"Heard you had a good night last night." Layla moved alongside her, knowing she"d clinched it when Aster paused, waiting for Tommy, Karly, and Brittany to wander inside before facing her.
"What do you want?" She placed a hand on her hip, tapped her foot against the sidewalk. Trying to come off as haughty and cool, but there was a crack in the veneer, and it was about to get worse.
"I"m ready to collect." Layla kept her tone friendly. No need to alarm her just yet. Watching as Aster shifted from cool to irritated in a handful of seconds. "Don"t tell me you"ve already forgotten our deal. The one where you sold your soul for a chance to promote Night for Night."
"So you"re confirming you really are Satan. I"m sure that will come as a surprise to absolutely no one." Aster shook her head and waited for Zion and Sydney to go in before she continued. "Look, can we settle this later?"
"I"m sure Ira won"t mind if his prize pony"s late." Layla studied Aster"s perfectly made-up face, her shiny hair, her ridiculously long legs spilling out of a pair of pink shorts. She had that wealthy, privileged, well-tended look that Layla could never achieve even if she tried. And she wouldn"t. But still.
"What"s that supposed to mean?"
It wasn"t meant to mean much of anything. But the way Aster"s mouth twitched told Layla she"d hit a nerve she"d be sure to explore. "It means you"re everyone"s favorite, Ira included."
"Yeah, well, guess you wouldn"t know about that. Seeing as how you have a gift for making enemies."
Layla grinned, deciding to humor her. It was one of the perks of having the upper hand. "Not everyone can be as popular and sought after as you."
Aster fiddled with the strap on her Louis Vuitton purse and gazed toward the door leading to Jewel. "Your point is?"
"I want you to bring Ryan Hawthorne to Jewel along with all his celebrity friends. And I want you to do it under my name."
"Um, okay." Aster tossed her hair over her shoulder and made for the club. "I"ll get right on that!" She laughed as though Layla was joking.
"You can laugh, or you can consider."
"Reasonable requests will be considered. That request is beyond pathetic, even for you."
"Your choice." Layla shrugged, watching her go. "Guess I"ll just have to send this pic of you and Ryan kissing to Perez Hilton, TMZ, Page Six, Gawker, Popsugar, Just Jared-have I missed anyone?"
Aster froze.
"Oh, of course!" Layla gave a cartoon slap to her forehead. "Madison Brooks! I bet she"d just love to know about this latest development."
Aster slowly faced Layla.
"Or, you can bring Ryan and his crew into Jewel and I"ll forget I ever saw it."
"Where"d you get that?" Her face paled as she squinted at the image on Layla"s phone. Starting to reach for it, when Layla yanked it away.
"Doesn"t matter where I got it. Question is, what are you going to do about it?"
"This is blackmail." Aster"s lips thinned into a tight, grim line.
Layla shrugged, watched as a group of tourists with a selfie stick posed with some old dude impersonating Marilyn Monroe in a swingy white dress.
"And blackmail is illegal."
Layla grinned. "So sue me."
Aster rubbed her lips together, glanced longingly toward the door.
"You are a terrible person, you know that?"
Layla made for the door as Aster grabbed hold of her arm.
"Fine. I"ll do what I can. But there"s no guarantee."
"For your sake, there better be." Layla left the threat to dangle as she went inside and parked herself in the Vault next to Karly. She was relieved that Aster had fallen for the threat. Taking Madison down was one thing-she deserved it. And while Aster undoubtedly deserved it too, Layla felt queasy at the thought of going through with it.
Everyone was spread out among the white leather sofas, either napping or on their phones, though they all shared the same tired, stressed look. Two weeks into the compet.i.tion and it was already taking a toll.
"Where"s Ira?" Sydney got up from her seat and looked all around. "This is bulls.h.i.t keeping us waiting."
"Shhh!" Brittney grimaced, as though Ira was listening, while Tommy remained with his eyes closed, catching some z"s.
Annoyed, paranoid, and exhausted-Layla could relate to all three.
A moment later, when everyone"s phones started to beep, Jin was the first to say, "It"s Ira. He sent a video link."
"So now he fires us by video?" Sydney rolled her eyes.
"Fires you, not me." Karly smirked and hit Play the same time as Layla, watching Ira"s face fill up the screen.
