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I spent the rest of the ride in silence, bracing for what was to come. I had fucked up, and I knew I was about to hear about it. I didn’t even bother to charge my phone. It would be full of similar messages…
And none would be from Lena.
“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Sam mumbled, pushing open the door as the Tahoe pulled up under the awning. “You’re about to be in big trouble.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.” I slid out of the car, feeling even more of my hangover as I headed into the building. The pungent smell of pine and lemon hit me in a way that made me want to throw up, but I swallowed it. If I vomited all over the floor, it would just lead to more cleaners.
I ignored the stares as I followed Sam, still wearing my clothes from the previous night. My head played my heartbeat in my ears, and I fought to keep my heavy eyes open as I followed Sam to the same conference room where Lena had signed all the papers.
“Here we go.” Sam pulled the door open for me.
I squinted at the bright fluorescent lights, wishing I’d brought a pair of sunglasses with me. As my eyes adjusted, I took in the three people in the room. Genna, Tim, and…Lena.
You have to be kidding me. Why is she here?
“Well, look who the cat dragged in.” Genna’s tone was sharp and cold. “You have blood on your shirt.”
“What…” I glanced down at my white T-shirt. Sure enough, right there on my chest was a splatter of dark liquid. Great. They probably had to pay up for this.
“Take a seat.” Tim glared at me as he gestured to the chair beside Lena.
I avoided everyone’s gaze as I pulled out the chair, but as I eased down, I met Lena’s bright eyes, full of…amusement. “Guess you’re not hungover this morning.”
She smiled. “No.”
“Right.” I looked away from her and up at Genna, who was standing, her arms folded over her chest.
“Why could you not go and just behave?” Genna asked through gritted teeth. “What the hell were you thinking?”
I took a deep breath, exhaling sharply. “Well, I guess I wasn’t thinking, but in my defense, it was my best friend’s bachelor party. People get drunk all the time at those.”
“You’re not most people,” Tim cut in. “That’s the problem. You have a reputation, and we’re trying to break that image. You’re supposed to be proposing tonight.”
I shut my eyes for a minute as the room fell into silence. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“You can start by telling us why the hell you punched some guy in the face,” Genna snapped.
“He doesn’t remember,” Sam spoke up for me. “He barely remembers anything at all. We got all of our information from the guy he decked last night. It’s been settled though. NDAs were signed. No need to stress, Genna. It’s going to fade.”
“Until the press gets ahold of it,” she seethed.
“Then we need to release a statement before they make up whatever narrative they want,” Sam said in a flat voice. That was the thing about him—something I’d always liked—he might give me an earful of shit, but he was always on my side.
Well, because I paid him to be.
“So what happened?” Lena’s voice was like a hammer to my brain, making my heart stutter.
I turned to her, meeting her potent gaze. “You.”
She looked confused. “What…?”
“He’s just being a prick.” Sam leaned over to look at her. “The guy said he made a comment about you—and I’m not sure what that comment was—but it riled Jackson up. He punched him right in the face, knocked him out cold.”
Oh shit. I must’ve been pissed.
“Oh…”
“But this isn’t your fault,” Genna chimed in quickly, her voice much softer. “This has nothing to do with you. Jackson knows that comments are bound to happen. People have opinions—and when you’re famous, you have to deal with a lot of them. He knows to keep his head on straight.”
