Losing Stars (The Celebrity Series Book 3) Read online

  LOSING STARS

  The Celebrity Series, Book #3

  Quinn & Ryson

  by

  J. Sterling

  Copyright © 2019 by J. Sterling

  All rights reserved.

  Visit my website at

  www.j-sterling.com

  Cover Designer:

  Michelle Preast

  Editor:

  Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-945042-01-0

  Other Books by J. Sterling

  Bitter Rivals—An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

  Dear Heart, I Hate You—A Contemporary Romance

  10 Years Later—A Second Chance Romance

  In Dreams—New Adult College Romance

  Chance Encounters—Coming-of-Age Story

  The Game Series:

  The Perfect Game—Book One

  The Game Changer—Book Two

  The Sweetest Game—Book Three

  The Other Game (Dean Carter)—Book Four

  The Playboy Serial:

  Avoiding the Playboy—Episode #1

  Resisting the Playboy—Episode #2

  Wanting the Playboy—Episode #3

  The Celebrity Series:

  Seeing Stars—Madison & Walker

  Breaking Stars—Paige & Tatum

  Losing Stars—Quinn & Ryson

  The Fisher Brothers Series:

  No Bad Days—New Adult, Second Chance Romance

  Guy Hater—Emotional Love Story

  Adios Pantalones—Single Mom Romance

  Happy Ending

  About the Author

  Jenn Sterling is a Southern California native who loves writing stories from the heart. Every story she tells has pieces of her truth in it as well as her life experience. She has her bachelor’s degree in radio/TV/film and has worked in the entertainment industry the majority of her life.

  Jenn loves hearing from her readers and can be found online at:

  Blog & Website:

  www.j-sterling.com

  Twitter:

  twitter.com/AuthorJSterling

  Facebook:

  facebook.com/AuthorJSterling

  Private Facebook Reader Group:

  facebook.com/groups/ThePerfectGameChangerGroup/

  Instagram:

  instagram.com/AuthorJSterling

  Table of Contents

  Other Books by J. Sterling

  About the Author

  THE LUCKIEST GIRL

  EXCITABLE FUTURES

  FIRST MEETING

  LIFE CHANGES

  THE LOVE DOCTOR

  ANNOYED AND EXHAUSTED

  FALLING FOR HIM

  WAITING ROOM HELL

  TEENAGE NIGHTMARE

  WAITING GAME

  THIS HAPPENS SOMETIMES

  I DON’T REMEMBER

  GOING HOME

  CRUEL REALITY

  WAIT FOR ME

  MALIBU PAPARAZZI

  HOUSE IS TOO BIG

  I LIVED LIKE THIS?

  PLAN OF ATTACK

  THE GANG’S ALL HERE

  ULTIMATE BACKFIRE

  FINDING A NEW NORMAL

  THE FALLOUT

  FEELING SORRY FOR MYSELF

  IT’S TIME

  READING HER HEART

  BACK HOME

  I MISSED MY LIFE

  EPILOGUE

  Other Books by J. Sterling

  About the Author

  THE LUCKIEST GIRL

  Quinn

  “Rysonnnn!” I shouted at the top of my lungs from the depths of our master bathroom, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be able to hear me.

  It wasn’t that our house in Malibu was insanely large as much as it was that our bedroom was at the very far end, and if you were anywhere else in the house, you might as well have been on a different block.

  I waited a few seconds for a response, and when none came, I rushed over and pressed the intercom button. “Ryson?”

  After months of not being able to hear each other if one of us was in the bedroom, we decided to put in an intercom system. I’d fought against it at first, feeling like it was far too pretentious, but it was one of my favorite features now. No matter where Ryson was in the house, he couldn’t escape me. One press of the button, and he was at my whim. I loved this damn intercom.

  “What’s up, babe?” he responded immediately.

  “Can you come here, please? It’s a fashion emergency.”

  I heard him laugh before the intercom crackled, and the sound of his footsteps pounding against the wood floor in the distance quickly grew louder with his approach.

  “Your knight in shining armor is here, milady.”

  Turning around slowly, I lifted my long blonde hair from my back. “Can you zip me up, please?”

  “This is your emergency?” He chuckled. When I didn’t respond, his lips found their way to my exposed skin, and his fingers ran down my spine. “I’d rather unzip you.”

  “I know you would, but they’ll be here any second.” I tried to swat at his shoulder but failed as he twisted out of my reach.

  His fingertips grazed up my back as the zipper followed. Slowly. Seductively. “You look beautiful,” he said as his fingers came to an abrupt stop.

  I turned around to face him, my cheeks flushed with warmth from his touch. Even after all this time, Ryson still got to me, still made me feel like I was a teenager all over again. “Thank you.”

  “Anything for you.” He leaned down and placed a sweet kiss on my lips, and my body instinctively pressed up against his, his hands holding me tightly in place.

  “I love you,” I said as I looked into his dark brown eyes. Eyes that I had memorized, every fleck of color etched into my brain.

  “And I love you,” he said back, and I held my breath, waiting for his next words. I knew they’d come. “Forever.” He kissed me once more, and I relaxed against him. “Forever, Quinn,” he reinforced, breaking the kiss.

