One Wild Ride: A Hollywood Chronicles Novel

by Jackson, A. L.

  She sighs. "I could tell at dinner the other night how smitten you are with her. So, you can imagine my surprise when Elle called me this morning and told me what happened."

  "But, It isn’t what she—"

  Mrs. Ward holds up her hand to stop me.

  "Regardless of what she thinks, you need to give her some time to cool down. I know you love her, and, Kas, she loves you, too. That's why this hurts her so damn much. She trusted you, and when she saw those texts, she immediately felt taken advantage of. Give her some space and let me talk to her—"

  "How long do I give her?" I cut Mrs. Ward off. "How long do I wait? This is literally killing me. I can't think about anything other than her."

  She reaches out and touches my arm. "I don't know, Kas. I just know that she needs some time to think through all this."

  "Will you tell her I came by, and that I love her . . . and ask her to please call me?"

  "I will."

  "And will you give her these?" I hand her the giant vase I've been cradling in my right arm, surprised that I haven't dropped them yet.

  She takes the vase of flowers and offers me a tight smile. "Get some rest, Kas. I'll do what I can." I take a hesitant step back and finally turn around to leave only to stop again.

  "Mrs. Ward," I call to her.

  "Yes, Kas."

  "I love her. I really love her."

  "I know you do, son. Good night."

  Twenty-Two

  Elle

  I slumped down at the massive table and buried my face in my hands. In Paxton Myles’s kitchen, no less.

  One of the most successful, famous actors in the business.

  All because my conservative, straitlaced, kindergarten teacher and best friend had hooked up with him the night I’d run over Kas.

  Oh, the fates were laughing, weren’t they? Hitting Kas had made me miss my father’s premiere, and in turn, I’d shoved Kaylee right into Paxton’s arms all while I’d fallen at Kas’s feet.

  Heartbreak burned across my chest.

  I tried to fight it, but a tiny, pained moan leaked from between my pursed lips.

  I was trying . . . trying so hard to be okay. I wasn’t exactly succeeding.

  A gentle hand reached out and touched my arm. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”

  I lifted my head and looked across at Kaylee, who was watching me with sympathy.

  “Will it?” I asked.

  “You know it will.”

  “Then why does it feel like it won’t?” Sorrow rushed out with the question, this helplessness that made me feel nothing but weak and pathetic.

  Her head tilted to the side. “Because you’re right in the middle of the storm. Right now, it feels impossible to move on from this point, but you will. No matter which direction you end up heading.”

  A frown pulled at my brow. “Oh, I think we both know what direction I’m heading.”

  “And where is that?” she asked, voice wry and somehow sounding like the most soothing thing.

  “Straight into a pit of loneliness. You know . . . that hell where lonely spinsters live with their fifteen cats? It’s my destiny.”

  “So dramatic.”

  “So true,” I tried to tease, but it fell flat. The little bit of lightness I’d found slipping away when I offered her the complete truth.

  Because that’s what it was.

  “I’m heartbroken, that’s what I am, Kay-Kay.”

  Tears pricked at my eyes as soon as I let the admission free.

  Kas had absolutely broken me. I’d thought Christopher had. But this? This was different. This was a gutting sort of pain that gripped me everywhere, hollowing out something right at the center of my chest, leaving me with a gaping hole. One so vast I wasn’t sure it could ever be filled.

  Her expression fell, and she reached out and fiddled with some of the hair that had fallen from the haphazard knot I’d tied it into when I pulled myself from bed this afternoon. I hadn’t even bothered to brush it. “I’m so sorry you’re going through this.”

  “I can’t believe I fell for it again.” My chest stretched tight at the realization of what I’d allowed myself to do. At how far and fast I’d fallen.

  Questions slid across her face. “Are you sure that’s what you did? I know I don’t know him, but from everything you told me, this came from out of nowhere.”

  “Just like it did with Christopher.”

