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I beam at him and ignore Eliza in her stupid, beautiful, silver Coco Chanel gown as she scans the room as if she’s in search of better people to converse with. I hope she’s hearing my every word. And I hope she’s jealous.
“Yeah, he’s super great,” I continue.
“Who is it?” Shawn asks, side-glancing at his pretending-not-to-hear-me-wife.
I shake my head and wiggle a finger at him. “Nuh uh. Not saying. Notnow, anyway. And especially nothere.” I turn and stare at the C-listers whom I can tell are hanging onto my every word.
“Eliza, sit down, will you?” Shawn calls to his wife.
She does as she’s told, now done with her coughing fit. “Sorry, I was just hoping the waiter would come back so I could ask him for some water. What did I miss?”
“Liza, Giselle here has landed herself a boyfriend!”
Eliza gives me a pleasant smile. It doesn’t reach her beautiful, mesmerizing, soul-trapping eyes. I try my best to give her a private look that says,I wish I was with you, but you don’t want me, and I’m sad.If she notices it, she doesn’t say so.
“Well, I’m very happy for you, Giselle,” she tells me, giving my leg a gentle squeeze, sending goosebumps shooting up my spine, nearly making me flinch. How can she touch me like that right in front of Shawn?!
“Thank you, Eliza,” I say in a formal tone. “Grab my drink for me when it comes, will you?” I stand up and smooth out my dress.
“Where are you going?” Shawn asks.
“Uh, I have to pee,” I lie. I really just want to get away from Eliza before I burst into disappointed tears all over again.
2
BRENNAN
It’s been two whole days since the anonymous post came out about my brother, Derek Heed, being some sort of abusive boyfriend. I get why my parents wouldn’t be over it yet, but they keep talking about it as if it’s the absolute end of the entire world. They didn’t even want me to go into work today at the sporting goods store that I own. They told me what Derek was going through should have warranted me taking a few days off.
Derek plays college football. And he’s damn good at it. I get that it’s risky for the lies to be spread about Derek right now. I get how it could harm the chances of him going to the NFL. But it isn’t like he was diagnosed with some incurable disease. It isn’t like there are rumors going around that he murdered someone and is on the FBI’s most wanted list.
Someone lied—it definitely was a lie—and said he liked to scream, manhandle, and hit his ex-girlfriends. The person who made the post probably wasn’t even Derek’s actual girlfriend ever. I bet if they got someone to track it, they would find that it was just from some lonely old cook who lived on the opposite side of the country.
I told my parents that I was definitely still going into work today, no matter how dire of a situation my older brother had currently found himself in, but now that I’m back home for the day, they want me to sit in the living room with them so they can keep discussing it.
“Poor Selena,” Mom says about Derek’s wife, whom I could care less about, dabbing her eyes with a tissue, the TV still playing the news channel. It hadn’t been turned off since the post was made, and I am beginning to think if they turn it off now, the little headline scroll at the bottom of the news channel is going to be permanently etched onto the screen.
“Why ‘poor Selena?’” I ask. I still haven’t ruled out that she’s the one who made up the lie. I wouldn’t put it past her. To me, she has always seemed like the type of woman who is just into Derek for the fame that he’s starting to gain. And the money he already has, which will probably quadruple when he makes it to the NFL.
“Derek told us no one will leave her alone. That she can’t even leave her house in fear of people questioning and accusing her.”
Huh, so I’m not the only one who thinks so.
“How do you guys know she isn’t the one who wrote it?” I ask. I’ve brought it up before, but they were quick to just change the subject, so I figure, why not give it another try?
My mother looks like I’ve personally insulted her. “What do you mean? Why would you even ask that?”
I shrug, feeling a little uncomfortable. “I mean, sheisthe one who’s with Derek right now. What if she wants the attention?” Am I so wrong for wondering it?
Dad shakes his head at me. His overgrown haircut is starting to look a little like mine, just with gray added, and it makes me feel much older than just twenty-six. Dad didn’t age that well, so I am afraid that I won’t, either. “Selena is a good girl. She wouldn’t do something like that. Besides, the post said that it was somebody from his past. They refer to Derek as their old boyfriend. Not husband.”
I know I shouldn’t keep arguing, but I can’t help it. “Well, yeah… But that doesn’t mean that it’s not her. If she put wife, since Derek’s only had one of those, everyone would know it was her.”
“Brennan, knock it off.” Mom has had enough of my bullshit.
I sigh.
I just don’t know what to think anymore. I don’t know why somebody would do this to Derek. He’s my big brother, and we’ve always looked out for each other. Him more than me, if anything. Maybe that means it’s my turn to do the looking out. Maybe I’m supposed to figure out who’s behind all of this.
