Free Happily Ever After? (Sleeping Handsome Sequel) by Jean Haus Page A

a
beautiful woman. You attract men, which you just don’t seem to
get.” I turn on the fan. The air from the window isn’t
enough.
    “ Well, isn’t that the
icing on the pie. Since I’m so pretty, I can’t be with
men.”
    “ It’s cake.”
    “ What?”
    “ Pies don’t have
icing.”
    “ Whatever. I never thought
you’d be like this.”
    “ Like what?” I
snap.
    “ So jealous you’d demand I
can’t have male friends.”
    “ I never said that. I just
don’t like you spending time with assholes who are trying to get in
your pants.”
    “ That was
crude.”
    “ Would you like me to take
a little walk with Amanda down Rodeo Drive? I’ll have Drake take
pictures and send them to you. Then maybe you’ll fucking
understand. Or maybe I’ll let her try to kiss me and get that in
print.”
    I hear her take a deep breath and
imagine her lip quivering. “Now you’re being an
asshole.”
    Oh, I can be an asshole. Massive
asshole. “Why did you hang out with him? Why did you let him in
your room?” I demand harshly.
    “ I don’t know.”
    “ Why Paige?” My tone is
harsher and more demanding.
    She lets out a sigh. “Because…because
I was lonely. I missed you.”
    My fury comes back, pounds within my
head at full force. I’m going to combust. Bloody pieces of me will
be strewn across the room. “Was he a good replacement?”
    “ Screw you! You know it
wasn’t like that.”
    “ I don’t know what it was
like.” Though my floor is clean now, I need something else to kick.
“I can’t wrap my head around why you would consistently let some
guy in your room at the same time you’re freaking out over
Amanda working with me. How you didn’t connect the two before last night is
just plain stupid.” Oh fuck, I shouldn’t have used that word. I’m
so livid. I don’t care.
    “ That’s the second time
you called me stupid!”
    “ I said your actions
were—never mind.” I can’t take this anymore. We’re talking in
circles. I’m getting madder. She’s getting mad. “I should
go.”
    “ Yeah, me too.”
    “ I need some time to
figure this out.”
    “ Yeah, me too.”
    “ I’ll catch you
later.”
    “ Yeah, bye,” she says and
her voice cracks in between the words.
    I cut my phone off then whip it
against the wall. The shattered pieces fall to the carpet. Broken
and sprayed out the plastic shards give me the perfect visual of
our relationship.

~13~
    Paige

    I died today. A sword went into the
center of my chest. Blood soaked my gown before I wrapped my hands
around the blade and gurgled out more red goop from my mouth. Then
I slid down the stone steps of the tower keep and laid there for
freakin’ ever. It’s a lot harder to keep still than people think.
And I did it in two takes, which I should be ecstatic about, but
inside I truly feel dead.
    Zach hasn’t emailed me in two days.
Nor has he responded to my texts. I was angry over his stupid and
dense comments. As the days progress, I’m starting to realize anger
doesn’t stop me from wanting him or from loving him. And if I’ve
messed up so bad and we’re over, the end of us is going to kill me
far more than the stunt sword.
    My lip quivers as I stare at my inbox.
There’s a message from Emily and another from my friend Kelly.
Though I usually respond right away—right after responding to Zach
of course—I don’t have the heart to open them. Especially since the
last email Kelly sent explained the Facebook debacle after Amanda’s
little stunt. She got called out and got called several names by a
fourth of the people on Facebook—okay that might be an
exaggeration—then closed her account. None of that matters to me.
I’ve finally figured out Amanda and the past aren’t important. Why?
After probably losing what is important, everything else seems
trivial.
    I want to spend the night crying
again. That’s what I do now. Lie in my hotel bed and cry. The
thought of another round with the tissue box in between the sheets
has