Free Starstruck - Book Four by Gemma Brooks Page A

don’t know the name of the town I’m in
right now.”
     
    “Did you get lost?” he asked with a laugh. “You know you
have nav, right?”
     
    “It’s broken,” I said flatly.
     
    “Weird,” he said. “I’ll call the dealer first thing tomorrow.
Just use your phone.”
     
    “My phone?” Being so worked up had completely fried my brain
cells apparently. I hadn’t even thought to use my phone to get directions.
     
    “Yeah. Use the nav feature on your phone or use Google
Maps,” he said, drawing out his words as if he were speaking to an imbecile.
“Are you okay? You seem a little…distraught.”
     
    “I’m fine.” He could probably hear the lie in my tone.
“Here’s a sign. Okay, I’m in Maplewood.”
     
    “Maplewood?” he said. “That’s just outside of Malibu. What
were you doing all the way over there?”
     
    Busted.
     
    I sighed. I didn’t want to lie to him anymore. I was tired
of the lies. I just wanted an open dialogue between us. I couldn’t move forward
without it.
     
    “When I came home from brunch, you were gone,” I said. “And
Flor wouldn’t tell me where you were.”
     
    “I don’t usually tell her where I’m going,” he said, growing
defensive.
     
    “After the whole Ava thing…I just got worried,” I admitted.
“I had to see for myself.”
     
    “Did you find what you were looking for?” He asked. His
voice was dry.
     
    “Yep,” I replied. “Sure did.”
     
    And then, with perfect timing, my navigation kicked back on.
It was as if it had never been broken in the first place. I hung up on Hudson,
fought back the tears, swallowed the dry lump in my throat, and typed Alec’s
address into the system.
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 14
 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    “Brynn, what are you doing here?” Alec said as I stood in
front of the door to his condo. “Couldn’t get enough of me at brunch this
morning?”
     
    I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring
myself to speak of what had just happened.
     
    “Talk to me,” he said as he pulled me in and shut the door.
“Go sit down. Do you want something to drink?”
     
    I shook my head no, still unable to verbalize a damn thing.
     
    “Did something happen with Ava? Hudson?” he asked.
     
    I nodded. We were now playing Twenty Questions.
     
    “Did you and Hudson break up?” he asked.
     
    I shrugged my shoulders as if to say I just didn’t know.
     
    “Okay, you need to talk to me, honey,” he said. “I’m too old
for this guessing game nonsense.”
     
    He crossed his arms and took a seat next to me, studying my
eyes.
     
    “All men are pigs,” I sobbed. “No offense.”
     
    “Oh, honey, none taken,” he smirked as he waved his hand.
“What happened though?”
     
    “I just want to understand,” I said. “Nothing makes sense.”
     
    “What? What doesn’t make sense?” I could tell he was growing
frustrated with me. My thoughts were a little all over the place, and naturally
so were my words.
     
    “Everything was going so well for us,” I said as I reached
for a tissue from his coffee table and dabbed my eyes. “I came home from brunch
today expecting to see him, but he was gone. I drove out to Malibu – “
     
    “You drove out to Malibu?” He interrupted me. “Don’t tell me
you went to Ava’s house…”
     
    I nodded.
     
    “And Hudson’s car was there,” I said. Just saying those
words made my lip tremble, but I managed to fight it off. “What was he doing
there, Alec?”
     
    He looked just as perplexed as me, and I could tell he
didn’t want to say anything to make me feel worse.
     
    “I just don’t understand,” I said.
     
    “Don’t even try.” He put his hand on my knee. “Trying to
understand will only make you feel worse. Have you talked to him? Does he know
you saw him?”
     
    “Yeah,” I said. “He knows alright.”
     
    “And what did he say?”
     
    “I didn’t even give him a chance to explain,” I said.