Page 54 of I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life

“I already called Silas; he owed me a favor for helping with the ice rink, so he’s getting rid of the photographers,” Kam admitted, “but we do need to make a statement. What it says is up to you.”

“Up to me? Why would it be…” I trailed off as I realized what he was saying. If there were pictures of us from last night, there was certainly at least one of us kissing. I didn’t know if the pictures looked good; it was dark, and if we didn’t notice it happening, it was probably heavily zoomed in. Were people able to tell? Could we say I’m just hanging out here until I have new housing and what they saw was something different?

It wasn’t an ultimatum, and I was glad Kam hadn’t given me one. But I had a feeling that whatever I decided had to be what I wanted, because this was the precipice we couldn’t back away from.

Did I want to try things out with Kam? Did I want to make it official? Or did I want to sweep everything under the rug? If you’d asked me last night, I’d immediately say yes to making it official. But now? The only way I could see the rumors stopping was if we actively stopped hanging out. Anything wishy-washy would look suspicious, especially when this was the second RaineFall band member I’d been publicly linked to.

I hated that this would impact Kam’s career. While I was making choices about our relationship, he was making choices about his future. Everything was going to change today, and I didn’t want it to be only me.

It didn’t have to be only me.

“It can’t just be me making this decision,” I blurted out, my voice shaking despite feeling somewhat confident. “We need to make this together, like you said. It’s not only my decision. It never was, no matter how much I acted like it was.”

“I just wanted to make sure you felt more in control this time,” Kam smiled, “Even if it does mean we’re ending it.”

“Ending it?” I asked, my stomach dropping, “Is that what you want?”

“No!” Kam exclaimed, surprised by the words, “I just thought…”

“I don’t want to end it,” I quietly said, finally verbalizing everything I’d been terrified to say, “You’re the only person in my life who’s seen every part of me. Good and bad,” I admitted, “The more I’m here, the more I dread leaving. Because you and Cassidy have become my home, and I don’t want to leave it. I want to be with you, Kam,” I smiled, the words spilling out of me faster than I thought they would, “I also want those photographers in front of our home gone.”

“If they come back, I think they’ll leave once they realize we’re a pretty boring couple,” Kam scoffed, moving to sit next to me on the bed. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead. “You go to work, I go grocery shopping, sometimes we go to the library. They’d be bored after like two days.”

I laughed at how boring we sounded, but the domesticity of it made my stomach flutter. It was longer than I would’ve preferred, but two days was livable, instead of months of them camped outside the door. And the perks of them coming in now was there was no place for them to stay, not without costing their employers more than I was willing to bet they’d pay.

“What should we do about our phones?” I finally asked, knowing there was no way I could afford to replace them.

“Mel said a factory reset should be fine,” Kam assured me, “though I think I’m going to call my carrier and see if they can figure out if…” he paused for a moment, like he was figuring something out, “This is the second leak we’ve had in two months. The first was with Jack’s stuff, and he texted about it constantly. But I also sent the video to him…”

I blinked, but it was clear Kam was putting together a puzzle I didn’t have all the pieces to.

“I need to talk to Jack,” Kam exclaimed before kissing my forehead. “Sit tight, I think I figured out who’s behind it.” Kam flew from the room, grabbed his keys, and ran out of the house without even a jacket. I was confused, but it was clear it had nothing to do with me, and everything to do with Jack.

And despite everything, I burst out laughing. It was on brand that somehow Jack was once again the reason behind my misfortune.

Chapter forty-two

Kameron

Icouldn’t remember the last time I saw Jack wearing something the world would consider unfashionable. Yet, he was sitting in front of me with frizzy hair, an oversized sweater, and a pair of sweats that had clearly seen better days.

“Didn’t realize you were planning on visiting today,” Jack said as he settled into a chair. “Yeah…” I said, “I called ahead, and while I wish it was a Happy New Year kind of visit, we have a giant problem.”

“Stop being dramatic; I’m sure whatever it is, Mel can fix it,” Jack chided, only to look at me with suspicion as I shook my head no.

“Is your phone synced to your laptop?” I asked, and my twin looked at me like I’d lost my mind. And maybe I had, but this was the only lead I had to go on.

“Yeah? Why?” he asked, blinking a few times. I was jealous Jack was so blissfully unaware of everything going on right now, but his confirmation was everything I needed.

“Does Stef still have access to your laptop?” I asked, as understanding dawned on my brother’s face.

“All the leaks happened after I started treatment,” he whispered, his eyes wide as he looked at me.

“She would’ve been able to see you stopped using your phone,” I nodded, “And would’ve been able to put together that you wanted to bring RaineFall back, and easily tell those songs weren’t your best work.”

“You’re allowed to say they sucked,” Jack scoffed, “which would be reason enough for her to leak them.”

“What happened that made her hate you this much?” I asked, “To the point she’s trying to destroy everything we’ve built. I don’t think I did anything to her; I only met her twice.”