Page 82 of Fight For Me

“Hey.” It’s a struggle to keep my voice low when all I want to do is rage at him. “What the fuck was that?”

He turns from his assistant to smile at me and the urge to punch his smug orange face blinds me. “That was an excellent episode of television,” he says. “Ratings are going to be through the roof.”

“You know what I mean.” I take a step closer, glad I have a few inches on him. “I’m supposed to be background. That didn’t fucking look like background.”

He shrugs. “I used the footage I had available to me.”

“I’m talking to my lawyer first thing in the morning, asshole,” I snarl.

He holds my gaze, smirk deepening. “You go right ahead. I’m certain he’ll tell you the same thing the studio’s lawyers told me.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Your contract doesn’t specify a certain amount of screen time that you’re limited to. It merely spells out that you aren’trequiredto do interviews, or be mic’d all the time, or participate in cast activities or directed scenes. You were made fully aware that being in the condo and going out with the cast meant that you’d end up on camera.”

“Not like that!”

Her merely shrugs again, intensifying my urge to pound in his face. “You were informed the kitchen and living room are constantly being recorded. Whatever footage we end up with is fair game.”

The fucker is right, and we both know it. Doesn’t make me any less pissed though. And then he steps closer.

“Did Alex tell you how happy the studio is about the first episode? They think this show is going to be huge, and I agree. In fact, they’re already talking about renewing for a second season.”

My mouth goes dry. “The first episode hasn’t even aired yet.”

He gives me an arrogant look. “Things move fast in this business, kid. This show has buzz. The critics are going to be publishing their reviews on the premiere tomorrow, and they’re all going to be good. Viewer polling tells us this is the most anticipated reality show of the season. We need to capitalize on that.”

“Good for you. Don’t see what that has to do with me.”

“Oh, it has a lot to do with you.” He leans closer. “We both know Everly is a sure thing. Fox…” he shrugs. “I can probably get him to do another season, but it doesn’t really matter. The tits and ass are what the sponsors want to see.”

I really might kill him. Right here, in front of my entire family.

“Alex is the wild card, far as I can tell,” he continues, voice casual, like he has no idea how close he is to getting my fist in his face. “The filming clearly stresses her out.”

“What the hell are you—”

“Maybe you can help me out with that,” he interrupts. “Have a chat with her. It’s pretty obvious she, uh,respectsyou.” The way he says that word makes it perfectly clear he means something else entirely.

“Why the fuck do you think I would help you?”

His smirk grows into a grin. A nasty, threatening grin that has fresh dread dropping into my chest. “What you saw tonight? That’s only a taste of what I have. I can’t imagine what your family will say if they see some of it. They consider her to be their family, too, don’t they? Probably wouldn’t be too thrilled that she has some creepy old guy perving on her.”

“You little fuck,” I growl, moving to get up in his face.

He holds up a hand. “Think very carefully about what you do right now, Warner. I could help you out. I could just as easily make things difficult for you. The choice is yours.”

Before I can say anything else, he pushes past me, leaving me stewing in my anger and dread.

Alex

It’s been almost a week since the grand opening party, and I’ve barely seen Wyatt. He’s obviously freaking out about the screen time he got in the premiere, and I can’t really blame him. He made it clear from the beginning that he had no desire to be on TV. I’m sure he’s also worried about the insinuation the footage seemed to make, asking me about dating and then showing the two of us spending so much time together. Alone. At night.

But so far no one in the family has said much to me about it, beyond some general grumbling about editing. It’s not like the cameras caught us making out or anything. I remind myself over and over again that we only ever did anything like that behind closed doors. I remind Wyatt of that fact too—through text. Because that’s pretty much the only way we’re communicating right now.

I can’t help but feel stung by his reaction. I’d assumed he would sneak into my room that night, the way he had every night since Miami, but no. Instead I got a text from him saying we should lay low for a while. The next day he went to stay at his parents for two nights. We’re less than two weeks from the end of filming, which means we’ll be moving out of the condo. I have no idea what’s going to happen then. Will it be easier for us to see each other without the cameras around? Or harder if we’re in two different places? I don’t even know where he plans to stay when this wraps up. And that’s not exactly a conversation I want to have over text.

I knew going into this that it wasn’t going to be easy for him to let the family see us together. He told me as much the day we got home from Miami. But it still stings that he’s so clearly panicked at the idea that they might get an inkling that we’re a couple.