  “Maybe for you.” She hesitated for a beat, as if she didn’t want to say it. Remorse filled her voice when she finally said, “I hate to say this, Elle, but I think the rest of us knew what he was up to. There was something about him that always made me question him.”

  My lips pursed. “You tried to warn me, and I didn’t listen.”

  “I did . . . but sometimes there are just things that people can’t tell us, and we have to learn them for ourselves.”

  Frustration left me on a huff. “You’d think I’d learn the first time.”

  “Maybe there is a different lesson in this situation,” she offered.

  My head shook. “I don’t think so, Kay. I saw it with my own eyes. It might as well have been written in bright, shiny letters. There was no mistaking their meaning.”

  Kaylee refilled my glass of red wine, peeking over at me while she did. Taking the glass, I held it between both hands, clinging to it for dear life and took a deep, steeling pull.

  I could feel her eyes on me.

  The girl was working up to something.

  I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear whatever that was.

  Because it all hurt too bad. I’d finally, finally let myself go. Freeing myself of those chains Christopher had bound me with. Finally trusting and putting my heart out there for someone to hold it.

  And not twenty-four hours later, Kas crushed it. Crushed it in a way I had been entirely unprepared for because I don’t think I’d been prepared for how much I actually cared about Kas. For how much I loved him. What I’d felt for Christopher had been nothing but a shadow of what I felt for Kas.

  Kaylee cleared her throat, dragging me back from the thoughts I was spiraling into, her question cautious but pointed. “But those weren’t Kas’s words, were they? You were reading someone else’s thoughts?”

  I gave a furious jerk of my head. “No. It was clearly a conversation. Something they’d discussed before. It was his agent, for crying out loud.”

  What his ultimate goal was.

  Roger Ward.

  A shudder ripped through my body, and my heart gave another pained quiver.

  The moisture that had gathered in my eyes finally broke free. Hot tears streaked down my face as I choked out the words. “I should have known better than to have taken him to meet my daddy.”

  Although, I guessed he had probably known who I was, all along. The man playing me this entire time with that body and those teases and the adoring look in his eyes.

  It’d been nothing but an act.

  Asshole deserved an Academy Award.

  “If he really was using you to get to your father, it’s better he met him sooner rather than later before you were too wrapped up in him.”

  “If?” It was a choked accusation. Because I knew the truth. And the truth was that I’d been used, and I was already so wrapped up in him that I didn’t know how I was ever going to recover from it.

  From losing him in the same damned way.

  Dumb girl.

  I huffed out a frustrated sigh and buried my face in my hands, head shaking as I groaned. “Why do I always fall for assholes?”

  Kaylee reached out and pried my hands from my face. “Because you have a huge heart, Elle. Sometimes falling in love is impossible not to do, and when you do it, you do it hard. He made you feel something, and I’m guessing there was no stopping that. And after everything? The things he told you when he was leaving? I have to wonder if maybe you didn’t misunderstand.”

  My chest tightened, and that sickness in my stomach twisted. “No.”

  She
glanced to the clatter of noise that suddenly came from the back of the house.

  Paxton’s familiar voice echoed on the floors as he spoke to someone on the phone.

  Love lit on her face as she gave a longing look over her shoulder before she looked back at me, leaning in closer. Her expression twisted in a pleading kind of emphasis. “I almost lost my chance with Pax because I didn’t give him the chance to explain himself. Because I just expected him to hurt me. Because I expected him not to really want me. Because I just expected him to break my heart. Rather than giving him the benefit of the doubt and trusting the man I’d fallen in love with, I made that decision for him, and I almost missed out on the love of my life.”

  Pain lanced through my worked-over spirit. “You got lucky.”

  She frowned at me. “Yeah, I did. And who’s to say it isn’t your turn to get lucky?”

  I gruffed out a sigh. “The Hollywood Gods, apparently. They hate me.”

  Kaylee rolled her eyes. “So dramatic. Maybe you should be the actor here.”

  “Hardly.”

  Footsteps echoed on the floor, and Paxton appeared in the back doorway, striding into the kitchen. He flashed his signature smile that sent millions of women into a swoon.

