I sucked in a deep breath before speaking, my tone firm. “Brina. Go home. You’ve said enough.”

She lowered her head at my words. “You don’t really like him, do you? You can’t possibly.” She stopped talking as Celeste wrapped an arm around her and led her away. “There’s no way Paige really likes Tatum, is there, Celeste? That would never happen. Not in a million years. Not even in one of her movies. Right?” Her voice faded as Celeste pulled her out of earshot.

“Well, that was fun,” I said, trying to lighten the mood, but Tatum was fuming. His chest heaved in and out and he breathed heavily through his nose. I hated that he was hurting. I felt protective of Tatum in what I assumed was the same way he seemed to feel protective of me.

“Tatum?” I said softly. “Tatum, please. Look at me.” When he slowly turned his head to face me, his gaze low as I placed my hand on his thigh, I said, “It doesn’t matter what she says. It doesn’t matter what she thinks. You can do whatever you want and be whoever you want. If you want to leave this town, then do it. But don’t let her words bring you down. Don’t let her define you.”

“You don’t even know what you’re talking about,” he said in a low, hurt voice, “so how ’bout you just don’t talk.”

I drew in a deep breath, then said calmly, “Don’t do that to me. Don’t be a jerk when all I’m trying to do is help you.”

“I don’t want your help, Paige. I didn’t ask for your help. I don’t need your help. I’m not a charity case,” he growled, his voice still low.

“I never said you were. You’re impossible, you know that?”

“Well, thank God you won’t have to deal with me for very long. Once you leave here you can go back to Hollywood and forget you ever met me. Your life can go back to normal and you can forget I exist.”

I brought my free hand in front of my face and squeezed back the tears that formed in my eyes. “You don’t actually believe that, do you? You think for one second that I’d just forget you?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He looked away as he pulled off his cap and ran a hand through his hair.

“It matters to me.” I squeezed his leg, half-surprised he allowed my hand to stay there.

Tatum pulled his cap low over his forehead, then shot me a glance and said, “Get in the truck, we’re going home.”

I didn’t move, and he couldn’t make me.

Ex-Girlfriends

Tatum

Brina’s words had struck a chord, picking at a wound that had been festering inside me for the last three years. I had promised to take her out of our tiny town and build a life in a bigger one. I’d made myself that promise, as well. What I hadn’t planned on was my dad dying and how my life changed so drastically in the moments after he took his last breath. How Brina could ever blame me for that, I’d never know. And honestly, I couldn’t give a shit, but the things she said about me and Paige were exactly why I couldn’t allow myself to get close to Paige.

It had been so easy to start lowering my walls with Paige tonight. She had made it so effortless. At least, until Brina came around and gave me the harsh reminder that I had so clearly needed. Paige Lockwood would never hook up with a small-town guy like me, and any thoughts I conjured up in my head to the contrary were a crazy man’s way of thinking.

Why would Paige choose me when she could have her pick of any guy she wanted in the whole damn world? Who in their right mind would ever choose someone like me when they had options like that? No one, that’s who.

When I’d admitted to Paige earlier that she had been one of the only actresses whose head I didn’t want to rip off, I hadn’t been completely honest. Truthfully, she had been the only actress whose head I didn’t want to rip off. All the others annoyed the living shit out of me. Matter of fact, the whole idea of Hollywood irritated me, and I was getting pissed off just thinking about it.

Everyone there seemed so entitled and lived a life that I felt almost shouldn’t be real. Should people really be that privileged while the rest of us worked our asses off every day to make ends meet? Those elitists lived their lives, getting the world handed to them day after day, not sparing a single thought for what the rest of us had to do just to survive. Why did people who already had so much get rewarded with more when so many others had so little?

Paige and I weren’t just from two different worlds; we were from two different galaxies. I would do well to remember that.

“Well, thank God you won’t have to deal with me for very long. Once you leave here you can go back to Hollywood and forget you ever met me. Your life can go back to normal and you can pretend I don’t exist.” She clearly needed the same reminder that I’d just been given. Our worlds couldn’t be more different, and she had to have realized that. She would be going back home soon, leaving me and this town behind.

Paige moved her hand in front of her beautiful face, and I thought I saw tears glistening in her eyes. I knew I was acting like a complete dick, but I needed to keep up the charade. If Paige saw through me, I’d be done for. If she called me out, I’d beg for her forgiveness on my knees if that was what she needed. I wanted her, but I knew I couldn’t have her. This conflict was tearing me up inside. Or maybe it was the beer.

“You don’t actually believe that, do you? You think for one second that I’d just forget you?” she asked me. Her voice almost caused me to break my resolve.

“It doesn’t matter.” I reached for my hat and pulled it off. I needed to keep my hands occupied so they didn’t reach out for her and blow it all to hell.

“It matters to me.” She squeezed my leg and I ran my fingers through my hair, tempted to yank on it.

“Get in the truck, we’re going home.”

She didn’t move. She just sat there like a defiant little princess. “Goddamn it, Paige, get in the truck!”

“No,” she said firmly, her gorgeous face scrunched up in a scowl that didn’t suit her one bit.

Frustrated, I shook my head and looked away. “Stop it, Paige.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop acting like we’re in some movie that has a happy ending. We’re not. And it doesn’t.” We both needed that reminder. At least, I sure as shit did.

Paige finally moved to climb into the cab, her face filled with hurt. I wanted to apologize to her, but couldn’t find the strength or the words. We drove back to Mama’s house in complete silence; I’d even turned off the radio. I couldn’t handle country music lyrics right now.

When I pulled in front of the house, Paige opened the door and jumped out before I turned off the ignition. As I watched, she raced through the screen door and didn’t look back. She wanted nothing to do with me, and I didn’t blame her.

• • •

The next morning I arrived at the shop to find some deliveries waiting for me at the back door. After unpacking the supplies and parts, I got a call saying that Paige’s new tire would be arriving around three. I pretended to be nonchalant about the delivery, but I was half-tempted to tell them to hold off and deliver it, say…never.

When her tire arrived, I sighed before rolling it into the garage, frowning at it while Buster whined in the background. Debating about whether I should hide it or put it on her car, I finally decided to do my job and put it on. That didn’t mean I had to tell her that her car was fixed, but at least it would be ready for her when she was ready to go.

I jacked up the BMW and removed the ruined old tire. While I was there, I figured I’d better check the brake pads, rotors, and other parts connected to the wheel. Once I decided that everything looked fine, I put on the new tire, tightening the lug nuts and making sure everything was in working order. After sliding out from the car, I lowered it to the ground and wondered for a moment if I should hide it. I had a tarp I could throw over it so no one would know it was ready.