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They were halfway through dinner at Emma's favorite Italian restaurant when her phone lit up with several incoming texts.
She dug her phone out of her purse to find a series of text messages and pictures from Courtney.
"Shit."
"What is it, sweetheart?"
"One day. We left the house for one day."
"And it was a good day." Chase grinned, his mouth full of pasta.
"I'm not sure you'll still say that when you see this."
She handed her phone over so the men who were sitting on the other side of the booth could scroll through the texts.
"Well fuck. This might complicate things a bit."
"You think?" Emma tried to stay calm.
The pictures showed two news vans parked outside her off-campus house. They had crews mulling around as if they were ready to pounce the second the threesome drove up.
"I'm guessing it was the rude chick in the grocery store," Chase observed.
Jaxson countered, "My bets on the quiet one taking pictures."
The men bantered back and forth as they chowed down.
"Hello? Why aren't you guys more upset by this?"
Jaxson pinned her with a serious look. "I think the real question here is why areyou? What's the big deal?"
"Easy for you to say. You're used to being recognized everywhere."
She didn't like the silence that fell over the table. Or the probing stare flashed her way.
Chase asked quietly, "Tell us, Em. What's got you spooked?"
They'd gone full circle from their blow up in the middle of the night. She worked hard to find the right words to answer their question. Looking for words that wouldn't result in getting her ass lit up with the paddle again when they got home.
"I'm just not used to the attention, you know? You've been in the spotlight so long I think you forgot what it's like to be anonymous. I'm not looking forward to reporters digging into my past and interviewing my friends and family. I feel bad that I've brought this attention onto my housemates. Now they're holed up in the house so they don't have to walk the gauntlet of reporters."
"I'm sorry this is going to effect them, but we'll be leaving soon so it won't be for long."
Chase raised his hand to flag the server down for their check. As much as she wanted to put it off, she knew they'd eventually have to brave the press. In fact, the line of fans started in the lobby of the restaurant before they could even make it to their truck. Several families stopped them as they pressed towards the door, begging for an autograph or pictures with the celebrities. The models were gracious, scribbling their signatures on the scraps of paper shoved towards them and posing for photos with the handful of well-wishers.
It was only once they were all three safely in the cab of their truck heading away from the restaurant that the awkward silence filled the space.
Emma had to ask. "So, is that what it's like everywhere you go? People surrounding you. Touching you. Asking for pictures or autographs?" She tried not to let her voice sound as afraid as she felt at the thought of that happening everywhere they went.
Chase tried to make light of it. "It's not so bad most of the time. If we know there will be a crush of fans, we usually have security guards with us or sometimes we wear disguises so we can't be recognized."
"Just great. I've always hated Halloween."
Jaxson reached for her hand. "It'll just take you some time to get used to it, baby. We won't let anything happen to you."
She knew they'd keep her physically safe. She couldn't tell him that it was her emotional state she was most worried about. She would only be able to take so much negative press pointing out the men were crazy to be sharing one plump grad student when they could literally pick any woman they wanted in the entire world.
She'd been zoning out, not paying attention so Jaxson's question caught her off-guard. "How does that sound?"