  Kaylee was no different. She was grinning like a fool when he walked over and pecked a kiss to the side of her head. “Hey, gorgeous,” he murmured.

  Love radiated from her. Overpowering. “Hey. How was your meeting?”

  “Good now that it’s over and I get to look at you.”

  She swatted at him, and the man nuzzled her neck, and she released a tiny squeal as he whispered something in her ear.

  I rocked back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest.

  Gross.

  Kaylee giggled.

  Okay. Not gross.

  It was kind of adorable, and it made me feel all the worse.

  God, what was I going to do with my life?

  Kaylee suddenly sobered, hanging on to Paxton’s arm that he had wrapped around her shoulders so he could hug her against him. “Sometimes people surprise us, Elle, and it doesn’t always have to be in a bad way.”

  I looked off to the side, out the window to the rambling lawn that fronted the mansion, the wrought iron fence enclosing the space. Finally, I looked back at her. “I don’t know how to trust him.”

  She blinked back at me, sympathy in her eyes. “Maybe start by listening to him.”

  But it was hard to listen when you’d been hurt so badly that the thought of experiencing it all over again was too much to bear. Too bad it was no longer just a thought.

  Because like a fool, I’d fallen in love with him. Gave him the power. And with that power, he’d obliterated me.

  Twenty-Three

  Kassius

  "Bagels," I mumble to myself. It's a brilliant idea. Elle loves those fucking jalapeno bagels and the caramel lattes from that little bagel shop down the street from her condo. I throw on a pair of shorts and a tee as I grab my car keys and wallet, a man on a mission to win his girl back with her favorite breakfast.

  She won't say no to bagels and coffee.

  My muscles ache as I move quickly to get pulled together and my shoes on. I maybe slept for thirty minutes last night because I was too busy checking my phone and hoping for a response from Elle.

  And I got nothing.

  Her silence is eating me alive, and I'm a desperate man at this point.

  I slide into my old SUV, throwing on my sunglasses as I weave into the LA traffic. Even on a fucking weekend morning, traffic is a bitch in this city. Thankfully, I find a meter right in front of the bagel shop, but the line is out the goddamn door, and every table on the tree-lined West Hollywood sidewalk is taken. I forgot how popular this place is.

  I keep my eyes trained low, fidgeting with my phone and hoping no one recognizes me. The line moves quickly, thank fuck, and in only a few minutes, I'm placing an order for three bagels, cream cheese, and two coffees. I know the way to her heart is through her stomach, and I'm praying to all Gods this will work. She has to talk to me.

  Just as I hand the cashier my card to pay for my order, I hear, "Elle. Your toasted jalapeno bagel with veggie cream cheese and caramel latte is ready!" Coming from a pimply faced teen with a baseball cap and a voice that almost sounds prepubescent.

  From across the store, I see Elle's lean body glide up to the counter. She's all beauty, wrapped in yoga pants and tank top with her messy hair held back by her sunglasses propped on top of her head. My heart falls when I see the same exhaustion I have marring her beautiful face.

  Tired.

  Broken.

  Hurt.

  Never in my life have I felt what I feel when I see Elle. You can’t ignore the intensity between us, and I know she feels it, too. Just like I can sense her hurt, and I can see her pain.

  She offers a weak smile to the teenager holding her bagel and coffee, taking them from him carefully. Maybe she can feel the heat of my stare because she glances over her shoulder, her eyes meeting mine as if she knew I was there, silently summoning her.

  Her shoulders rise with a sharp inhale when sees me, and she pinches her eyes closed tightly as if doing so will make me disappear. I move frantically, stumbling through the small, crowded space as she turns her back to me. I want to call her name, but my voice is stuck in my throat, and just before I can get to her, she's gone. Exiting through the side door.

  My heart physically hurts with her absence.

  "Kassius," I hear my name called by the same teen who just gave Elle her breakfast. I give my head a little shake, brushing shoulders to get to the pick-up counter. I reach out to take the bag of bagels and two cups of coffee from the teen. Just before I get to the same side door Elle just slipped out of, I toss the fucking bagels and coffee into the trash can.

