"Hi."

The single syllable was all Emily could think of to say. The expectant look in Cory's eyes told her he was waiting for something more. An awkward silence stretched for what seemed to her like hours. Finally, Cory spoke.

"I didn't realize you'd be here."

"Yep." She could have said the same for him, except it made sense for Cory to be at the roast—a lot more sense than it made for her to be here, if she thought about it. He was a well-known singer in a chart-topping rock band, after all. The music industry was his scene, not hers. She should have asked Wally about the guest list before she'd allowed him to coerce her into coming.

"You look great," he said.

She squinted at him, trying to decide if he was being sincere. There was no reason for him to be paying her compliments. The last time they were face to face, they had been at the Hotel Café, a small Hollywood music venue where Cory had put on a surprise solo show for his fans. Cory had asked Emily to come for his own self-serving reasons of getting media attention, and that's exactly what he had gotten—just not quite in the way he'd hoped for. While he'd given the performance of a lifetime, dedicating a song to Emily and asking her for a second chance at a relationship in front of the entire audience, she had also summoned every ounce of acting skill she possessed and had pretended to go along with him.

Then Emily went home and had gone public with the real story of what Cory and Jesse had put her through while they'd played their headline-making games. Cory had only been looking for extra media attention to help boost sales of his band's new album, and she'd played the player and had ended up with Wally Hood and a lot of other entertainment reporters on her side. She couldn't possibly be in Cory's good graces anymore, unless he was trading music for the sainthood.

Cory was still watching her, waiting for a response.

"Thanks," she said. She avoided meeting his eyes.

A waiter carrying a tray of champagne walked into her line of sight then. She raised her arm, hoping to flag him down. If there was ever a situation in her life that called for something to drink, this was it.

The waiter nodded at her and made a beeline to where she and Cory stood. She took a champagne flute from his tray and Cory did the same.

"Cheers," Cory said, raising his glass to her.

Emily pressed her lips together and half-heartedly raised her glass. She took her time taking a sip and swallowing, hoping a reason she had to be on the other side of the room would come to her fast.

Cory moved his crutches forward and scooted closer to Emily. She instinctively took a step back, bumping into someone's elbow.

"Sorry," she said, twisting her head so she could peer over her shoulder. The man behind her whose elbow she'd bumped into didn't seem to notice.

"Can we talk?"

Emily wished she could pretend that she hadn't heard Cory's question. Those had to be the three worst words in the English language, at least right now. She turned her head back to him.

"You're already talking," she replied, crossing her arms.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." He watched her for a moment. When she didn't say anything, he spoke again. "Why are you still mad at me?"

He can't be serious, she thought. If he was, then he was either the most clueless person in Hollywood, or the most self-absorbed. She had a few different answers for why she was mad, but she also knew rehashing the past wasn't worth it.

"I'm not mad." She inspected her champagne flute. "I just can't figure out why you'd want to talk. There's not much to say."

"Maybe I miss you." The expression in his eyes reminded her of a puppy dog. She stopped herself from asking if he'd been taking lessons from Buster, his Shih Tzu.

Emily knew from Shelby's unsolicited sarcastic updates that Cory had been seen out with a few different women in recent weeks, partying it up, even while on crutches, and conspicuously making out all over L.A. She hoped the women knew what they were in for. Then again, if he was back to his love-'em-and-leave-'em playboy ways, they'd probably figure it out when he didn't return their texts or calls and surfaced in the tabloids hand-in-hand or tongue-on-tongue with a new woman each night.

"Maybe you do," she said. "And maybe you should have thought of that the time you claimed we weren't dating, went silent, and disappeared."

"I thought I'd made up for that." Cory spoke so softly, she almost didn't hear him.

"Was I there for this?" Her question came out in a higher-than-usual tone. Don't let him get to you, she reminded herself.

"At the Hotel Café when I asked you for a second chance, before you decided to rip my heart out of my chest, tear it into pieces, and feed it to every media vulture out there. Remember that?"

Her hand tightened around the stem of her glass. "A little dramatic tonight, I see."

"Maybe I wouldn't be if you'd dumped me to my face instead of doing it in front of a million tabloid readers and sending me an email. Or if you'd been honest with me in the first place." Cory's voice didn't sound quite so soft anymore.

Emily was thankful she'd held off on another drink of champagne, because she was sure Cory's accusation would have made her choke. A lecture on honesty from him was nothing short of hypocritical.

Her tone was cool when she spoke. "I don't see how you can call it dumping you when you were the one who bolted when I asked if we were in a relationship." It was true. After the boyfriend-and-girlfriend question had come up several weeks before what had happened at the Hotel Café, Cory had told her it wasn't a good time for him to be in a relationship because of an upcoming tour, and then had dropped out of sight. "If you want someone to be honest with you," Emily continued, "you should try being honest with them."

