Hiding Out in Hollywood (Celebrity Love)

Chapter Thirteen

Sunlight streamed through Emily's bedroom window and bounced along her walls. She could tell it was a perfect day to be outside, enjoying life, but she stayed hunkered down in her bed, hiding under her duvet.

She checked the time on her phone, which she clutched in her hand. Her yoga class would already have started five minutes ago.

He didn't even text to ask if I was coming, she thought, shoving her phone under her duvet and burying her head in her pillow. She hadn't heard a word from Raine since he'd left last night, even though she'd tried calling him after a couple of hours had passed. She hadn't left a voice mail, since she hadn't known what to say.

Even so, it was more effort than Raine had made. He would have seen the missed call by now, but he had made no attempt to reach out to her. Maybe he really meant what he'd said last night about needing time. It wasn't clear to Emily where they stood. Had needing time and saying he felt done meant he was breaking up with her, or did he just need a few days to cool off and clear his head?

She could have gone to yoga this morning and asked him, she knew. But when her alarm had gone off, the thought of facing him there had been daunting enough to make her hit snooze. Then she'd hit it five more times, until it had been too late to make it to class on time. Lying there with her eyes squeezed shut, Emily had convinced herself their yoga class wasn't a good place for a follow-up conversation to what had happened last night, anyway. There were so many people around, and Kami would have listened in on every word they exchanged. They wouldn't have solved anything in that kind of fishbowl, and she wouldn't have been comfortable trying to. There was no telling what Raine might have said, either, since he seemed to think it was time to let the world know they were a couple.

If they even still were.

Emily rolled onto her back and covered her face with her hands, shielding her eyes from the sun. She didn't want to get up yet, but she had to. There was work for Zeeked to do and a freelance assignment for another site she wrote for, and she knew she should start brainstorming her next column for Wally.

Coffee, she promised herself, struggling to sit up. Caffeine would help her think more clearly.

Emily got out of bed and headed down the hallway to the kitchen, stifling a yawn. She stopped when she saw Shelby sitting at the table.

Shelby blinked a few times, surprise registering on her face. "Shouldn't you be at yoga?" she asked. Her voice sounded hoarse.

"I'm taking the day off." Emily trudged over to a cupboard and pulled out a mug. "It's Monday, right? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I called in sick. I barely slept last night."

Emily pushed the brew button on the Keurig. "Did you spend the night at Darren's? I didn't hear you come in."

In truth, Shelby could have come home last night, blasted music, and had a party in the living room, and Emily probably wouldn't have heard her. She'd hypnotized herself scrolling through old text messages while waiting for Raine to see the missed call from her, and at some point had nodded off with her bedroom lamp still on. She'd woken up two hours later at the time she usually went to sleep and had stumbled into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. After just barely finding the energy to change into pajamas, she had dragged herself back to bed and had fallen into a dreamless slumber until her alarm had gone off.

"I was supposed to stay there," Shelby said. "Change of plans."

Something in Shelby's tone made Emily glance up and take a good look at her. For the first time, she noticed Shelby's puffy, red-tinged eyes. It could have been from lack of sleep, but she suspected Shelby had been crying.