Read Online Starstruck - Book Three by Gemma Brooks - Free Book Online

last
time.”
     
    “I’m fine,” she said.
     
    “Where’s Tom?” I asked.
     
    “Bastard left me,” she said. “Said I drink too much or some
bullshit like that.”
     
    “I thought you were sobering up,” I said. “You seemed so
much better last time.”
     
    “He didn’t even want me to have one drink with dinner,” she
muttered. “He said it would lead to another and another. I don’t need a man
like that controlling my life.”
     
    “How much have you had to drink tonight?” I asked her.
     
    I glanced at the alarm clock. It was nearly eight, and she’d
been off work since three. It was hard telling just how many drinks she’d had.
     
    “Just a couple,” she mumbled. I didn’t believe her for one
second.
     
    “Do you think you can get cleaned up and meet my friend?” I
asked her, crossing my fingers she could understand how much that would mean to
me.
     
    “Your friend?” she asked.
     
    “Yeah, Hudson,” I said.
     
    “Oh, the movie star,” she said. Her drunk eyes lit up.
“Yeah, give me a minute.”
     
    She sat up and steadied herself on the bed before dipping
one leg at a time over the edge. I grabbed her elbow and helped her up. She was
a skinny little thing but she always had been. She rarely ate. Her dark hair
was in desperate need of a trim and color as nearly two inches of gray was
growing out. Alcohol was the only thing she ever really cared to spend money
on.
     
    “Let me walk you to the bathroom,” I said to her.
     
    “Nah,” she slurred as she tried to push me away. “I got it.
Stop taking care of me so much, Brynn. I’m the mother.”
     
    Her words bit me like a bullet in the leg. She was right.
She was the mother. If only she’d acted like it.
     
    I watched her make her way to the bathroom and then went out
to where Hudson was sitting in the living room. I knew the house was small, and
I was sure he’d heard everything, but he said nothing. He didn’t have to. His
face said it all. He was sad for me.
     
    I took my place next to him and he wrapped his arm around
me.
     
    “You’re a good girl, you know that?” he whispered into my
ear before he kissed my cheek. “She’s lucky to have you.”
     
    I nodded. I was well aware.
     
    Within minutes, my mom emerged from the bathroom in a cloud
of cheap perfume and hairspray. She’d changed into clean, unwrinkled clothes,
and had brushed her hair back into a pony tail.
     
    “Hi, there!” she said as she extended her hand out to Hudson.
“I’m Brynn’s mom, Tina. It’s so nice to meet you.”
     
    Hudson stood up and shook her hand. “I’m Hudson. Nice to
meet you.”
     
    She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face if she tried nor
could she take her eyes off him for two seconds. She was instantly starstruck
and smitten with him.
     
    “You’ve raised a really sweet girl here,” Hudson said as he
patted my leg.
     
    “Oh, don’t I know it,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d do
without her. She’s the apple of my eye.”
     
    My mom clutched her hands at her heart as she turned towards
me. I couldn’t tell if she really meant those words or if she was trying to
come off like she wasn’t a deadbeat mom for all those years. She could’ve been
putting on an act for Hudson’s sake for all I knew. Our relationship was complicated
and the scars ran deep, but I still loved her so much it hurt sometimes.
     
    “So how long are you two love birds in town for?” she asked.
     
    “Until tomorrow,” I said.
     
    “When did you get here?” she asked, confused.
     
    “This afternoon,” he answered.
     
    “Okay, so I’m confused,” my mom laughed. “Why are you
leaving so soon?”
     
    I opened my mouth to tell her all about Luke and Piper and
the betrayal, but I didn’t have the energy. I didn't want to rehash it again or
experience an ounce of the pain I’d experienced just hours earlier.
     
    “Work,” Hudson said. “I have a work function tomorrow that I
can’t miss. Last