Page 106 of Famous for a Living

The arrow hitting the heart. “I know, Zaiah. I know I have a problem.”

“But then you go and ruin it all.” He takes a tiny step toward me. “Then you go and make it your personal mission to help Mina get a business off the ground.”

He slips his jacket off his shoulders. “Then you throw yourself into trying to help us keep our park alive.”

He puts the jacket in one of his hands. “And then you risk that lovely neck of yours just to make Mina happy and keep the Kannery Park title.”

“I need that saddle over my head,” I say, raising a finger. “Without it, it would throw off the whole vibe.”

“You took on a job and a project that I know wouldn’t pay for a sandwich in the city, to please your uncle. You don’t slap Jax in the face when he acts like an idiot—”

I laugh lightly. “That is worthy of an award, I’ll grant.”

His eyes flicker down. “You wear that necklace from your uncle around your neck, even with diamonds to choose from.”

I feel the weight of his jacket as he slips it around my shoulders. The warmth is instant, his own body heat insulated inside as it transfers to my shivering torso.

“How long has your ridiculous coat been broken?”

His hands are still on the collar of the coat, around my neck. He’s so close I can feel the welcome addition of his body heat as he stands inches away, looking down at me.

“About three hours, I think,” I murmur.

His smile widens, his face just above mine. “You are stubborn to the core, Cat Cranwell. You know your mind. You are brave when you need to be. You’ve been through a lot in this life and still came out kind. You are gracious to your uncle. You are a good friend. And you, quite frankly, are stronger than anyone I know, given the way you’ve handled all you have going on right now.”

A crease forms on my forehead. “I was starting to think nobody here knew about my problems. Or even who I am.”

Zaiah gives a quiet laugh. “Everybody knows who you are, Cat. You are impossible to ignore. Your uncle just made very clear in no uncertain terms that nobody was to make note of it.”

My brow rises.

“And you have a very intense friend who called before you came to tell me likewise. On my home phone. Which your friend somehow managed to find.”

I laugh. Had I been told two months ago that essentially an entire town was sworn to pretend not to know who I was or direct attention to all my troubles splashed across the news for my mental health, I would’ve believed it impossible. But after tonight, seeing the way everybody in that barn talked to Uncle Terry, the way they treated him with such respect, such patience as he rambled on and on, I could believe it.

As for Serena, I could absolutely believe that too.

“You are impossible to ignore.”

A breeze sweeps through and my teeth involuntarily chatter.

“Ready to go inside?” he says.

I clench my jaw, forcing them to stop. Forcing them to cease from spoiling this moment. “Almost.”

There’s a snap in the fire beside us, and I realize that somewhere in the past millisecond everything has shifted. The moment I’ve quietly waited for, hoped for, has come, and now I find I’m holding my breath. Waiting to see what will happen next.

Part of me wants to hold back, knowing that this situation is all wrong.

I am the weaknesses of his last girlfriend.

He doesn’t realize the extent of my own dependence and struggles and anxieties and, yes, possibly depression linked to my life on the apps. He doesn’t know just how fiercely I battle to overcome my own emotions and to uphold my own well-being and mental health when things go wrong, or even right. Or even superb.

The manic highs.

The devastating lows.

I believe every word he said about the lawyer’s statistics.