  Fuck this day.

  * * *

  I threw my keys across the apartment, and they land with a loud thud against one of the kitchen cabinets before falling to the floor with a clank.

  With heartbreak still swirling inside me, I dive onto my sofa, burying my face in an oversized throw pillow. I'm at a loss for what to do to get Elle to speak with me. My eyes burn with tears and my blood pressure rises in frustration.

  Elle saw me and she walked away, goddammit! My heart physically hurts at how easily she dismissed me. Like I was nothing, like I meant nothing to her.

  My phone rings, and I pull it from my back pocket to find Dom's name flashing on the screen. I ignore the call, sending it to voice mail and then tossing the phone onto the coffee table. I am in no mood to talk to anyone right now.

  Not ten seconds later, the damn thing rings a second time.

  Again, Dom's name appears in large white letters against the black screen, and again, I hit ignore, only this time I flip the button to silence the phone. I’m about to toss the device away, but pause when another number flashes across the screen.

  One I don't recognize.

  "Fuck," I grumble, but slide my finger across the screen to answer it. "Yeah," I answer, my voice laced with frustration.

  "Kas?" the deep voice asks. "Kas Cowen?"

  "Speaking."

  The man on the other end of the phone clears his throat. "Roger Ward here."

  I sit straight up and inhale a sharp breath. Roger Ward. Elle's father. Jesus Christ he's calling to set me straight. I know how fucked up all of this is, but I need him to understand like Mrs. Ward hopefully does.

  "Mr. Ward, please let me explain—"

  "Explain what?" He cuts me off. "Explain that you had the best damn reading Blair said she's ever seen? And let me tell you, she doesn't speak highly of anyone in this business. Woman hates damn near everyone, including me. You knocked her damn socks off, kid."

  "Ex-excuse me?" I damn near stutter.

  "You heard me, son. Blair said you were phenomenal. Hold on, let me read her notes." I hear him shuffling some papers around. "Her exact words were, ‘Natural talent. Perfection. Hire him.�
��"

  "Wow." Is all I can barely manager to say. My mind is reeling with this news, which isn’t at all what I expected to hear from him. I was sure he was calling because of Elle.

  "Wow is right. It would be our honor to have you join us as the lead role in Pulled.”

  "Umm, I don't know what to say," I stumble around my words. "I mean—"

  "Say you'll accept."

  My heart pounds wildly, but it also breaks at the same time. I can't do this. I won't do this, because this is what Elle will always associate the demise of our relationship with. This movie and why she thinks I got the part.

  "Mr. Ward?"

  "Yes, Kas."

  "I'm honored. I'm flattered, and I absolutely would love to accept this role—"

  "Excellent!" he shouts.

  "But I can't." My heart sinks, and my stomach flips. "I won't take this role."

  "Excuse me?"

  "Sir . . ." I don’t know how to explain this to him, and while I’m searching for the words, he cuts in.

  "Is this about, Elle?" he asks, his voice abrupt.

  My throat tightens at the sound of her name and tears sting the back of my eyes. God, I fucking love her. I do my best to clear the choke of emotions blocking my voice.

  "It is. You see, I love her, Mr. Ward. And she thinks I'm using her to get to you." I scramble to get everything I need to say out before he either cuts me off or hangs up on me. "I'd never do that. Never. And if declining this role, a role I'd love to accept, is the only way for her to understand how much I love her, then that's what I'm going to have to do."

  He lets out an audible sigh. "Son, Eleanor is stubborn. I love that girl more than I love anything in this world, but when her mind is made up, she won't budge. Lindsay told me all about what happened, and not for a second did I feel like you were using my daughter to get to me. I saw how you tried to pretend you didn't know me at dinner the other night." I nod as he speaks as if he can see me. "And I also saw how much my daughter cares about you . . . and I could also see how much you care for her. Let me talk to her—"