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“I found a pony in the elevator.” Ivy giggles.
“A fucking pony?” Where the hell did I find a horse to steal? “Does that make me a rancher? A cowboy? A horse thief? Can’t be Yosemite Sam because that’s Summer’s brother, Burke.”
“He doesn’t look anything like Yosemite Sam.” Summer rolls her eyes as she grabs a donut out of the box.
“You’ll see when we go to Kansas. He really does.”
“So the pony.” Rebel draws our focus back to my penchant for animal-napping.
Ivy squeezes my cheeks with her fingers. Rubs her nose against mine. Laughs. “You were quite insistent you wanted to be called Trigger. Suggested you needed to be saddled and rode through the building.”
“Fuck me.” Rebel drags his hand down his face. “I did not need to hear that.”
“Don’t worry. You were pretty placid. Easy to corral.”
I fake a very horsey puff of air through my lips.
“Back on track, please.” Summer claps her hands. “Sometimes it’s like herding cats. Or… Hearts, actually. I just exchanged one group of hooligan brothers for another.”
“Are you okay with officially announcing that you’re my girlfriend?” I ask Ivy. It will mean Hawthorne will know who she is, but hopefully that won’t matter for much longer. If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll slink away to hide like the snake he is the moment the story drops.
Ivy nods. “It was only a matter of time, right?”
“Great.” Fuck, I love her so much.
“But I have to tell you something.” she plucks nervously at my shirt.
“What is it?” The way she looks at me… even after I screwed up so badly. I know everything else will be okay. Even if she looks like she’s worried.
Rebel clears his throat, focusing us back on topic. “Right now people think you’re an asshole for cheating on your girlfriend. Other than the women who think you’re back on the market, of course.”
“Can we not talk about it?” I glare at him. It’s bad enough that I let it happen. That I was too wasted to stop it. I don’t want Ivy having to be reminded about it over and over. I want to put it so fucking far behind me that Ivy is never reminded of how I failed her. “Can we just deal with how this is going to affect the tell-all next week? They can say whatever they want about me. I don’t care. I only care about Ivy. And not letting Alec fucking Hawthorne get away with what he did to Ro. Can we focus on that and move on?”
“There is a party tomorrow night,” Summer says. “One of those everyone who is anyone events that you all love so much. Ro has agreed to attend. As should we all.”
“A party?” Sounds like the last thing I want to drag Ivy to. “Seriously? The police still haven’t located the guy that broke into her apartment.”
“They identified someone,” Summer says.
“Some guy with a long list of petty crimes under his belt.” Rebel grimaces. “He’s been caught on camera loitering in front of Ro’s building on a few occasions. They think he’s become fixated on her.”
“Or that psycho paid him to do his dirty work,” I snarl. I’m sure of it. I can’t prove it, but there is no doubt in my mind that Hawthorne is behind it.
“The cops will inform us when they find the guy,” Summer says. “Until then… we have a plan. We show up tomorrow night… all of us. Together. We put on a united front. You and Ivy. The three of you boys and Ro. Show the public and your peers that the drama isn’t between us.”
“But—”
“It’s okay,” Ivy says. “I think it’s a good idea.”
“I’m glad you’re on board.” Lips pursed, Summer shakes her head at me and Rebel. “You, Rogue Maddox, will make a statement about your relationship with Ivy. I don’t care what you want to say about what happened last night. But you need to clarify what this relationship is. We need the conversation around you to dry up quickly. The less people can conjecture, the more attention Ro will get whenHollywood Juicehits the stands. That’s the goal now.”
“Whatever you decide to say about what happened yesterday, we’ll support you,”Rebel squeezes Summer’s shoulder.
“You can start by stopping being a dick to Ivy.” I stare him down as I draw her back to my chest and rest my chin on the top of her head.I mean it.
He glances at her and his mouth softens. Just enough that one corner raises.I think I can handle that.
Yeah, you keep thinking that way.
