Starstruck - Book Two by Gemma Brooks Read Free Book Online Page B

until it was too late.”
     
    “So he forgave you?” she asked.
     
    “I don’t know,” I said. “I mean, he said he still loved me.
I guess I assumed he forgave me too? That’s kind of why I want to see him. I
want to clear the air. Leave things on good terms. See if we can still be in
each other’s lives.”
     
    “So you have someone to come back to when it doesn’t work
out with Hudson,” she snorted.
     
    “That’s harsh, Piper,” I said.
     
    She couldn’t even look at me.
     
    “I should get going,” I said. “I’m only in town until
Sunday.”
     
    I slid off the counter stool and clicked my little kitten
heels on out of the coffee shop. I didn’t know what her problem was, but I knew
I didn’t have to put up with it for another second.
     
     
     

CHAPTER 11
 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I walked into the Manhattan bar that Friday night dressed to
the nines. My skinny jeans hugged every little curve I had left, and I wore the
lowest cut, shimmery tank top and the tallest high heels I could find.
     
    It wasn’t that I wanted start anything with Luke, I just
wanted his attention. I wanted him to talk to me. I wanted to see if we could
still be friends. And I wanted him to be sorry he waited until it was too late
before admitting how he felt about me.
     
    I stepped into the tiny bar as the speakers blared in my ear
with country music and the familiar faces of locals all turned towards me
wondering who the hell I was. I knew I didn’t look like I was from Rock River
anymore, but I didn’t care.
     
    Perched on a bar stool sat Luke. He was handsome and
strapping in his green plaid shirt and dusty blue jeans as he sipped a frosty
mug of beer. I watched as he turned towards me, looked me up and down, and then
turned back away. I knew he knew it was me.
     
    “Whoo hoo!” I heard a man yell.
     
    Another man whistled.
     
    “Who do we have here?” a third man called out. “Miss
Hollywood? Aren’t you that girl who ran off with the actor?”
     
    My cheeks blushed, though thankfully it was so dark in there
no one could tell. I ignored their cat calls as best I could. My eyes focused
on Luke as I approached the far end of the bar and ordered a bottle of beer. I
just wanted to fit in again. I just wanted to feel like I was welcome back home
still.
     
    With my beer in hand, I mustered up the courage to approach
Luke. It was such an odd sensation to be afraid to talk to him. He’d been in my
life for as long as I could remember. And a month ago, I would’ve said he was
my world. Now the thought of talking to him nearly gave me a panic attack.
     
    “Luke,” I said as my heart pounded in my ears. “Hi.”
     
    He turned towards me, looked me up and down again, and then
turned back away on his stool. Just like that, he rebuffed me.
     
    “It’s Brynn,” I said. Maybe he didn’t recognize me?
     
    “I know,” he said as he took a sip from his mug, still
giving me the cold shoulder.
     
    “How are you?” I asked. Maybe if I pretended nothing was
wrong, he’d warm up to me?
     
    He ignored me. It was quite obvious that it was intentional
too. I slammed my brown bottle of beer on the counter next to him and
hightailed it out of there. I wasn’t going to put up with that from Piper, and
I certainly wasn’t going to put up with that from Luke. I never realized what
fair weather friends I had until then.
     
    As my heels struggled to carry me across the gravel parking
lot, I couldn’t get to my car fast enough. I just wanted to go home. I just
wanted to forget about Luke and Piper for a second. I wanted to go back to L.A.
I wanted to see Hudson.
     
    “Brynn!” I heard a man call out behind me.
     
    I stopped dead in my tracks and turned my head to see Luke
standing with his hands in his pockets by the door of the bar.
     
    My shoulders fell as I stood frozen. I wasn’t going to walk
back over to him. He could come to me if he wanted to talk. I said