last second, he turned his face so the kiss landed on his cheek. Alisha’s eyes flashed at him.

  Once outside, his driver pulled up and he opened the door for her. They both climbed in the back of his car. Alisha waved at the crowds.

  After the door was shut and he told the driver to drop Alisha off at her home, he pulled out his phone and scooted to the far side of the bench seat. Alisha narrowed her eyes at him. “Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?”

  He mentally rolled his eyes. She was such a drama queen. “I don’t hate you.” He just didn’t like her. But he kept that part to himself. He opened his email and saw a new one from Vlogger girl. Odd. He hadn’t expected her to email him. She didn’t seem like the needy type on her Vlog.

  Alisha exhaled loudly. “Well, you sure don’t like me.”

  Bingo. He let her comment float in the air as he opened the email.

  Hey. This is Stephanie’s sister. Don’t tell her I’m using her laptop. I just wanted to know why you haven’t answered her back. She’s been testy lately, and I kind of think it’s because you ghosted her.

  -Amanda

  Brandon smiled despite himself.

  “What are you doing? Why are you ignoring me?” Alisha moved closer to him and looked at his phone screen.

  He turned so she couldn’t see it. “Alisha. Listen. You don’t like me. I can see it all over your face. Why are you insisting that we should be together?”

  She frowned. “We make sense. People want a Hollywood romance. Can’t you see that?”

  “I’ve had Hollywood romances. They aren’t as great as they seem.”

  Alisha pouted. “I need a date for the Save the Sea Gala next week. If you go with me, I’ll leave you alone otherwise.”

  Brandon studied her. “That’s all you wanted?”

  “I can’t go alone.”

  “All right. But then that’s it, okay?”

  She nodded and folded her arms. “Fine.” She turned away from him and stared out the darkened window.

  Good. At least that was settled. And she wasn’t even that ticked off at him. He clicked to reply to Amanda.

  Stephanie looks pretty testy all the time. What makes you think I had anything to do with it?

  He hadn’t expected a quick reply, but one came.

  A hunch. So, what’s up? Did she make you mad? Or are you bored with her?

  Brandon debated telling her the truth. Finally, he decided it was better to just come out with it. I’m not interested in aspiring actresses. Too many bad experiences getting used.

  Again, the reply came quickly.

  Stephanie doesn’t want to be in films. She wants to star on Broadway. And she’d never use you as a stepping stone. She’s not like that.

  Brandon lifted one eyebrow. How do I know that?

  You watch her Vlog. Has she posted the video you sent? Did she mention to her followers that you’ve been chatting with her? The only benefit she’s gotten from talking to you was from you telling your followers to check out her Vlog. She didn’t do that. You did.

  The girl had a point. If Stephanie wanted to benefit from him, she would have shared his personal video everywhere. He smiled at that thought. Maybe Amanda was right. Maybe his Vlogger girl wasn’t out to use him.

  What’s your sister’s phone number? I’ll message her.

  Oh, no. I’m not telling you that. You have to get it from her. She’d kill me if I gave it to you.

  He chuckled. Okay. Got it. I’ll email her. Delete these. I don’t want you to get into trouble.

  Will do.

  Brandon started a new email chain and addressed it to Stephanie.

  Send me your digits.

  He figured that was enough. If she didn’t want to talk to him, she wouldn’t give them.

  Chapter 5

  The movie credits rolled as Stephanie scraped her finger in the bottom of the popcorn bowl to get the last of the salt. She’d been on an old movie kick lately, re-watching her favorites. Tonight’s feature had been Vertigo with Jimmy Stewart.

  Amanda came into the living room and plopped down on the sofa. “You done wallowing?”

  Stephanie scoffed. “I’m not wallowing. And I thought you were on a date with Cole.”

  Amanda made a face. “Uh, it’s past midnight. I got home like an
hour ago.”

  “Really?” Stephanie checked the clock. She was right.

  “Go check your email. I think you might have a message.”

  Stephanie stared at her sister. Why was she shifting in her seat like that? And why did she have an incredibly guilty look on her face? “What are you talking about?”

  Amanda avoided her gaze. “Nothing. Just go check it.”

