She helps me dry and brush my hair. “I haven’t seen him treat anyone like this before.”
I offer her a timid smile. “You mean he hasn’t cleaned up puke from any of the women that’s stayed here before?”
She laughs lightly. “You’d be the first.”
Wanting to groan over that, I internally shake it off. All I say is, “Lucky me.”
Her hand squeezes my arm as she turns her back while I change. She knocks on the door twice, signaling Garrick to walk in once I’m all set.
“You don’t—”
I yelp when he picks me up, cradling me to his chest and carrying me out of the bathroom. I protest when he walks us out of the room and down the hall, but all he says is, “The room smells like vomit. You can stay in mine for now until we air it out.”
I blush.
“And don’t say you’re sorry,” he tells me firmly, eyeing me knowingly. “It happens. I’ll get you some water and medicine after you’re settled in.”
He nudges open his bedroom door and carefully brings me inside. My nerves skyrocket the second we get into his space, but I don’t have time to look around or overthink before I’m being placed on a cloud-like mattress that I imagine came from heaven itself.
“I’ll be right back.”
He’s gone before I can blink, and I barely remember him getting back, passing me some pills and water, before I fall back asleep.
There’s a fuzzy purple blanket folded on my bed that wasn’t there when I was carried out this morning. As I approach the new item, I graze the fleece material and smile when I pick it up.
“A Snuggie,” I laugh, shaking my head as soon as I realize what it is.
“I never use it,” a new voice states from behind me, causing me to whirl around. Garrick gestures toward the piece. “It’s been collecting dust in my closet since it arrived. Don’t worry, I washed it.”
“It’s purple,” I state dumbly.
He snickers at the astute observation. “Violet, to be more accurate. My favorite color.”
I blink a few times. “I thought you always joked about that when people asked. Most men say blue or black or something.”
He casually strolls into my room and sits on the edge of the bed, seemingly not caring about the mess I made in here earlier. Though whatever he and Yasmin did to the carpet makes it look like nothing happened at all, a magic trick I’ll have to ask her about. “I prefer colors with personality. The guys hated me when I came up with the band name, but nothing else stuck. Then all of a sudden we had branding and merchandise that were all violet and they learned to deal because the people loved it.”
I don’t remember the origin story of how Violet Wonders got their name well, only that Garrick was the one who’d suggested it. Obviously, it stuck.
“What about you? What’s your favorite color?” he asks, his eyes on the Snuggie instead of me.
His casualness makes me study him for a moment before I shrug. “I don’t really have one. I guess it depends on my mood. When I was little I’m pretty sure I told everybody that it was pink. My room was painted that color, my bedspread was the shade of bubble gum, and so were my pillows, curtains, and everything else.”
His head cocks, something flashing in his eyes as they capture mine. “And what’s the mood now?”
My tongue runs along the seam of my lips as I study him, then the Snuggie in my hands. “I suppose violet isn’t so bad.”
He grins. Instead of torturing me with more comments, he changes topics. “You’re feeling better, yeah?”
“Yes, much. Thank you for…everything. I’m not sure how you got the stain out, but I’m glad you managed. And I’ll make sure to thank Yasmin next time I see her too.”
“Yasmin likes you.”
“Still doesn’t mean she had to do what she did,” I reason quietly. “Not everybody would have, so I appreciate it.”
Garrick is quiet for a moment. “I would have called your mother to see if there was anything I should have done, but I didn’t have the passcode to your phone, and I don’t know what they know about us.”
This time, I’m the quiet one.
“Chase said you haven’t been answering your phone,” he adds, leading to a conversation we haven’t touched on before.
“I wasn’t aware he was keeping tabs on me,” I murmur, slightly hurt over the idea he’s been keeping an eye out.
One shoulder rises casually, either not hearing the strained tone in my voice or not caring. “He’s quiet half the time, but the other half he’s watching. It sounds creepy, but that’s just my brother. He’s a wallflower.” His brows raise. “So?”
Lowering the Snuggie, I place it back on the bed and walk over to the window. “I’ve been getting a ton of calls, texts, and emails from people since some of the headlines started.”
A Modern-Day Cinderella Story
How A Reporter Snagged A King
Meet the Woman Who Tamed Hollywood’s Biggest Bachelor
I hadn’t planned to shut my phone off completely because I knew my parents deserved answers, but my name was everywhere, and my contact information along with it. I’m always told to reduce the stress in my life so I don’t make myself sicker, but that’s basically impossible when the world is contemplating if I deserve my new role or not. The only peace I got from people wanting interviews was when the device was off and far, far away from me.
Moffie had instant messaged me to let me know my parents were hounding her for answers, but the best I could do was “tell them I’m fine and that I love them.”
She’d said one thing back.
Chicken.
Blowing out a breath, I shake my head and lean my hip against the wall. “I knew this would happen. Your brother told me I’d need to change my number,
