Page 43 of Pink and Country

I raised my hands in surrender. “Not unless you want it too.” I winked. Bubble Gum’s face turned crimson. “Okay fine, no funny business.” We’ll see about that. Pink Hair ogled me every chance she got, I noticed. This rooming situation should be fun.

Fairy Girl harrumphed. “I have conditions.”

“Yeah, I assumed nothing less from you. We’ll discuss them in the car. Now let’s decide on something for dinner.”

We roamed through the aisles.

“Cheese?”

“Nope.”

“Cream?”

“No.” Annoyed Girl gave me a puzzled look.

“Take the lead, I wanna see what you’ll get.” Just like that, we bought groceries together, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Again.

When we neared the cashiers, I stopped in my tracks. My own face looked back at me. Multiple times. On the cover of four different magazines. Each in dozens of copies. My airway tightened. My legs weighed a ton.

“Where’s Carter Hills?” one title said. Fuck.

“Carter Hills dumped Savannah Prince for one of his many mistresses,” another said. The muscle of my jaw ticked, and I clenched my teeth.

Seconds later, my legs regained their function, and I slid my body between the buggy and the magazine stand to block my Goddess Neighbor’s view. I crossed my fingers, hoping she had no interest in flicking through gossip magazines when waiting in line at the grocery store.

Probably not.

If she did, she’d know who I was. I appeared on so many front pages in the last two years that I lost count. Not giving my neighbor time to think about anything else, I kept the conversation going.

“Should I be worried about that cat of yours moving in? It doesn’t seem to like me very much.”

My neighbor chuckled, the sound fucking delicious. “C’mon, HN. Bernice is harmless. She won’t attack you in your sleep. Ohmygod, are you scared of a fifteen-pound feline?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Fairy Girl. Just trying to get to know my new roommate, that’s all. I’m sure we’ll be best friends in no time.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

My heart leaped in my throat. I hated lying to her. I should come clean before my neighbor learned about me from another source. Damn it. I liked our relationship how it was. Telling Pixie the truth might destroy what we had. My fists clenched and unclenched at my sides again and again. I faked a smile when Bubble Gum said something I didn’t quite catch. Relax, Carter. Breathe in. Breathe out.

When we reached my truck, a guy pointed his phone at us. With my hand on the small of Fairy’s back, I rushed her into the passenger side, after dropping the grocery bags on the backseat, and closed the door after her. I cursed under my breath as I rounded the vehicle to slide behind the wheel, my insides boiling with sizzling anger. I ignored the guy on the opposite sidewalk, keeping my head down.

Shit.

I prayed in silence he didn’t get any valuable pictures of us. Fucking fame.

Pink Hair Girl didn’t need to have her face plastered on covers of gossip magazines all around the world because she bought groceries with me this one time.

I had no idea how to explain my fame to her. She seemed so clueless about me and my life.

One day, I’d tell her. Not today, though.

The selfish part of me wasn’t ready to let her walk away from my life. I wanted to keep her all to myself for as long as I could. The truth would mess up everything.

Not willing to let the press drag my clueless neighbor in the dirt, I sent June, my manager slash personal assistant, a quick text message while waiting at a red light, my best poker face on.

Oblivious Girl smiled at me, and it chased my grumpiness away. Her bubbly personality had a way of adding colors to my toneless existence. It grew on me.

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