  Oh, no. This was not good. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing, I swear.” Her face betrayed her lie. She so totally did something.

  “You are a horrible liar.” Dread settled in her stomach. “You messaged Brandon, didn’t you?”

  Amanda held up her hands. “Okay. Maybe. But don’t get mad. He thought you were trying to get an in with him.”

  “An in? What do you mean?” Stephanie didn’t wait for Amanda to explain. She jumped up and started toward her room.

  “He thought you wanted to use him to get into film acting,” Amanda called after her.

  Ugh. What had Amanda done? She slammed her bedroom door and grabbed her laptop. She hopped into the bed and set her laptop on her legs, then opened it. His email just said one thing.

  Send me your digits.

  The door opened and Amanda crept in. “What did he say?”

  Panic seized Stephanie. “He wants my phone number. Why does he want that? What did you say to him?”

  Amanda sighed and sat on her bed, crossing her legs. “I convinced him you weren’t out to use him. That’s all. He just wants to talk to you.”

  “I don’t want to talk to him on the phone!”

  “Oh, puleeze. You’ve been so bummed he didn’t email you back. Come on, you can’t tell me you don’t want to talk to him.”

  Stephanie must suck at hiding her feelings. Her sister saw right through her. “It’s too weird.”

  “The guy got you a bazillion followers overnight. You owe him at least a phone call.”

  Yeah, he did do something nice for her. And so what if he wanted to talk to her? She was being paranoid. She clicked the reply button, then hovered her fingers over the keyboard. “If I send them, that doesn’t mean he will call me.”

  “Do you want him to call, or don’t you? Because I can’t tell.” Amanda’s face reflected her annoyance.

  Stephanie paused while her emotions made her head spin. “I don’t know.”

  “Just type it in.”

  Stephanie stared at the blinking cursor. “All right.” She typed in her number and hit send before she could change her mind.

  Her gaze involuntarily went to her phone sitting on her bed. Amanda snorted. “Like he’s going to call you right now.”

  When her phone lit up with a text, they both jumped. Stephanie grabbed her phone, her heart in her throat. The name that was on the screen wasn’t Brandon, though. It was Christopher. She let out a breath. “It’s not him.”

  “Is it Jade? Because I’m going to kill her right now.”

  “No. A guy Jade’s app matched me with. We’ve been chatting a bit.”

  Amanda’s eyes widened. “Seriously? You have a movie star interested in you, and you’re chatting with some guy at our high school?”

  “Shut up. Brandon’s totally not interested in me.” The notion was ridiculous. How could Amanda even think it?

  Amanda groaned and flopped back on her bed. “Whatever.”

  Stephanie opened Christopher’s message.

  Sorry it’s late. I hope your phone doesn’t let you know when I message, because it’s like one o’clock in the morning and that would be rude to wake you up. I just was wondering if you want to hang out tomorrow or something. Anyway, I hope I didn’t wake you. Let me know tomorrow.

  For some reason, his message made Stephanie smile.

  You didn’t wake me. I was up.

  Another message from him came back quickly.

  Good. I was hoping you wouldn’t think I was crazy, up at this hour.

  If you’re crazy, then I’m crazy too.

  So, about tomorrow. Want to meet me at The Spotted Cow? After lunch? I’ll buy you ice cream. As friends, of course. But if you don’t want to, that’s fine, too.

  Stephanie groaned and leaned back onto her pillows. Amanda raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”

  “He wants to go out with me. I told him I wasn’t looking for a relationship, so he said we could just be friends. But now he wants to go have ice cream tomorrow.”

  Amanda squinted at her. “So, you told him you’d like to be friends, but you never want to meet him in person? Aren’t you being just a bit unreasonable? Friends go out and do stuff together. That’s the whole point of having friends.”

  Of course. Amanda was right. Stephanie felt foolish even thinking that she had a reason to complain about Christopher. “You’re right,” she said, sighing deeply.

  “Tell him you’ll have ice cream with him, but don’t fall for the guy. Because you’re supposed to fall for Brandon Travers and marry him so I can have the most interesting family reunions ever.” Amanda grinned at her.

  “Shut up,” Stephanie said, but she couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her.

