I turned on my side to watch him pant. I was hot and tender and in some euphoric state.
“Miraculous orgasming,” I said, patting his chest once before I, too, collapsed back.
38
Charlie
I don’t knowwhen we fell back asleep, but we were rudely awakened by intense knocking at the door.
Kate and I both sat up and blinked dazedly at each other. What time was it? What day was it?
I’d passed out harder than ever after our life-altering sex. We’d barely cleaned up and made it back under the covers before sleep took us.
The knocking came again, more urgently. “Hey, guys, I’m really sorry to bother you, but you need to get up so we can talk,” Emma said.
Kate looked at me worriedly. I squeezed her hand. “It will be okay,” I said quietly. Louder, I called out, “Yeah. Hang on.”
Kate and I quickly got dressed in a half-asleep rush. I told Kate it would be okay, but from Emma’s tone, whatever she was here to discuss wouldn’t be good. Things had been too perfect. For one glorious night, I had been with my two closest friends and the woman who meant everything to me. I knew from experience this was when life would find a way to ruin everything. With effort, I caught the spiraling thoughts as best I could.Be here and now. I didn’t know anything yet.
When Kate and I were decent, I opened the door to Harrison and Emma, both looking miserable.
“We waited as long as we could,” Emma said, hands fidgeting on her phone.
“We didn’t want to, uh, interrupt what sounded like the glorious union of two nations. Oomph.” Emma elbowed Harrison as he spoke.
“Sally is blowing our phones up,” Emma explained. “As are our agents and publicists.”
Kate appeared at my side. She handed me my phone and was opening hers already. I had countless missed calls and texts.
“Christ. What is it?” My stomach cramped with the desire to numb whatever bad feelings were about to overwhelm me.
Kate grabbed my hand. “It’s going to be okay,” she said. “Whatever it is. There’re no more secrets.”
I nodded at her, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the carpet was about to be ripped out from underneath us.
“The internet discovered Kate’s writing in connection to you. Her personal life is all over the internet,” Emma explained.
Kate took in a sharp breath as my blood pressure skyrocketed.
“There are pictures of us leaving the club and I’m crying. They’re making up all sorts of shite,” Emma said in a rush. “Obviously, I don’t care about me but …” She looked at Kate with concern.
Harrison said, “There’s video from the recording that was leaked. You admitting you knew her before. That you read her fan fiction and contacted her.” His face was drawn and pale. “I’m bloody sorry, mate. I fucked it all up by blabbing.”
I felt the floor fall out from under me. Or maybethatwas the rug being pulled out.
“It’s okay, Harrison. Honestly, they were bound to find out.” Kate patted his hand, and he shook his head and flicked a worried look to me.
I saw red. “I bloody knew it. I knew someone on that set was fucking leaking to the press. Christ, it’s probably Sally.” I went back into the room to grab my phone to call her and spun back around when I realized I was still holding it.
“It’s okay, Charlie—” Kate said.
“I’m going down there. They can’t get away with this.” I was furious. I couldn’t even hear what the others were saying.
Emma was scrolling through her phone. “Honestly, it’s not all bad. A lot of people think it’s romantic. I mean it is a pretty sweet story when you think about it.”
“Our lives are none of their bloody business,” I snapped.
The other three flinched. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I’m just—” I balled my fists, my phone digging into my palm, and then relaxed them with a slow breath. “I warned you she was up to some shite. I’m going down there to talk to her right now.”