"I'm trying to be honest with you now." Cory shifted on his crutches.

"Interesting place for it," she muttered.

"Look. I don't know what else you want me to say. I could have pretended not to see you tonight, but I wanted to clear the air. Everything that happened..." His voice trailed off. She waited for him to finish. "I just felt bad."

"Bad?" she echoed. She didn't know if that meant she'd made him feel bad, or if he had regrets for the things he'd done. "For what?"

"For whatever I did that made you feel like I was using you."

"Weren't you?" she challenged.

"Not alwa—I mean..." Cory exhaled, then swatted a strand of his hair out from in front of his face. "I get how you thought I was. And maybe I was sometimes, kind of, at the very start. But I really did feel—"

She interrupted him. "How do you 'kind of' use someone? Either you did or you didn't."

"Let me finish, okay? I woke up one day, stunned by how much I liked you. That feeling was real. I wanted you in my life."

Of course you did, she thought. He wanted anything in his life that looked good for the cameras.

"There's some time before the roast starts," he continued. "Can we go somewhere and talk about this? I feel like everything's coming out wrong."

"I'm here to cover the event for my fashion column," she answered, keeping her voice even. "I should be doing that right now, actually."

Emily drained the rest of the champagne from her glass, hoping Cory would take the hint and go find someone else to talk to.

He didn't. "What are you doing after the roast?" he asked. "Maybe we can catch up and finish talking about this."

"I have plans with someone," she lied.

Cory narrowed his eyes. She could tell he didn't believe her.

"This ends at midnight," he said. "All that happens after that hour is bad diner food and booty calls."

He would know. Emily thought back to the articles she had found on Wally's site detailing Cory's wild Hollywood nights after he'd been dumped by Cady Sugarman, before Emily had met him at Jesse's show. She hadn't known his track record then, but his reputation and history had been the reason Shelby had asked her if she'd lost her mind after their first date was splashed across the entertainment headlines.

"Has it occurred to you that maybe I'm seeing someone and really don't need your clear-the-air conversation broadcast all over the Internet?" She tried to stand a little straighter and taller, even though Cory would always be almost a foot taller than her.

"Are you?"

"Am I what?" she asked.

"Seeing someone."

"Yes."

He didn't have to know she'd been on one date in the months since the media spectacle, which didn't really count as officially seeing someone. She would say whatever it took to get out of this conversation.

"I'm glad for you."

Emily wondered if Cory knew he was scowling.

A flurry of motion about twenty feet away saved her from having to figure out a reply. A few people started snapping photos, and a videographer on the scene hoisted his camera onto his shoulder. Either Britannia Silver had arrived, or something else noteworthy was happening. Emily knew this would be her best chance for a graceful exit.

"I need to get back to work," she said, jutting her chin toward the crowd of people gathering by the entrance. She brushed past Cory, not waiting for him to answer.

"Em."

She pretended not to hear him and kept walking.

"There's something else you should know," he called after her.

She spun around to face him, her hands on her hips. "Anything you needed to say, you could have told me months ago."

"It's about Jesse, and something he and I have been—"

It was all Emily could do to keep from snorting. "The last person I want or need to know about is Jesse."

She stalked away, thankful when Cory didn't call after her again.

Her grateful frame of mind lasted for about ten seconds. As Emily looked straight ahead, she saw a reporter she recognized staring at her from only a few feet away. It was Lori Summers from Tinseltown Buzz. Emily had met and been interviewed by her a few months ago while walking an awards show red carpet with Cory.

Lori wasn't alone. A man holding a camera stood beside her. He lowered it as Emily approached.

"Emily!" Lori called out, taking a step toward her. "It's good to see you—we all thought you'd dropped off the planet until you showed up at the Reach Out 'N' Rescue event. How's life working with Wally?"

Emily's breath caught in her throat. This couldn't be happening. She had come here tonight as a columnist, and not as one of the red carpet guests who would expect to duck questions from reporters.

"It's good." Emily tossed Lori what she prayed passed for a smile, then quickly changed the subject. "Are you here covering the roast, too?"

A fake giggle escaped Lori's overly-plump lips. "You know it, girl. This place is crawling with celebs and a fantastic story or two, I'm sure. Speaking of which, did I just see you talking to your ex, Cory Sampson? That had to be uncomfortable."

Emily gritted her teeth. It was going to be a very long night.

* * *

Darkness inside her apartment had never felt as welcoming as it did when Emily got home after the roast. She assumed Shelby was out somewhere with Darren, and the quiet was exactly what she needed right now.

She kicked her heels into a corner of the foyer and trudged into the living room, stopping to turn on a lamp. After throwing her purse on the sofa, she flopped down beside it, letting herself sink into the overstuffed cushions.

