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She blinked, taking in my bedhead, pjs, and no doubt puffy face. “You only just woke up?”
“What gave it away?” I asked, deadpan, backing up so she could enter. “Not all of us get up at the arse crack of dawn, you know.”
Once inside, Briar closed the door behind her. “I’ve been calling and calling, but you didn’t answer.”
“I tend not to do that when I’m asleep. What’s the big emergency?”
Briar took a long, preparatory breath and then gently but firmly steered me into the living area. “Okay, you’re not going to like this. In fact, you’ll likely be furious. Beyond pissed, really. But don’t stress about it, the whole thing will very quickly blow over. Probably. Even if it doesn’t—”
“Briar, you’re babbling. You know I hate babbling.”
“Right. Okay. So …” She sat, urging me to sit beside her on the long upholstered sofa. Once I did, she twisted in her seat to better face me. “There’s an online article about you. And Ryland. It was posted early this morning by someone revealing that a ‘source’ informed them of, um, a few things.”
And just like that, I was wide awake. “A few things?” I echoed in a flat tone, unease slithering in my gut.
“They alleged that you and Ryland were having a secret relationship; that he dumped you because he got tired of the ‘kinky crap’ he lyingly claims you’re into that ‘makesFifty Shades of Greystuff seem tame.’ People are talking about it all over social media … and now your face is going really, really red and I’m scared.”
Clenching my fists, I shot to my feet and rounded the coffee table as I sucked in a long breath. “I’ll kill him.” Anger in every step, I paced up and down the soft rug. “Ryland did this to get back at me. He arranged for some journalist to print that bastard article.”
“That’s my theory too. If his game was to make people scorn you, it didn’t work. Most are saying stuff like ‘Then he’s a fool because she’s hot,’ or ‘People shouldn’t be shamed for what they like,’ or ‘I didn’t take him for a prude.’ Others are claiming they don’t believe what’s printed purely because Ryland himselfisn’t quoted. There’s also a few creeps out there spouting crude shit like, ‘I’d tie her up and ride her ass any day.’ But no one’s being cruel or ridiculing you.”
I wouldn’t really care if they did. The opinions of perfect strangers didn’t matter to me. But the impact it would have on my career?Thatmattered. And there was no way that this wouldn’t affect it.
I needed to read this bloody article.
Seething, I stalked through the apartment and back into my bedroom. Snatching my phone from the nightstand, I ignored the dozens of notifications and went straight online.
Perching herself on the edge of the mattress, Briar rattled off the name of the online magazine where I’d find the article. “It’s basically a gossip rag that focuses on celebs.”
I brought it up on my phone and quickly read it. Surprisingly, it hadn’t mocked or shamed me. The article painted me as a woman admirably exploring her sexuality and being unfairly judged for it—a trend that the author believed was too common. I nonetheless felt my blood boil as I read each false claim that had been made about me.
I spat a curse. “I don’t even know what half of these kinks are that I’m supposedly knee-deep in. What’s klismaphilia?”
“Ithink—but don’t quote me on this, because I’m really not sure—that it’s when you get your kicks from having an enema.”
“I’ve never had an enema. This is—ugh, I want to slap Rylandsohard.”
Briar gave me a gentle smile. “I know it’s awful that he did this, but it won’t do the damage he intended.”
“Maybe not to my public image, but it will in other ways.” I sank onto the bed beside her, my shoulders slumping. “For a long time, I wasn’t taken seriously as a sports photographer by alot of men. Some would make sleazy comments or suggest I try underwear modelling.”
“People seriously suck.”
“Amen. Even to this day, despite my success, I’m not always respected for my skills or hard work. I still get crude comments from blokes in my field. Just how much worse do you think that’s going to be for me now that these rumors are floating around about me?”
Briar winced. “You’re right, it won’t even matter if those assholes believe the rumors, they’ll still use them against you purely because … well, they’re assholes.”
Putting a palm to my forehead, I pressed down on one side of my temple with my thumb and the other side with my little finger. “I can’t understand how my dickhead radar didn’t go off around Ryland—he completely fooled it. God, I have no idea what I’m going to say to my parents. Maybe they won’t find out about this,” I added, a hopeful note in my voice.
“That’s unlikely, I’m sorry to say. They’ll hear about it from their PR people, if nothing else.”
I groaned, letting my hand fall from my head to my lap. “They’ll lose their mind.”
“So will your brothers. They might be younger than you, but they’re so ridiculously overprotective it comes off as big-brotherly. And by the way, you shouldn’t give your dickhead radar a hard time. I wouldn’t have foreseen Ryland doing something like this either. I didn’t take him for cruelly vindictive.”
“People can surprise you that way.”
Briar rested her hand on my arm. “I’d imagine you’re longing to call him and verbally flay the skin from his bones, but you really shouldn’t. He’s using you to enlarge his spotlight. I’ll bet one of his reasons for wanting you two to go public was that you’d enhance his image. You took that opportunity fromhim, so he chose another route. Don’t give him anything to work with, Izzy. Even if he personallydoesn’t leak any texts or phone conversations to the press, he’ll ensure somebody does it on his behalf.”
