Phones surfaced like drawn weapons, and just like that, the cocoon I’d been wrapped in—hidden in the middle of nowhere, swallowed up by this massive, protective family—ripped straight down the seam.
“What’s going on?” I asked Maddie, who was now sitting on the other side of Sophie.
She pulled up Instagram. “We’re filming so Ford can post it on Instagram and TikTok. His publicist’s exact words were, ‘If he’s going to look like a buffoon, we’re monetizing it.’”
That was all well and good, but I was sitting closest to James and would likely end up in the picture.
I smiled at Maddie and Sophie. “I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
“Hurry.” Sophie smiled. “You don’t want to miss this.”
She was right. I didn’t. I just needed to readjust my position in the room.
So I hopped up, strode past the group, and hurried down the hall—and for once, I didn’t stop to study the decades worth of family pictures. I slipped into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. Hands pressed into the marble countertop, I forced myself to breathe.
“Hold up, James.” I heard Griffin calling from the great room. “Jules? Where’d she go?”
“Bathroom,” Sophie’s voice was muffled. “She’ll be here in a minute.”
I counted to fifteen, including Mississippis, then I opened the door.
And walked straight into Liam.
“Oh, sorry,” I said.
He stepped into the doorway, broad shoulders sealing off my escape. Suspicion was carved into every line of his face. “I know who you are,” he said under his breath.
I edged back, my heart lodged somewhere near my tonsils. “Excuse me?” I asked, far calmer than I felt.
He slipped inside and locked the door.
I stumbled back, nearly falling onto the toilet. “What’re you doing?” This would look so bad if someone saw us in here together.
He crossed his arms, making himself even more imposing. “Don’t play coy with me,” he seethed. At least he tried. But he was a nice guy underneath it all, and this made him uncomfortable. That was obvious from the way he was shifting from foot to foot. “I won’t let you hurt Griffin.”
“Good,” I said. “I would never want to hurt Griffin.”
His eyes narrowed. “Who you are is hurting Griffin; he just doesn’t know it yet.” That accusation brought relief. Sohe hadn’t told Griffin whatever it was he knew. “I know what you’re involved in?—”
When footsteps pounded up the hall, I held up a hand, stopping him. Someone knocked on the bathroom door.
“Jules?” It was Griffin. “Are you coming?”
“Yes, be right there,” I said sweetly. I glared at Liam, edging past him to stand by the door. “Give me thirty more seconds.”
“Okay. I just don’t want you to miss it. It’s gonna be epic.”
I could hear the grin in his voice. I felt like a fraud.
The best man I’d ever known stood just outside the door, excited and unsuspecting, while I was inside whisper-shouting with his cousin, who was about to accuse me of things that would shatter him.
And the most devastating part?
None of it was fiction.
I had done exactly what Liam thought I had.
But I had no choice.
