Page 173 of Knot Their Starlet

Turns out, you can pay a dollar fifty to the county and get all the paperwork for this sort of thing.

“What’re you looking at?” Leo asks, sliding into the seat next to mine.

I hesitate for a split second, freezing like a child with their hand caught in the cookie jar.

It takes a conscious effort, but after a couple of deep breaths, my heart rate and bitter perfume are finally under control.

This is Leo. Not my mom. I’m not going to get yelled at.

I tilt my phone screen toward him so he can see.

He leans forward, squinting a bit so he can read what’s on it. It makes me feel a little better about my current eye strain. This document is one of the property division documents. Apparently, my mom wanted half of everything, including assets he’d acquired before the marriage and bonding. Considering he’s a bit older than her, she wanted a lot. Including stuff to do with his production company and films.

I was always told that he left us destitute, and if it weren’t for the show, we’d be metaphorically and financially fucked. But apparently, the guy paid child support for me. Lots of it, too. We’re talking over fifteen thousand a month ‌until I turned eighteen.

I wonder where the hell that money went?

With the way my mom talked about money, we were one bad season away from homelessness. It’s why I rarely spend money on myself. Most of the things I have are from brand deals or gifts from companies.

“Edison Wade,” Leo says quietly.

“Yeah.”

He pauses, glancing up at me. He doesn’t say it’s a bad idea. He also doesn’t say it’s a good one, either.

“What are you thinking?” he asks.

My gaze drops back down to my phone, onto the screensaver of the Milky Way from the night before, in the field the guys brought me to. Something settles in my chest at the memory of lying on the picnic blankets surrounded by people I didn’t have four months ago.

“I want to take a detour,” I say, quietly. “Before I lose my guts.”

“To your Dad’s?”

“Yeah.” I swallow past the lump in my throat and open up the document on my phone again. “I have his address. I don’t think he’s moved; the address has stayed the same for the past twenty years.”

Leo nods slowly.

“You’re not going to say no?”

“Why would I? You’ve been giving this a lot of thought recently, haven’t you?”

“Y—yeah.”

“Well, I trust you, Lucky Duck. You can count on me. Doesn’t matter what’s up your sleeve.”

“You mean that?”

“Of course I do,” he says, lacing our hands together, his lips quirking into a small smile. “Was it meeting Eli’s dad that... you know...”

“Sort of, yeah.” I glance past Leo to the row across from us to see Beck passed out, his head drooping onto Eli’s shoulder. “I think it made me curious about what my dad was like. I mean, maybe he’s an asshole, like my mom has been telling me all my life. Then I can handle that bridge when I come to it... but… what if he’s not?”

My chest squeezes as I stare down at the paperwork.

“My mom... she says all this stuff about me that isn’t true. No matter how much I try to convince her. What if it’s the same thing with my dad?”

“You won’t know until you meet the guy. Until you can form your own opinions.”

“Exactly. Beck’s dad seemed like a sweetheart. It’d be—it’d be nice if my dad was like that, wouldn’t it?”