Irresistible Bachelors: Books 1-5 by Landish, Lauren (bts books to read TXT) 📕

But she’s not here.

The breath tightens in my throat.

Miranda rushes over to my side, trying to peer back behind my head. “You’re okay, right? The doctor said you were fine, but they lie all the time. You haven’t suffered brain damage, have you—”

“I’m fine, Miranda,” I say mildly. “Just a small concussion is all. The doc said that I should be fine, and I’ll talk with the team, I guess. Can’t hide it, but I think I’ll be cleared by the time first practices start.”

She breathes, and I’m touched to see the concern on her face. “Thank God . . .” she gets out before she pauses and frowns. “Although one could say you’ve suffered some kind of brain damage this trip. Maybe a smack in the head will get you back to normal.”

“Very funny,” I say, laughing. “I know it’s been a hard week, but this time it wasn’t me!”

Miranda chuckles and finds my stitches, tugging at my hair but not poking them directly. “Seriously, Gavin, I’m so glad you are all right. When I saw you hit your head, I thought for sure it would be something terrible. The sound of your head hitting the ground . . . well, once, I saw a watermelon fall out of a container in a semi truck and hit the pavement. It was kinda like that.”

Mmm . . . watermelon. Sounds good right about now. I shake my head. “I’ll be fine. Have I gotten any calls?”

“Oh, hell yeah, so many that I had to turn my phone off,” Miranda says. “TMZ, ESPN, oh, and the team called too. There was Coach . . .”

I wave them all off. I don’t care about them right now. “No one else? Brianna?”

Miranda arches her eyebrow. “No, no Brianna. Who’s that?”

I should tell her. It would explain so many things about why I’ve been acting the way I have been, and the words are on my lips. But why bother? Tomorrow, I’ll be gone, and obviously, she doesn’t care that I’m injured. She knows as well as I do that she’s wasting her time and doesn't want to be hurt.

“Nobody,” I say quietly. “I guess.”

Miranda peers at me suspiciously. She’s known me too long. “You sure?”

“Yes,” I say. I let out a groan as a spike of pain pulses through my head. “So I’m going to have to re-shoot that whole scene, I take it? That sucks. I was looking forward to being done with this shit.”

Miranda lights up like a light bulb. “Actually, no.”

“Huh?”

“Jim decided he would use the footage of you falling and hitting your head and made it so that ‘Kara’ picks up a gun and shoots that dude, killing him. He said the fight was very realistic.”

“What the hell? That will make her look like the hero and me like a pussy. I thought that wasn’t supposed to happen until I die.”

Miranda shrugs her hands out to the side. “Just roll with it. We’re constrained with time and he wasn’t sure if you were going to be out for weeks. It would have cost a fortune to extend the filming license. The town jacked up the price when they found out that you were injured—some bullshit line about insurance—so they have to get everything done in just a few hours. There are secondary crews out right now, rushing around town trying to get the rest of the backing shots.”

“Damn it,” I grumble, but it’s halfhearted. A part of me is elated, and another is upset about how I’m going to be portrayed. While I knew I wasn’t going to be the star, I was supposed to be pretty badass.

You should be used to it by now, a cruel voice says in my head. All image, no substance.

Miranda nods, not knowing my inner dialogue. “Yep. I think he said something like, ‘I can’t bear another day of Gavin’s wooden, cardboard acting, so this is the best thing that could happen to me.’”

Instead of getting mad, I can't help but laugh. The truth hurts, but not in this case. I know my performance has been hindered by a certain someone. The thought of Brianna brings me back down again and my smile quickly fades to a slight frown. “You know what? Fuck that guy.”

“But look on the bright side,” Miranda says, mistaking my frown as hurt over Jim’s insult. “He also decided to go with your idea. They’re cancelling the bedroom shoot and using a body double back in Hollywood. And at least this will make all the feminist fans happy with Leslie turning out to be the hero from minute one and you being her boy toy.”

I give her a look, one that she reads loud and clear. I’m nobody’s boy toy.

“Hey, I’m just trying to put a positive spin on this. You know me. You can now act like you’re pro-women's movement in the interviews and be a spokesperson for women’s rights!”

I groan, rolling my eyes. Miranda is out of her fucking mind.

“And the best thing of all, kiddo,” Miranda says, gently slapping me on the arm. “We can get the fuck out of here by tomorrow evening. Already got the private plane booked for us.”

The words should send me into a euphoric state. I can finally be done with all the stress and bullshit I’ve had to deal with since arriving. But it only causes a feeling of dread to settle onto my chest. Is that all I’ve got left?

“Gavin,” Miranda asks, seeing my expression, a worried look on her face. “Are you all right? Is it your head?”

The dark feelings that I feel threaten to overwhelm me. I know that I’m anything but. I’m in fucking pain. One in my head. One in my heart. And I know which one hurts the most. With massive effort, I’m able to shove down my feelings and put on a fake smile. “I’m fine.”Brianna

I arrive at the hotel feeling shitty and down. Gavin leaving me with that clip