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“I already love it,” I said, letting the tears slip down. “And if he doesn’t, I might hate him for it.”
She nodded understandingly. Somehow, she found my hand through the pile of blankets and squeezed it reassuringly. “But then you’ll get over it because you’ll have a baby to raise.”
I wasn’t so sure that was possible. I’d never loved anyone like I loved Aiden. It was all consuming, all encompassing. I’dhadto cut off communication, or I wouldn’t have been able to think.
“Do you know what he’s going through right now?” Liv asked tentatively. “I mean, are you following the story at all?”
I blinked at her. “The story?”
She nodded. “It’s a minor league scandal. Blake is saying that Aiden attacked him because you came onto him.”
I struggled to wrap my mind around this. Then, as it hit, I struggled up into a sitting position. “Wait. You’re telling me that even though Blake dragged me into an empty room and tried to assault me,Aidenis coming off as the bad guy?”
Liv nodded again. “That’s the narrative that Blake is spinning.”
“But I told the police–”
She lifted her shoulder and let it drop. “I’m just telling you what’s out there.”
For the first time since I found out I was pregnant, I felt something other than dazed confusion. Anger crept through, bright and shining like a spear. I grabbed onto it. “That bastard has some nerve.”
Liv pushed up too. She eyed me with a combination of wariness and hope. “I mean, no one is producing a counter narrative or whatever you marketing people call it.”
“I can’t believe Aiden hasn’t done anything.” I stared at Liv as if she might have the answer. I certainly didn’t, and here I thought I knew him so well.
“Maybe it’s because you’ve gone radio silent on him,” Liv suggested. “Maybeheis starting to believe the narrative.”
That was insane. That was impossible. That was–I fell back on my pillow again and stared intently at the ceiling. I was searching my memory of that horrible few minutes for anything I could use to refute Liv’s suggestion. Some moment where I had looked gratefully at Aiden or touched his arm or anything. I couldn’t think of a single thing. It had been too quick, too ugly. I’d thought we would be together again soon. I hadn’t known about the baby and the time I would need to adjust to that.
Had I somehow made Aiden doubt himself? Doubt us? Was that why he wasn’t banging down my family’s door right now? Because though I had barely admitted this to myself, it hurt that he hadn’t. It had made me feel like his regret for what he’d done to my dad was bigger than his love for me.
Had we both been operating under bad assumptions?
“Yes,” Liv said when I asked. She nodded her head vigorously. “You know what they say about assumptions. Asses, both of you.”
“I have to fix this.”
But despite the spirited words, I couldn’t quite bring myself to sit up again.
“Fix it?” Liv echoed.
“I need to tell Blake that I’ll call back every single media outlet and tell them he assaulted me if he doesn’t retract everything right now.”
“Oh right, the truth.” Liv considered. “Maybe you should just do that. Why give him an out?”
“Because if I do that, it’ll become he said versus she said,” I said grimly. “I don’t want that. I just want Aiden’s name cleared. I’ll let Blake play it down. He can make a vague statement about bad choices and getting help.”
“No,” Liv said suddenly, dead serious. “He has to agree to actuallygethelp, Layla. You can’t let him get away that easily. What about the next girl?”
I nodded, seeing her point. “I’ll also tell him that if any woman ever comes forward with a story about him, the deal is off. I’ll tell the world what he did.”
* * *
There was a strange sort of irony to the fact that after weeks of feeling strange and sick, the first time I felt strong again was on my way to confront Blake. I thought the anxiety would make my nausea worse than ever, but to my surprise, there was no anxiety. Instead, there was a strange sort of power rushing through my veins as I walked into his building where he’d agreed to meet–with his lawyer–in one of the common rooms.
After Liv left, I’d reviewed the media coverage of the incident. I was surprised by how much play it got, but it was a slow news week. Every statement I read made my blood boil. Liv had been right, Blake was playing the role of victim to the hilt, and Aiden wasn’t doing a damn thing to counter. It wasn’t like him.
The sight of Blake made my fingers curl into reflexive fists. His big hands were flat on the table as if to show he was innocent, but I remembered them wrapped around my wrist, the dizzying blur of the carpet pattern passing underneath my reluctant footsteps. My eyes were narrow when I walked in, and he met them with an injured, innocent expression.