Ding!

Great. That was the sound of a new text message, and Emily definitely didn't feel like answering texts from anyone right now. Her in-person conversations tonight had been draining enough.

Still, a text after midnight was most likely from Shelby. There was even a chance it was from Raine, confirming they were still on for tomorrow. She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone.

Call me the second you get this.

The text was from Wally. She crinkled her forehead.

It's late, can I call you in the morning? she texted back. Her phone started ringing less than a minute later.

"Is something on fire?" she greeted Wally. He'd never insisted on calling her after midnight before.

"You tell me," he replied. He didn't sound happy.

"Okay?" Emily stretched her legs out in front of her, propping her feet up on the coffee table. "Not following."

"Did you see Cory tonight?"

She paused, wondering how Wally had known that. If he'd been expecting Cory to show up there and hadn't told her, there would be hell to pay.

"He was at the roast tonight, if that's what you mean," she replied. "Did you know he would be there?"

He ignored her question. "Did you talk to him?" She could have been wrong, but Emily thought she heard impatience in Wally's voice.

"He insisted on talking to me," she said. "Seriously, it's not cool if you knew he was invited and didn't tell me."

"What did you talk about?"

She closed her eyes and stifled a yawn. It was too late at night for Wally to be interrogating her, especially about this. "Why does it matter? I'm not getting back together with him."

"It matters because Tinseltown Buzz just scooped me on this."

Her eyes flew open. "On what?"

"Go to their site, then call me back. I want the real story." Wally hung up before Emily could.

She opened her browser app and went to Tinseltown Buzz. A photo of her holding a champagne glass, facing Cory, was the first thing she saw.

"Just what I need," she mumbled, scrolling past the photo to read the article.

Cory Sampson Bares His Soul to Emily Watts, and Here's What She Told Him

It had to happen sometime, and tonight will forever be known as the night it went down. Former lovebirds Cory Sampson and Emily Watts came face-to-face at Jaxon Dale's roast in Hollywood, and it was an exchange with much higher entertainment value than the main event. Tinseltown Buzz had a front row seat, and we sure felt the scorching hot heat of those flames.

As far as we here at Tinseltown Buzz can tell, it was the first time Cory and Emily have spoken since Emily took to Twitter to announce she wasn't seeing Cory—news to him, since it happened on the same night he'd shared a kiss with Emily in front of hundreds of his fans at the Hotel Café after asking her for a second chance. We'll say this for tonight's exchange: it was steamy. Not in the kiss-and-make-up way some Cory-and-Emily die-hards might have hoped for, but in the steam-pouring-out-of-Emily's-ears way some Cory Sampson and Blistering Twilight fans would have paid to see.

We're curious why Emily seems to harbor so much anger for Cory all these months later. From what one of our reporters observed and overheard, it was Cory who extended the olive branch to Emily as he hobbled after her on crutches. She was having none of it, though, and even spilled some news he clearly hadn't been expecting: she's dating someone else.

Way to kick a guy when he's down, Emily. Let's hope Cory can find comfort in the arms of one of the seven other women he's been spotted making out with this month.

What we really want to know is who Emily's picked up the pieces and moved on with, or if it was all just a spur-of-the-moment work of fiction to rub in Cory's face. One of our reporters at the roast tried to talk to Emily to find out, but she hurried away before our reporter could ask her.

Hollywood isn't that big of town, and we know we have some pretty eagle-eyed readers. Got a tip for us about Emily's new romance? We pay for leads that pan out, so send it in!

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose. She'd suspected something was up when Lori had called out to her tonight, but this was worse than she could have predicted. Tinseltown Buzz had just put a bounty on her personal life.

It didn't make sense. She and Cory were old news, or they had been until now. There was no reason for Tinseltown Buzz or anyone else to still be this interested in the details of her life. But Lori had even asked about how things were going working with Wally, whose site was Tinseltown Buzz's biggest competition.

Of course. Emily slumped down on the sofa as realization hit.

Her column for Wally Hood Goes Hollywood now also made her competition for Tinseltown Buzz. Partnering with Wally had made it open season for the Tinseltown Buzz reporters to keep tabs on her so they could try to make her look bad. If they could dig up something to turn Wally's readers against her, or leave their own readers with a bad impression of her, it would only help them and keep people from following or caring about what Emily wrote. And why wouldn't they start with an article that was guaranteed to make Cory's fans spew social media venom at her again?

Emily closed the article and switched back to her text messages.

We'll talk during our next column meeting, she typed. It was honestly nothing, and I need to go to bed.

She sent the text to Wally. When he called her less than a minute later, she let it go to voice mail and turned off her phone.