Starstruck - Book Four Read Online Free PDF

day.
     
    I prepped the roast chicken in the kitchen, squeezing fresh
lemon juice on it and covering it with sprigs of rosemary and thyme. I peeled
potatoes and whipped them up with a little bit of sour cream, salt and pepper.
I steamed some carrots with honey and salt. And lastly, I baked a frozen apple
pie. I couldn’t do everything from scratch. I was only human.
     
    The table was set and the candles were glowing soft and
luminous. Six o’clock turned into seven and then eventually eight. I sent him a
text message asking if he’d be home soon, but it went unanswered.
     
    By nine thirty, I’d grown tired of waiting. I wrapped up the
food, blew out the candles, and went to bed. It was so unlike Hudson to ignore
me. In the month’s we’d been together, he’d never been out this late before
with no explanation. I laid in bed, but I couldn’t sleep. I did nothing but
toss and turn.
     
    I couldn’t help but wonder if he was purposely avoiding me
and making me worry since I’d upset him earlier. It took everything I had not
to jump the gun and assume I’d sent him fleeing straight back into the lithe,
skinny arms of Ava Fox.
     
    I closed my eyes and counted to one hundred. I flipped to my
stomach. I turned on my side. I read a few pages of a novel. I watched an
episode of some reality show rerun. Nothing was working. My brain wouldn’t shut
off.
     
    By midnight, I forced myself to shut off the T.V. and relax.
By one, Hudson came crawling in the door. Tiptoeing really. I pretended to
sleep, eyes shut tight, as I heard him undress and felt him climb under the
covers.
     
    Normally when we slept, we spooned. He stayed on his side of
the bed, not inching any closer than he had to. I felt him roll to his side,
opposite me, and within seconds, his light breathing told me he was out cold.
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 6
 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I’d just poured myself a bowl of cold cereal when my phone
dinged. It was a text from Alec.
     
     
     
    HAVE YOU HEARD?
     
     
     
    That’s all it said and it was enough to make my stomach drop.
I hastily typed back “no” as fast as my fingers would let me. What was he
talking about?
     
    “Alec, what are you talking about?” I had to call him. He
was taking too long to reply.
     
    “You didn’t hear it from me,” he prefaced it. I suddenly
felt nauseous and pushed away my bowl of cereal.
     
    “What?” I asked, voice full of dread.
     
    “According to Gossipstalker.com, Ava Fox was committed to a
mental health institute yesterday. Last night actually,” he said.
     
    “Really,” I said, though I wasn’t asking. I knew it had to
be true, and I knew that had to have explained where Hudson was and why he
didn’t contact me.
     
    “Why do you say it like that?” Alec said, totally catching
my tone.
     
    “I’ll tell you another time,” I said. “I have to go.”
     
    Hudson came shuffling down the hall the moment I hung up. He
walked right past me and opened the door to the refrigerator.
     
    “Where were you last night?” I asked as our backs were
towards each other.
     
    He didn’t answer until I spun around in my chair to look at
him. He seemed tired, exhausted really.
     
    He poured himself a glass of orange juice before coming over
and sitting next to me. I could tell this conversation wasn’t going to be
pretty.
     
    “I was with Ava last night,” he said. He lacked any kind of
emotion. “She was threatening to harm herself yesterday. I was the only person
she asked for. I had to go. I didn’t have a choice.”
     
    “Oh,” I said. “A phone call or a text would’ve been nice.”
     
    “Believe me,” he said as he looked me straight in the eyes.
“I wanted to.”
     
    “You couldn’t send a quick text on your way to be with her?”
I asked.
     
    “It all happened so fast,” he said. “I didn’t have time to
think. I just had to act. I had to get there before she did anything rash. She
was making all kinds of