  Chapter 6

  Headache. Mind-numbing pain. That’s all that registered as Brandon rolled over in his king-sized bed. His hangover was worse than normal. What had happened last night?

  Oh, yeah. The club. Alisha. He suddenly remembered and sat up, his head spinning. Alisha had ruined last night. At least he’d worked out a deal with her. One more event and then he’d be free of her. Thank goodness. She was annoying.

  He glanced at his clock and moaned. He was late for his photo shoot. He crawled out of bed and forced himself to stagger into the bathroom. The tile floor was cold under his bare feet. Why couldn’t he have one day to himself? He hated photo shoots.

  “Brandon?” His mother’s voice carried up from downstairs.

  “I know, Mom. I’m up.” He turned on the shower.

  “Hurry. You have to leave in twenty minutes or you’ll be late.”

  He nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. “Yeah,” he called out, then shut the bathroom door.

  He felt like he was going to be sick. He undressed and climbed into the shower, standing under the hot spray. It didn’t help much.

  He spent too long in the shower, then had to rush to get his clothes on. When he sprinted down the stairs, he almost lost it, dizziness taking over him. The smell of scrambled eggs hit him as he walked into the kitchen and he had to stop and swallow back the nausea.

  “I made you breakfast. You can take some with you.” His mother reached for the cupboard with the plastic containers.

  “No, Mom. Thanks. I’m good.”

  His mother lowered her arm and turned to look at him. “Dear heavens. What were you out doing last night? You look awful.” Her mouth stretched into a frown. “You’re hungover, aren’t you?”

  He didn’t answer her.

  “What are you thinking? There are a hundred reasons why you shouldn’t be out drinking. It’s illegal, for one. You’re only seventeen.”

  “If we lived in Germany, I could drink.” He steeled his gaze at her.

  She stiffened. “Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”

  “I’m fine, Mom.”

  “You’re not fine. Look at you. You have a photo shoot today. You look terrible. This isn’t some game. This is a real job. A career that you can have the rest of your life. But not if you throw it away, like you’re doing right now.” Her expression held distaste, and disappointment. He hated when she looked at him like that.

  He turned from her. “I have to go.”

  “No more, Brandon,” she said in her mom voice. “No alcohol. That’s final.”

  He huffed and shoved his way out of the kitchen. He didn’t need her telling him what to do. He was already inundated with people controlling his every move. But guilt rose in his throat as his driver opened his door and he climbed into his limo. He knew his mother was just tryi
ng to parent.

  Guilt continued to choke him as the limo sped down the highway. His mother was doing the best she could. A single mom, she’d given him everything she could. He knew this. And she supported him when he wanted to get into acting. He was glad she no longer had to work two jobs. He wanted to give her everything she wanted. But to do that, he had to land another big part. He had to up his game.

  The photo shoot took longer than he thought. They always took longer. He hated all the prep time, the makeup, the posing and the flashes as the camera caught his fake smile. But when it was finally done, and after several cups of black coffee, he was feeling better.

  As he sat in the car on the way home, he itched to call the Vlogger girl. But he wanted to see if she was free to chat. So, when he got home, he texted her.

  Hey, it’s me. Brandon. Can I call you?

  It was strange, texting her. It somehow felt more…intimate. Her answer came back fast.

  Maybe later. I’m waiting to meet a friend.

  Brandon raised his eyebrows. Why would being with a friend matter? Most girls would die to have him call them while they were with their friends.

  Maybe your friend wants to talk to me too. Ask her.

  Um…it’s a guy. I don’t think he’d like it.

  A guy. Huh. Was she in a relationship? She’d never talked about any boyfriend on her Vlog. But then again, why would she? It wasn’t a dating Vlog. Now he was super curious. He texted back.

  A boyfriend?

  No. Just a friend.

  A friend that’s a guy? He rolled his eyes and continued. Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but he’s after you.

  I think that statement says a lot about you, not my friend.

  Brandon chuckled. Yeah, maybe. This chick was hilarious.

  Have you been friends a long time?

  Gah. Stop texting me. He’s going to be here any minute, and I don’t want to be glued to my phone.

  Wait. If you’d been friends a long time, he wouldn’t care if you were on your phone. Is this a blind date??