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20. Cut it off.

Rocco unbuttoned Camryn's blazer-dress and with his finger, teased her as he delicately ran it up and down her torso while looking - waiting - for her to drop her panties. That's what he was used to women doing.

But she didn't.

As much as she wanted to enjoy it, she couldn't.

She thought about Brooke.

Brooke always seemed so disinterested in Rocco's advances, yet gravitated towards him every time they had been in the same room since filming began. He put his hand on her knee at Sonny and Rosie's for a reason. He was precisely claiming her. And knowing Brooke, she probably let him inside her when she - or they - were hammered. Rocco had mentioned, at Ophelia's, that they were just friends and Brooke didn't correct him.

Was he using Camryn because he assumed she was easy and wanted to make her look bad because of the article? What all - and who all - did Bryson tell?

Did Brooke piss Rocco off and was this his opportunity to get back at her? Brooke did, suddenly, disappear out of thin air. Maybe they argued over something that made one or the other jealous and she left without saying anything to anyone. Paige, also, was nowhere to be found. Did she leave with Brooke?

What in the actual fuck was going on, here?

Then she thought about Bryson.

What would he do - what would he say - if and when he found out about their hookup? Because that was the direction it was headed in.

Rocco, with his hands gripping the curvature of her back from the inside of her clothing, ventured south and grabbed a handful of her ass that he noticed, with his fingertips, hung out of cheeky underwear.

Camryn couldn't stop kissing him. It was like they couldn't open their mouths wide enough to let the other in fast enough.

She saw Bryson's face again when she closed her eyes. Then Brooke's. Then Bryson's. Then Brooke's.

Her head was spinning and her throat narrowed. Not in the way Rocco had hoped for.

Camryn pulled back.

Since she had met him, he never smiled at her. But when she looked up, he half-grinned and they shared in the moment of realizing they shouldn't continue.

"We shouldn't -."

"I know." Rocco said. No explanation was needed. He just knew.

Rocco ran his thumb over his lower lip, seductively, hoping to remove any traces of her nude-pink lipstick.

Looking - and putting - him in this new light was exciting. He hated her. And she wasn't his biggest fan. But perhaps it all stemmed from an undeniable attraction that they both chose to actively ignore.

Until now.

"Well, that was unexpected." Camryn chose to break up the seriousness with her lighthearted side he wasn't used to seeing. She leered at him and wiped a small smudge of her lipstick, that he'd missed.

He couldn't help himself.

Rocco grabbed her face again and kissed her for the seventieth time. He sucked her lip before pulling it in between his teeth. Her tongue skimmed the inside of his.

How was this happening? Was she dreaming?

Camryn pulled away for the second time, buttoned herself up and fixed her hair. She made a decision to not go through with what probably would have been the best sex of her life. Even better than what she had with Bryson (and that would be hard to beat) (pun intended). And with a guy that was seven years younger.

Placing her hand in the middle of his chest, her look alone read, this was fun, but this can't happen.

Walking out of the kitchen, she continued to search for Brooke - or Paige, even - despite not wanting to particularly talk to her.

Tatum and Callie weren't wrong. Brooke was acting like a questionable friend. A bitch, even. A huge one. But regardless, that didn't give Camryn the OK to make-out with the guy she knew her friend was seeing on the down-low. It didn't matter if Brooke confirmed the assumption or not. She didn't have to. Camryn just had this feeling that she broke girl code. Whatever the fuck that meant.

And he wasn't just some guy. It was Rocco Fucking Jet.

She was, now, the shitty friend and knew there were going to be consequences that she'd have to face head-on, eventually.

Someone had to pop her bubble so she could come down a few pegs and when she found herself back in the middle of the crowd, she ran into the one who had the power to do just that.

"We need to talk." He said in her ear.

"No. We don't." She replied with nostrils flared. Had he finally realized who she was?

"Yes..." he looked at her sternly. "We do."

"You finally remember. Took you long enough."

She waited years for this.

Beau shook his head. It took him awhile to figure it out, but he did, and knew he was in trouble; some serious deep shit.

Maybe Boston wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Camryn's eyes said it all.

Beau looked at her, voiceless, contemplating if he should tell V as soon as possible. There wasn't a chance in hell Camryn was going to stay quiet.

