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I sat on her bed as she stood, her arms crossed over her chest.
Her body language was closed off, her expression blank. I couldn’t get a read on her. “How did everything go this past weekend?”
She let out a breath. “I was going to ask you the same question.”
It felt like too little, too late, but it had to be said. “I wanted to come and support you, but I didn’t feel like I could let Felicia and Maggie out of my sight, and she wasn’t interested in coming to your event.”
Alice pursed her lips at that. “She doesn’t like me.”
“She doesn’t have to. Who I see is none of her business.”
Alice let out a breath as she sank onto the bed next to me. “The workshop was great. Everyone who signed up came, and they seemed to enjoy it. I even sold a few pieces.”
“That’s great.” I wanted to stand and pull her into my arms, but I sensed she wouldn’t accept it. Not yet. “Did something happen last night?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk about.” She moved to face me on the bed. “Elle videotaped some of the workshop and uploaded it to my social media. It got a lot of attention, some good, some not so good. Someone made a comment about me liking to put myself out there, specifically in videos.”
I immediately tensed. “Was it your ex?”
Alice swallowed, not quite meeting my gaze. “We think so.”
Standing, I paced in front of her. My fingers curled into fists. “Can you prove it?”
“We gave the information to the police, along with the picture he texted me.”
I swear my heart stuttered at that. I came to a stop in front of her. “What picture?”
She looked away from me like she couldn’t meet my gaze. “He sent a still from the original video. It was a topless photo.”
“You’re fucking kidding me!” I clenched my teeth to stem the rest of my thoughts. I wanted to find the asshole and tear him limb from limb.
“The good thing is that the text is from his phone. So, we know it’s him. I’m not sure if they’ll tie the other comment to him, but I’m hoping he’ll get in trouble for sending the image.”
“Do you know if he forwarded it to anyone else or posted it online?” I asked her.
“Not that we know of.”
“Thank Christ for that.” I ran a hand through my hair.
Realizing that she might need me to be there for her, I took a few deep breaths to calm down. Then I crouched in front of her. “Alice. Please look at me.”
When she finally looked at me, there were tears in her eyes. My heart squeezed at the sight.
“I love you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you this weekend. I wanted to be. And I’m sorry you didn’t feel like you could call me. That’s on me. I fucked up.”
A tear trailed down her cheek.
“The fact is, you needed me, and I wasn’t there.”
Her lips trembled. “You love me?”
I chuckled. “That’s the only thing you heard?”
She sniffed. “The rest of it paled in comparison.”
“I love you, Alice, and what this weekend made me realize is that I don’t want to be without you. I don’t want you to move to Elle’s house when Felicia’s in town. You’re part of my family. It’s you, me, and Maggie.”
“What about Felicia? She’s her mother.”