  “And then some.” I smiled softly as the doorbell rang.

  Ryson placed a final kiss on my forehead. “I’ll go get it. You look amazing, babe.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be out in a second.” I turned around and faced the mirror one last time, running my hands down the length of my multicolored sundress.

  Ryson and I had been inseparable since the night he showed up at my trailer on set after a tumultuous year.

  My parents had been concerned at first, fearing that we were far too young to be so serious. They were convinced that he was going to not only break my heart, but also decimate it. But after a year and a half of dating, they admitted to me that they’d never met anyone quite like Ryson and that if he was the one for me, they understood and fully supported us. They said it was the way he looked at me; like I’d hung the moon, the way he treated me, the way he talked to me, and the way he loved me. Both of my parents had claimed they’d never seen anything like it and that love was love, no matter when we first found it.

  It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. To be fair, it would have haunted me if my parents hadn’t approved of Ryson, but it wouldn’t have stopped me from being with him. He was a ris
k worth taking, a challenge worth accepting, a battle worth fighting. That boy had loved me with a ferocity I was certain no one else ever would. And he loved me even harder now that he was a man. I was the luckiest woman on the planet, and I damn well knew it.

  The sound of voices drifted my way, but I couldn’t tell if it was my actress and best friend Paige and her boyfriend, Tatum, or if it was our other close friends, rock-god-turned-actor Walker Rhodes and his talent agent girlfriend, Madison. It didn’t matter as I finalized highlighting my cheeks and scooted out of the bathroom.

  With all six of our lives being intertwined the way that they were, I’d had the idea to host a dinner party for a more intimate gathering. Every time we all got together, it was usually for an industry event, and while we mingled and networked, we rarely saw each other one-on-one. I’d decided that we didn’t get to spend enough quality time together. Thankfully, they’d all agreed. Or maybe they simply knew better than to disagree with me. I wouldn’t have let up until I got my way, and they all knew it.

  Speed-walking down my hallway, I smiled as I rounded the corner and locked eyes with Madison Myers, wrapped in her rock-star boyfriend’s arms. Madison was one of Hollywood’s most exclusive up-and-coming agents. She’d quickly garnered a stellar reputation for actually caring about her clients’ well-being instead of the money she could make, and she was extremely particular about who she signed on to represent—hence the clamoring by everyone in LA to be represented by her. Not only was she good at her job, but she was also Walker Rhodes’s girlfriend. Walker was an international singing sensation, who had made the leap into movies with her help and guidance. He was now well on his way to becoming as big of a star on the screen as he was off.

  Personally, I enjoyed Madison as a person. The fact that she was smart and mouthy was a bonus in my eyes. I admired strength and integrity, and she was the epitome of both.

  “Hey, Mads. You look beautiful.” I enveloped her in a hug, admiring her shorts and vintage bohemian top.

  “Uh, you do too. I suddenly feel underdressed,” she said with a laugh, waving a hand in my direction.

  “It’s just a sundress. You look great!”

  Her face screwed up before she blurted out, “Maybe it’s just your stupid face. It’s always perfect and pretty, and I hate you.”

  I laughed as I squeezed her again. “I love this girl, Walker. She’s good people.” I turned toward Walker Rhodes and his handsomely tanned face.

  He hugged me and planted a kiss on my cheek. “Eh, she’s all right.” He shrugged, and I socked him in the shoulder.

  Two quick knocks rapped on the door before it opened, and my best friend, Paige, and her hot-as-hell Southern boyfriend, Tatum, walked through.

  Paige Lockwood had been my best friend since we met on the set of her first movie when we were both teenagers. She was terrified and looked like she was about to throw up until I gave her some of my food. If Paige had been any other actress on the planet, our relationship would have most likely ended there. But Paige was unlike anyone I’d ever met before; she was naive, kind, and genuine. There wasn’t an ounce of connivance or a malicious bone in her body, and I had instantly been drawn to those parts of her, recognizing how rare they were. We never competed with each other—not for boys, not for roles, not for anything.

  Not too long ago, Paige had had a mini meltdown and run away from home. That was what I liked to call it anyway. She ran—drove—away and ended up meeting this ridiculously hot and talented guy named Tatum in Middle of Nowhere, Louisiana. After a bunch of drama, pure Hollywood-style, Tatum ended up moving to LA to be with Paige. He’d also landed a job writing music for Walker—which, for the record, he’d earned even though he could have anything handed to him at this point. Being Paige’s boyfriend came with serious perks.

  Walking past Paige, I headed straight for Tatum’s open arms. “Love muffin,” I proclaimed for everyone to hear as I snuggled against his chest, a joke we’d started soon after he moved here.

  “Pretty bird,” he responded, petting my hair.

  Paige pretended to puke. “This love affair is annoying,” she whined before sauntering over to Ryson and wrapping herself in my boyfriend’s arms.

  “I can’t even be mad. I love him too,” Ryson said before kissing Paige on the side of the head and walking toward me and Tatum. Shoving me out of the way, he gave Tatum a man hug, and I pretended to struggle for balance.

