Page 6 of Y'allywood Billionaire
“We’re not dating. We’re just twin flames.”
“Okay,” I say as more of a question. “Twin flames who arenotdating.”
“Hell, no,” Skye snaps. “He’s not a starling from Sirius. Hewishes.”
“But…” I tilt my head. “It sounds like you two are more than friends.”
“Well, of course I’ve slept with him.”
“Nice.” I’m glad Skye is getting out there.
When Maddox and Billy return, Billy walks over to the fire pit and grabs a small satin sack from the pile of crystals.
Skye points to it. “We were about to boost the healing power of our crystals with fire.”
“Awesome.” I smile. “I should let you get to it. I’ll go get the spare key from my shorts.”
“If you’ve got the key, then I’m gonna take off.” Maddox hitches a thumb over his shoulder.
“Wait, Maddie. I want you to see this.” Billy slides out a jewelry box and hands it to Skye.
“What did you do?” Skye asks with a shocked face.
“Open it, love,” Billy says.
Skye raises the lid, revealing a necklace with a raw amethyst mounted on it. She gasps. “My power stone.”
“Yes.” He takes it out and puts it around her neck. And by the giddy look on Skye’s face, she’s falling for Billy Road—evolved starling or not.
Then Maddox scowls at me and says, “Oh, shit.”
“What?” I look down to see what could possibly be wrong. “It can’t be a wardrobe malfunction—“
“Paparazzi,” Maddox interrupts, pointing behind me.
I flip around to see a few guys with cameras in the distance. When I turn back, Billy and Skye are already running for cover. But I’m frozen, my brain fogged over, and Maddox pulls me away.
He and I run behind Billy and Skye, all of us desperate to get to Maddox’s car since he’s the only one with his key fob. We’ve almost made it across the gravel lot when paparazzi swarm out of various parked vehicles. Cameras flash continuously around us.
In a panicked scurry, I trip over a mound of gravel.
Noooo—not the old klutzy Riley!
As I fall, Maddox’s arms catch me. I’m not exactly sure what happens next, but when I hit the ground, scraping my hands and knees, Maddox crashes on top of my back.
And,ouch.
Being crushed under Maddox embeds gravel into my skin. I shriek as I try to mentally block out the anaconda part of Maddox’s body that’s squished against my ass.
Somehow out of the bjorn, Dolly and Llama dart around and bark like mini Cujos.
As Maddox and I untangle ourselves, cameras capture every second, like we’re on the red carpet.
3
Love Buzz
Here I am. On the cover ofLove Buzz, the trashiest, highest-ranked celebrity website on the planet. In the photo, I’m lying under Maddox with a shocked expression on my face, although it looks erotic. Plastered across the top of the picture in sunshine yellow print is, “RILEY AND MADDOX, ‘RILOX’—A REAL LIFE COUPLE? CAUGHT…” Then there’s an eggplant and dog emoji.