"Please..." he pleaded. "If you tell anyone, my life will be ruined." Beau looked over at V, who was passed out, peacefully, in the lounge. "You don't understand."

"Oh, but I do."

In her peripheral vision, she saw Rocco walk past and didn't turn around, reluctantly.

She was still in disbelief at the turn-of-events.

Did he hear anything Beau was saying to her? Probably not. It was so extremely loud from the music that continued to blast over the speakers.

Camryn had to remind herself that she wasn't apart of this group. They all were entangled in each others' lives for years and years whether they mingled voluntarily or not. Being an A-lister was like living in a Utopia. There was nothing else in the world that was comparable. They had their own set of rules; of secrets.

Just what did they all know about their pasts and why was it unheard of to ever bring it up?

"There you are!" Callie shouted from behind, which alarmed Camryn.

Callie locked eyes with Beau, whom, after a moment of uncomfortableness, walked back over to the lounge to tend to his wife who'd quickly found herself in a stupor.

"Where the hell did you run off to? I thought you left."

Camryn could see Tatum approaching from behind Callie.

"I was in the bathroom."

"No you weren't. That was the first place I looked." Callie was clueless and three sheets to the wind.

"I got dizzy from dancing. I puked in the stall. I feel a lot better now."

There was that alibi she already had tucked away for when she needed it.

"Let's take one more shot and call it a night." Tatum, who appeared to be decently sober, said before leading the girls to the bar, which had just freed up space.

The three patiently waited for the bartender to make her way to them. Rocco was at the opposite end with Brooke.

Where did she come from?

Brooke didn't look to be all-that-intoxicated.

Finally marking her territory, Brooke burrowed her face into the crease of Rocco's neck and shoulder and girlishly giggled when he wrapped his arm around the side of her stomach she was most ticklish in.

She made him smile. Again, something Camryn never saw on that young, sculpted face since being introduced.

Watching them trifle made Camryn jealous for some strange reason, but it also made her partially relieved that she didn't go a step further with her so-called archenemy.

"Three Redheaded Sluts, please." Tatum leaned over the bar and yelled to the bartender so she could hear.

A redheaded what? Was Tatum indirectly referring to Camryn?

Camryn didn't say anything. But she had so much to say. All at the same time. Where was her phone? She had to get a lot jotted down before passing out and forgetting everything.

While they waited for their peachy-flavored shots to be put in front of them, Camryn just couldn't...no matter what she did...just could not look away from Rocco.

He put his hands on Brooke's face and frenched her the way he did Camryn minutes ago.

"Cheers to choices - may we make ones we love and have no regrets about it later!" Callie raised her glass that met the girls' and threw it back.

Pretty good toast, thought Camryn. That could never be her. She cared too much about others' feelings and how her choices would affect them. Maybe that was her problem.

When she made it back to the lounge, she retrieved her clutch she left on the table she danced on. It was a wonder no one stole it. Grabbing her phone inside of it to call an Uber, she saw one new text message.

It was from Bryson.

I can't stop thinking about you.

That message was delivered almost an hour ago. Was he awake at this time? Did he mean to text Evelyn or Paige, but sent it to her on accident? The real question was, should she respond?

"Who's texting you?" Tatum was hovering over Camryn's shoulder.

"Who do you think?"

"Oh, Mr. Knox. When will you ever be satisfied?" Tatum asked aloud as if he were standing beside her.

Camryn shoved her phone back into her clutch and decided to wait outside for her ride to arrive. She, not wanting to be alone, hooked an arm trustingly with Tatum's.

"Go home with me?"

Tatum couldn't act standoffish towards her any longer. Finally, Camryn had won her over - for the time being.

"You talked me into it, but I don't screw on the first date."

Both girls returned a grin.

"Grab Callie and let's go." Camryn said.

Tatum headed for the door. "She wants to stay until close; said she'll sober up and drive back to her house."

Those two chicks were attached at the hip and now they both leave separate when they came together? Callie was surely drunker than a skunk. Was it even possible to sober up in a span of two hours? Or, did she see Camryn and Rocco vanish into the kitchen and stayed back to tell Brooke? Would she do that? Perhaps Callie was the one who'd stab you in the back. Camryn happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Was she Callie's target all along?