  If any two guys had a bromance going on, it was those two. They had bonded instantly upon meeting even though Ryson should have hated him—or at least given him the fifth degree for allowing Paige to believe that he didn’t care about her. It was all a defense mechanism on Tatum’s part, but still. Ryson had practically fallen in love with him on the spot. It was disgusting. And I loved everything about it.

  “I feel sort of left out,” Walker complained.

  “It’s just that you’re old news, bud. He’s newer,” Ryson said with a laugh before waving Walker over.

  The three of us girls watched them behave like little boys, high-fiving and giving one another slaps on the backs. All the while, we secretly enjoyed every second of their antics. We knew how blessed we were.

  “It’s cute how much they love each other,” Paige said.

  “I know. I sort of love it,” Madison agreed, and I nodded.

  “I’m more happy that I love both of you. Screw them. What if we hated each other?” I asked in mock horror.

  “We’re the only reason there is a them,” Paige added as she pointed between the three of us girls.

  “True. Good point,” I said with a smile. “This whole college thing is making you smart.”

  Paige had decided to go to college this past year, so she could go through the kinds of things that people our age were experiencing. It had taken one hell of a fight for her to get there, but she was in a much better place now. After her runaway meltdown, she’d fired her old agent and hired our friend Madison, and I’d never seen her happier.

  “I love college,” she all but cooed, and I fought off the urge to roll my eyes at her.

  Unlike Paige, I had zero desire for her sense of normalcy. We had agreed it was because I’d been acting since birth and Paige had been plucked from her family and friends during her teenage years. Being ripped away from everyone like that had made her feel like she was always missing out on the things her friends were doing and posting about on social media. Personally, I’d never wanted to be anywhere but where I was—in the public eye, acting. I didn’t know any different, and I wasn’t looking for it either.

  Everything that truly made me happy was standing in my living room.

  My eyes met Ryson’s, and he gave me a wink. My insides heated. I hoped I’d always feel about him the way I did today.

  EXCITABLE FUTURES

  Quinn

  After dinner and a few too many drinks, Ryson started getting overly excited about his latest project idea as we all sat at the dining room table, listening raptly.

  Ryson had done time in rehab after we first met. His brief vice with drugs could have ruined his life, but after rehab, he never touched them again, and as far as I knew, he wasn’t ever even tempted. It’d turned out that he didn’t have an addictive personality the way he had feared, and the drugs had merely been something that, once he started, he wasn’t able to quit on his own without help. Even though the rehab experts had highly advised Ryson to quit all substances forever, fearing a relapse, we both drank socially, and so far, it had never been an issue.

  Ryson coughed, waved a hand in the air to quiet us all down, and shouted, “No, really. Listen to me,” as we all continued to focus on him. “I’m not joking. Quinn and I are doing it, and I think you all should consider it too.”

  “Wait, what are we doing?” I joked toward the opposite end of the table, where the love of my life sat, as my drink splashed onto my fingers.

  “The reality show.” He shrugged, and everyone looked between us. “Right, babe? You liked the ide
a when we talked about it before, didn’t you?” He sounded so unsure when, only two seconds ago, he’d declared it to the entire table with pride and confidence.

  I smiled at him. “Yes, babe. I loved the idea,” I agreed. Then, I continued before I could stop myself, “I’d like it even more if you proposed to me during it.” I slapped a hand over my mouth as if my own words had surprised me. They hadn’t. I was obsessed with marrying Ryson in the same way that he was obsessed with never getting married.

  It was our one obstacle. And it felt almost insurmountable at times.

  His parents’ failed relationship had completely soured him to the idea. He told me that exchanging vows hadn’t stopped his father from leaving; it hadn’t made his dad stick around or fight harder or love his mother enough to stay. Ryson had stopped believing in the sanctity of marriage and what it was supposed to mean the day his dad walked out.

  And no matter how many times we talked about it, I couldn’t get him to change his mind. As a matter of fact, he usually spent the entire discussion trying to change mine. But I refused. I believed in marriage, and more than that, I wanted it. I wanted to be Ryson’s wife, and I wanted him to be my husband in every way possible—spiritually, soulfully, legally. If there was one single issue standing in the way of our blissfully happy future, it was that.

  What is the compromise in a situation like this? I often asked myself.

  Ryson released a breath, his face pained. “I know, babe. We can talk about that later.” He smirked at me, but it was only to placate me, to get me to stop talking about it.

  This wasn’t a conversation to have in front of all our friends even though the girls already knew the details. They’d both told me that Ryson would eventually change his mind, and I used to believe that. I wasn’t so sure anymore.

  I swallowed hard but stayed quiet, and Ryson took it as his cue. “Look, I think if we all did the show together, it could be brilliant. Fucking brilliant.”

  This part was news to me—the idea of including all of our friends—but it was perfect, and I felt myself light up from the inside out. I’d been on board with the idea of the show before, but now, I wanted to help spearhead it and make sure it got the green light, regardless of how hard we had to push to make it happen.