▌𝘔𝘈𝘚𝘖𝘕 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘔𝘌𝘚
❛ do you know how 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 frustrating it is? ❜ he cut her off. ❛ to have to 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 you? to pretend like i don't feel 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 when i look at you?❜
starr's breath caught in her throat.
❛ because i do...
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chapter TWENTY FIVE you're impossible .
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mason sat in his trailer, phone clutched in his hand as he read the latest email from his PR team. they had been hammering the same message for days now—he needed to go public with ahliya. the kiss she'd planted on him at the incoming movie premiere had thrown everything into chaos. the internet had gone wild, thinking they were together, and mason's team wanted to ride that wave. but what really grated on him was the rumours that dylan had started—rumours linking him and starr like some scandalous affair.
his jaw clenched. starr didn't deserve any of this.
the door to his trailer creaked open, and starr slipped inside. her face was set in that unreadable expression he'd come to know so well—like she was bracing herself for a punch she wasn't sure was coming.
"so, we need to talk," she said, shutting the door behind her, her voice tight. she avoided his gaze, staring at some invisible point on the floor.
"yeah," mason agreed, setting his phone down. "we really do."
starr exhaled sharply, like she was already preparing for bad news. "i talked to my PR team, and it's getting worse. the rumours... they're everywhere, mason. it looks like we're sneaking around behind ahliya's back."
he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "yeah, i know. my team's been all over me. they want me to announce that ahliya and i are together—officially."
starr's eyes snapped up to meet his, and he could see the hurt flash across her face before she blinked it away. "officially?"
"apparently, the internet's already decided we're some affair behind ahliya's back."
starr gave a dry laugh, though there was no humour behind it. "so, that's it? you're just gonna play along, fake being ahliya's boyfriend?"
mason took another step towards her, his eyes softening as he reached out. "it's not like i want to. you know that."
"do i?" she met his eyes, but there was pain there. "because it feels like i'm the one being left behind while you play happy couple with her."
"starr..." his voice dropped, becoming softer as he closed the distance between them. "you know this is all for show. i don't care about ahliya like that. this is just... PR nonsense."