Overthinking made her stomach queasy and they needed to get out of that stuffy club stat.

When they were finally dropped off at Camryn's place, the first thing Tatum did was kick her pumps off at the door like it was her own home. Camryn offered the first thing she saw in the fridge. She was starving.

Camryn raided the fridge for something that was high in carbs while Tatum sprawled on the couch in the next room.

"What I want," began Tatum, "is for you to tell me everything that happened in that kitchen."

Camryn froze. Did she mean her kitchen? Or Midnight Sky's kitchen.

Tatum laughed and got up to meet her at the very same spot Bryson began undressing Camryn nights ago.

Ugh, he was so goddamn hot. She shook her head at the reminder of them fornicating - and of his text.

He couldn't stop thinking about her. That was cute - if those words were intended for her. She often thought of him, too, that night. Only about his reaction to her doing the exact same thing she was angry at him for doing. Sort of.

Bryson needed a good dose of karma. Especially after the way they left it back in the stairwell.

Then again, that wasn't who she was. Camryn never put bad energy out into The Universe (if she could help it) only for it to circle round and bite her in the ass later, which it always did.

"I'm waiting." Tatum drummed her fingertips along the granite.

Camryn smiled at her insistence. "Which kitchen are you referring to?"

It was time to lay all the cards on the table. Tatum was not one to withhold information from. If anything, she was the one you wanted on your side if people were to turn their backs on you. Forming not only a friendship, but an alliance, was crucial to Camryn now.

Tatum wanted to know more about her and Bryson, their timeline, and assumed something had happened in the kitchen - Camryn's kitchen.

Camryn took a deep breath.

Here it goes. No turning back now.

"Rocco kissed me tonight."

Tatum's mouth gaped. "You're lying!" Although she said the words, she knew Camryn was being truthful. She went on. "Don't take it personally. He probably kissed every girl that rubbed bodies with him tonight."

"No." Camryn declared. This wasn't a drunken mishap. This was premeditated. "You don't understand."

Tatum rolled her eyes and cracked a grin.

"Well make me understand. He can't stand you. I don't see any real substance behind his actions."

Camryn wasn't offended. These were facts. She knew this as well and was just as baffled as Tatum was.

"Tonight...when I was dancing, he stared at me. I can't explain it. It was like I was a piece of forbidden fruit he wanted to take a bite of."

Tatum saw her face change looks. Whatever happened between them tonight must have been the start of something destructive - and in more ways than one.

"Something about it made me want to tell Brooke right away because I think she's seeing him. I don't know...I felt ashamed."

Camryn waited for input.

Tatum searched for the right way to go about replying.

"Can I ask you something? And be honest." Tatum was playing Dr. Phil. "You like Bryson. Right? What if Bryson made an advance on Brooke? Regardless of where he stands with you currently. Do you think she'd entertain it without telling you?"

It was a fair question and a scenario that could possibly happen.

What did that say about him - or her? Camryn had her answer.

"Yes."

"Then who gives a fuck what she thinks? Do you know how many relationships she's home-wrecked? I said it once and I'll say it again: cut it off now before she ruins you. Because she will. I've seen her do it to many before you."

The words were heavy. Cut it off.

Camryn would've ignored the suggestion if Brooke had acted different towards her since day one of this entire experience. Maybe they were just New York friends. And maybe Brooke liked having an acquaintance who wasn't in the spotlight. That way, the attention would never be taken off her.

Cutting ties would be a bold move. But, wasn't that the inevitable outcome? Someone, somewhere, saw Rocco pull Camryn into another room where people weren't supposed to go. It was a matter of days - even hours - before the rumor landed in Brooke's ear. Of course, Camryn always had the option of denying it, but she was done covering her tracks. It never worked in her favor in the past.

"You're right." Camryn told Tatum.

"I am right." Tatum agreed. "I call it how I see it. It's not hard for me to spot a fake. I would know, I'm an actress. And I may be washed up, but I'll never rob someone of the fucking truth."

Camryn felted Tatum was a breath of fresh air, despite how she treated her in the beginning.

"Okay. I've waited long enough. Time to tell what really happened between you and Bryson. And don't leave anything out."

Camryn had to pull out a bottle of Merlot.

It was story-time.


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