Sugar and Spice_ An L.A. Candy Novel - Lauren Conrad [73]
He hit the Fast Forward button again, to Jane’s dinner date last night with Caleb.
Caleb. Trevor leaned forward, an interesting new idea forming in his head. Maybe the boring boyfriend was part of the solution?
Chapter 29
Absolutely, Positively, Madly
“If I was single, I would so be throwing myself at that guy right this second,” Scarlett remarked. “Oh . . . my . . . God.”
Jane grinned. “Yeah. You and every other girl here. Aja might have something to say about that, though.”
In a large reception room at the Venetian, Aja and Miguel were getting ready for their much-anticipated engagement-party-slash-masked-ball. An entourage of harried-looking stylists, assistants, and others were doing a last-minute check of the couple’s outfits (a black tux for him, a long black-and-white evening gown for her, and jewel-studded black masks for both), while a line of photographers stood by, ready to snap away, and several bodyguards secured the area. There were PopTV crew, hotel employees, and others floating around the room as well.
Scarlett was hanging out with Jane, just killing time until Dana or whoever came by and rounded them up for filming. (Aja had graciously consented to PopTV inviting Scarlett, Gaby, Sophia, and a few other L.A. Candy cast members and their friends to the party, so they could make an episode out of it.) Every once in a while, Jane would make a random comment about the guest list or the bar, which had confused Scarlett at first, until she realized that Jane was communicating with Hannah on her earpiece.
“Speaking of not being single . . . where’s your boyfriend?” Jane asked Scarlett.
“What? Oh. He, uh, couldn’t make it,” Scarlett said.
Jane gave her a pointed look. “Scar, what is going on with you two?”
Scarlett fidgeted with her gold cuff bracelet, which she was supposed to tell reporters was a Mandy Monk original, and tried to figure out how to answer that question. She and Liam had continued with their “break” these last couple of weeks, with no phone calls or texts or emails whatsoever. And she had been deeply miserable the entire time. Before Liam, she used to think that she could happily stay single forever. Not anymore. Forget Aja’s hot fiancé—or any other guy, for that matter. She wanted only Liam. She just wasn’t sure if Liam still wanted her.
Scarlett peered around the room, stalling, hoping Jane would just drop the subject, already—and noticed Gaby and her publicist in the corner having a heated conversation. A beat later, Gaby glanced in Scarlett and Jane’s direction and shook her head, obviously upset. What was going on?
Before Scarlett could mention what she saw to Jane, she felt Jane squeeze her hand. “You know you can tell me if something’s wrong.”
“What? Yeah, I know. Thanks, Janie.”
“Is everything okay with you and Liam?”
Scarlett sighed. “No. We’re not okay,” she blurted out. “I think he’s ready to break up with me over this stupid show.”
“Oh, no! Because of Naveen?”
“That, and . . . I’m always shooting, and Liam can’t be filmed, so we don’t have a lot of time to be together. Plus, it’s been hard for him to find another job because of me. Oh, and the night of my birthday party . . . well, I think Trevor or somebody ‘lost’ his Evite, and Liam had these big surprise plans to take me to Malibu. He had the whole evening planned.”
Jane gasped. “Are you serious? Trevor told me he was going to talk to Liam about the party and clear it with him.”
“Well, obviously, Trevor ‘forgot.’ Or, more likely, he lied to you. Anyway, that’s not your fault, and besides, my party was amazing. Thank you for organizing it.” Scarlett paused, searching for the right words. “The truth is . . . I need to figure some stuff out. Like what’s important to me.”
“Yeah. You need to choose between the show and the guy you care about,” Jane said.
And college, Scarlett added silently. On the plane ride to Las Vegas, she had finally made her decision. She was going to transfer out of USC in the fall. Which was going