Drayla grabbed her purse quickly as I slid out the booth. The entire time we walked toward the front of the restaurant, I could feel eyes on me. Phones lifted. People whispering. A couple of girls near the bar started staring so hard it made my skin itch.
I kept my head up anyway.
The second the hostess opened the door, the paparazzi rushed forward like vultures.
“Sianni! Is Kyrie with you?”
“Is there trouble in the Maddox marriage?”
“How are you coping after Kyrie’s shooting?”
Flashes popped back-to-back, making me blink. One camera got shoved so close in my face I almost smacked it away off instinct.
“Can y’all back up?” Drayla snapped.
“Sianni, did Alexia Greenwood betray your friendship?” another man yelled.
What the fuck?
I stopped walking for half a second, genuinely thrown off by how much they seemed to know.
That was the part I still wasn’t used to. The way people somehow found out pieces of your business before you even had time to process it yourself.
Drayla grabbed my arm. “Keep walking.”
I clenched my jaw and kept moving toward the truck parked at valet, but the cameras followed every step.
“Sianni, are you afraid the pressure of being married to an NFL star is becoming too much?”
That one irritated me the most.
I spun around before I could stop myself. “Ain’t nobody afraid of nothing,” I said sharply. “Y’all need to stop acting like people’s personal lives are entertainment.”
The cameras somehow started flashing even faster.
“See?” Drayla muttered under her breath. “Now they got what they wanted.”
I instantly regretted responding.
One of the men lowered his camera slightly. “So, are you denying the issues in your marriage?”
I laughed dryly, shaking my head. “Y’all don’t get tired?”
Before anybody could ask me anything else, the valet finally pulled my truck around. Relief instantly washed over me.
“Call me when you make it home,” Drayla said, pulling me into a quick hug.
“I got you.”
Another camera flashed in my face.
“Sianni! One more question!”
I ignored them this time and kept walking. The heels of my shoes clicked against the pavement while the valet hurried to hand me my keys. The second I climbed inside and shut the door, the noise outside turned muffled, but flashes still lit up my windows.
I leaned my head back against the seat for a second and closed my eyes.
This shit was exhausting.