"I warned you I like to mix it up, which means today, two of you will get cut."
"But that"ll cut the compet.i.tion short!" Zion shouted, leaving Layla to wonder if he realized the video was prerecorded.
"If you impress me next week, then maybe I"ll make up for it by not firing anyone. Or maybe I"ll fire three. Up to you whether or not you decide to impress me."
"Is he on a yacht?" Taylor brought her phone closer to her face, as Aster stared at her screen with a conflicted expression.
"I"m in a hurry, so let"s make this quick," Ira said, his sungla.s.ses reflecting a bikini-clad girl wielding the camera. "Vesper, you"re in first place."
The Vesper crowd started to cheer, but they were quickly shut down by everyone else who wanted to hear.
"Night for Night second, which makes Jewel last. Again." He shook his head and frowned.
"No thanks to you," Karly muttered under her breath, glaring at Layla.
"Hey, I brought in Heather Rollins and her crew," Layla said in her defense.
"Did you bring her in, or hang by the door so you could claim her as yours?"
Layla rolled her eyes and focused on the video. "Diego, you scored Madison Brooks, well done."
"What?" Aster spun on her seat, shooting eye daggers at Diego, who looked momentarily stunned.
"Tommy, you too."
Aster looked like she was about to implode.
"Brandon and Jin-don"t bother coming back. I doubt Jewel and the Vesper will miss you."
A second later, the screen went black.
No good-bye.
No enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Not even a gradual fade.
Layla had no idea why she had to show up for that, other than Ira was an a.s.shole with serious control issues.
Still, he hadn"t fired her, and now with Aster soon to deliver Ryan and his crew, she"d last another week for sure. After that, she"d have to come up with some other Hail Mary to save herself.
TWENTY-NINE.
GOLD ON THE CEILING.
"Hey-" Tommy raced to catch up with Layla, who"d fled Jewel like the place was on fire. "Remember how you owe me that favor?"
Layla did a double take. It was like dej vu, only this time she was on the receiving end. "Have you been talking to Aster?"
"What?" He squinted into the sun and walked alongside her.
She shook her head, slid on her sungla.s.ses, and kept walking.
"I"m ready to collect."
She continued to ignore him.
"You know, this is how rumors get started," Tommy said. "Notice how no one"s talking to each other anymore? Freaks them out that we still are."
"You"re the one talking. I"m just trying to get to my ride." Layla shook her head and made for the Jeep.
"Can"t believe you already forgot about the time I saved your a.s.s." Tommy looked at her.
"Can"t believe you"ve forgotten you"re not exactly innocent."
"Maybe so, but I handle it better." He regretted it the instant he said it, and quickly tried to recover. "Besides, you don"t strike me as the type to go back on your word."
"I don"t remember giving my word. You said, "You owe me," and I said nothing."
"You are seriously harsh."
"And this is news?"
"What does a guy have to do to get a ride home?"
"Well, for starters, you could just come out and ask as opposed to all this cryptic nonsense about deals we never struck." She propped open her door.
He laughed and climbed in beside her. "What happened to your bike?"
"My boyfriend and I made a trade."
So, she had a boyfriend. Not necessarily good news, but not exactly a roadblock either, considering the way she"d kissed him.
"He a surfer?"
"Why?" Layla pulled onto the street.
""Cause the floorboards are coated in two feet of sand."
Layla shrugged and glanced in the rearview mirror. "So kick off your shoes and dream of Malibu. Meanwhile, where to?"
"Los Feliz." He dropped his backpack between his feet. "Though I warn you, my place is a dump."
"Well, it"s not like I"m moving in."
He shook his head. She was feisty as h.e.l.l, which was exactly why he liked her.
"So, will you play me your demo tape?"
Tommy looked at her in shock. He didn"t remember mentioning his music.
"You are a musician, right?"
He nodded slowly.
Did he really look like some kind of wannabe rocker cliche?
Was he that pathetic?
"Can I hear it?"
Tommy hesitated. If she hated it, she"d tell him. But if she didn"t hate it, the compliment would mean more than most.
"Just because I"m bad at charming people, as you say, doesn"t mean I"m bad at reading them."
"I never said you-"