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I knew how much my husband loved his company.
What I was no longer sure of was how much he lovedme.
TWENTY-SIX
work with it
“What isthis I hear about you going on atalk show?” Daphne called as she hustled across the lawn. Noah, Boss the puppy, and I were headed toward the private dock. My brother wanted to fish, and I wanted to get the heck away from everyone who wasn’t my brother and his dog.
I was so upset about the conversation I’d had with Bryce that I couldn’t even think about it. I hadn’t begun to process what I’d agreed to and why.Bryce says you should try it, and you’ll do anything for Bryce,the voice in my head reminded me. I wanted to tell her to shut up, but I was only talking to myself, which seemed crazy.
But Ifeltcrazy. “I don’t want to go on TV again,” I told Daphne. “But I don’t think I have a choice. Olivia wants the family to be more accessible or something. I have no idea what I’m supposed to talk about.”
“They should’ve askedme.” Although she hadn’t been invited, Daphne joined us as we trekked to the dock. “I havetonsof experience with interviews! If I’d known any of this would happen, I wouldn’t have slept with stupid Micheal Jones and gotten pregnant with his stupid baby!”
“Daphne!”I eyed my brother. “Can we talk about something else?”
“A talk show couldmakemy smoothie empire.” She absentmindedly rubbed her stomach. “I can’t believeyou’rethe one getting all the attention. It doesn’t make any sense!”
Noah laughed, and I rolled my eyes. “Thanks a lot, Noah. And you too, Daphne. Jeez, tell me how you really feel!”
“Oh, it’s nothing personal.” She shrugged. “It’s just that I know you don’t want to do it, and I wouldloveto do it. Life’s funny that way sometimes, you know?”
“I guess.” We headed out to the end of the pier. Noah insisted that Daphne and I sit with Boss in between us, so the puppy didn’t try to jump in the water or otherwise get into trouble. We chatted about the baby and Daphne’s plans for the nursery while Noah cast out. I glimpsed one of the paparazzi boats in the harbor, but it didn’t come too close.
All in all, it was a pleasant way to pass a few hours. The sunlight dappled the water, and Boss’s tongue lolled out as we scratched him behind his ears. Even Daphne thought he was cute. I was happy to be distracted by her self-centered chatter, which was something to focus on other than my conversations with both Olivia and Bryce. Oh yes, and the one I’d had with Hazel in the hallway. Of the three encounters, maybe the one with Hazel had been the best. Honestly, if that’s what my life was coming to?HELP!
Noah measured each fish that he caught. He had to toss them all back. “It’s a catch-and-release kind of day,” he said, but he didn’t seem disappointed as he packed up his things. With Boss’s leash in one hand and his fishing pole in the other, my brother definitely seemed as though he was living his best life.
Eye on the ball, Chloe.The ball being my brother and the fact that I was here on this private island in order to help him. I sighed. It was working, wasn’t it? It didn’t matter if I had to do some things that made me uncomfortable. It didn’t matter if I was about to be pitted in a tabloid battle against Felicia Fucking Jones. What mattered wasNoah. What mattered was that he wouldn’t ever have to eat a stale granola bar for dinner again. What mattered was that Lydia couldn’t ever kick us out of her apartment again, leaving us scrambling to scrape up enough money to stay in a squalid motel room.
“Wow, these are great.” Daphne stopped halfway across the lawn, suddenly engrossed in her phone. “I have to hand it to Olivia Jensen. She might be a pain in the ass, but she’s a social-media genius.”
“What’re you looking at?” I peered over her shoulder as Noah went to put his fishing things away. “Oh my God!”
Daphne was on some gossip website. There was a picture of my brother tossing a ball to Boss.Check out Chloe’s adorable brother as he visits for vacation!
“Itoldher my brother wasn’t a storyline.” I clenched my hands into fists. “I told her that!”
“Relax! He’s not heavily featured, it’s just that one pic.”
“I know, but I don’t want his picture online.Ugh.Like I said, I told her that.”
“So tell her again.” Daphne’s brow furrowed as she scrolled through the pictures. “Ah, now they’re getting good! Look at us at the club! Ooh, there’s even a headline about Bryce buying the place!”
She showed me the images of us from the pool dais. Bryce had his arm possessively around me, even as he glared at his phone. I squinted, trying to avoid looking at myself in a bathing suit. Not that I thought I looked terrible, but it was just weird! I felt so exposed. Being on public display was sort of a nightmare.
Only a few months ago, I’d been Chloe Burke from East Boston—recently homeless, recently motherless, so desperate for money that I’d posted a listing on the skeevySugar Finderapp. No one had known or cared who I was. And now I was all over the internet. In my bathing suit. In pictures where my husband was practically feeling me up.
My phone started buzzing. It was a 207-area code, which I didn’t recognize. I sent it to voicemail. The phone immediately began ringing again, so I turned off the sound.
“I really don’t even look pregnant yet, do I?” Daphne enlarged a picture of herself and intensely examined it. “But why is there only one picture of me?”
I squinted over her shoulder. “Maybe because there are so many of the boys.” Indeed, Jake and Colby were heavily featured. It was no surprise—with their washboard abs and big smiles, revealing perfect, blinding-white teeth, they were definitely clickbait.
The headlines from the day were also quite clicky:
Bryce Buys Chloe Her Own Pool Club
