Page 62 of Scoring Eden

My mouth drops open. “Excuse me?”

“I’m kidding.” He slaps his knees and stands, as if he hasn’t made mine instantaneously weak. “Not that I wouldn’t be open to it, but we have things we need to discuss. Where’s Macon? I’ll watch him while you pack.”

“Pack?” The whiplash of this conversation is starting to hurt my head. “For where?”

He looks at me like I’m an idiot. “Well, you certainly can’t stay here anymore. Not now that the media knows where you live. Do you think they’ll give up after today?” He holds out his hand to pull me up beside him. “Eden, if you and Macon continue to live here, then what happened this morning will only happen again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that. You can’t get rid of them now that they know where to find you.”

My heart tumbles into my stomach.

I hadn’t even thought about that. God, I’m so fucking naive. Of course they won’t leave us alone now, not while Alex is still such a prominent figure in the press. We’d be confronted by them every time we open the front door. We would never be able to go anywhere.

“Shit.” I clutch fistfuls of my hair. “Oh, fuck. What do I do? We’ve got nowhere to go.”

Alex grins, big and wide, as if this predicament isn’t a concern at all. “Sure, you do. You guys are moving in with me.”

"THE BROTHERHOOD" GROUP CHAT

Roman: Hey, dude. Everything okay with Eden?

Alex: Bit shaken up, but she’s alright now.

Leo: What’s your plan now that they know where she lives?

Alex: She’s moving.

Roman: Where?

Alex: Into my place.

Leo: Seriously? You guys aren’t even together. Are you sure that’s a good idea?

Roman: You only have two bedrooms, and she has a son, right? Where are they gonna sleep?

Alex: Eden will sleep in my room.

Leo: WITH YOU?

Alex: No, I’ll take the couch.

Roman: You’re gonna sleep on your couch until the end of the season?

Leo: Dude, I don’t think this is a good idea.

Alex: Sure it is. What’s the worst that can happen?

SEVENTEEN

ALEX

Eden wasn’t entirely convinced by my proposal, but after I pointed out that she can hardly stay with Aspen in her college dorm, she came around pretty quickly. Macon, on the other hand, was so overjoyed with the new development that I think he peed his pants a little.

Now, he wanders through the black-tiled hallway of my home with wide, sparkling eyes. He takes in the knick-knacks on the console table with a small gasp, running his fingers across the silver wolf’s head my interior designer thought would be a cool nod to my last name.

He handled the paparazzi surprisingly well when we left their place. We’d attempted to wait them out, staying at Eden’s until long past five pm. But since they apparently have nothing better to do with their lives, Doug carried Macon out to my car cradle-style, with his enormous hand covering the little dude’s face. Followed by Eden and me, who disguised ourselves with paper bags pulled over our heads. Not my best look, but a necessary one.

As beneficial as it is to our cause to have photos of us blasted across every media channel in the country, involving Macon is a line I refuse to cross.

But they’re safe now, at least. My apartment building has 24/7 security, only those closest to me know which unit I live in, and the underground parking garage means that we can leave without being confronted by the snapping of camera lenses.