Free Hooked by Audra Cole, Bella Love-Wins Page A

past days in my mind.
    “Ok, let’s back up. Start at the beginning,” she instructs, before taking another bite of her scone.
    It all pours out, every gory detail. The tabloid stories, the red carpet, the plastic surgery posse, and the out-of-control reporter. I finish with the argument I had with Brandon.
    “Wow,” Ashley says when I stop to take a drink of coffee. “That’s a whole lotta crazy!”
    “I don’t know what to do, Ash.” 
    “What do you want?” she asks.
    “Brandon,” I answer without missing a beat. “I want to be with Brandon.”
    “Then what are you doing here?”
    “I can’t just have Brandon. It’s not that simple anymore. It comes with all this other stuff that I can’t deal with—the lifestyle. It’s not like the fairy-tale story where we get married and have babies and make a life together. It’s photographers chasing you and plastering your picture all over the place and people lying and gossiping, waiting to throw you under the bus. I can’t live that way, and I certainly would not want to bring children into that.”
    It all sounds logical as I lay out my argument, but each word feels like it is ripping another piece of my heart away.
    Ashley is quiet. She bobs her head along as I speak and seems to understand, but the fact that she isn’t saying anything is a red flag to me.
    “What?” I ask.
    She does her best to give me her innocent “who me?” face.
    “Tell me what you’re thinking,” I demand.
    “I think you went through a lot in the last few days and you had a well-deserved freak-out. But I also think it would be a huge mistake to throw everything you have with Brandon away.”
    I stare blankly at the coffee cup in front of me, not sure what the alternative is.
    “I have to show you something,” Ashley says, suddenly popping up and crossing the room. I follow her with my eyes as she weaves around the furniture to snatch up her laptop from the dining room table. She sits back down and clicks away for a few minutes as my curiosity continues to grow. “Here,” she says, spinning the computer around to face me.
    She has a video pulled up on the screen. It’s a video of Brandon. I recognize the suit he is wearing and realize it is video footage from the night before. He is giving an interview to someone before going inside the hotel.
    “Where did you find this?” I ask, hesitating to click play.
    “After you came here last night, I did a little digging to see if I could figure out what happened. I ran across this video and think you need to see it,” she explains. She reaches across and clicks play, before I can get out another word.
    There are some rustling noises and then Brandon starts to speak. “It really is such an honor to be here tonight. It’s been a pretty wild ride since I came to LA and I’m thankful to so many people who put their faith in me and pushed me to get to where I am today. I just hope I can inspire other people to chase down their ambitions, whether that’s acting or something else entirely.”
    I can’t hear the question the interviewer asks, but Brandon gives this amazing smile and then starts speaking again.
    “Yes, I did bring someone special with me tonight. We’re trying to keep to ourselves, but I will tell you that she’s my best friend and the absolute love of my life.”
    A lump forms in my throat and I feel tears start to prick at the corner of my eyes. “Why are you showing me this, it’s only making it worse!”
    She pulls the computer away. “I thought you needed to hear what he had to say. It’s not easy, but he’s crazy about you, and I know you’re crazy about him too. You know that I’m not a huge believer in true love, but what you guys have…it’s worth fighting for.”
    I nod. I know she’s right. I do want to be with Brandon, more than anything. I’ve been away from him for less than a day and I want nothing more than to go back and have him hold me again. It’s certainly not the easy road,