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I grab her shoulders and force her to look at me. Her eyes are still all over the place, and I want her to keep her gaze only on me.
“Riley, what’s happened? You’re freaking out. I know I scared you, but…”
She shakes her head as it falls into her hands. She isn’t really crying, but I can sense a heaviness pressing down on her.
“I read online that the photographer who took the picture of us has posted my address online, and I’m freaked out that someone might follow me here. There seems to besomuch hate for me online, and I’m scared it’ll spill over into real life.”
Shit. This is heavier than I thought it would be. I kinda just assumed that I would be getting the worst of things, but nothing like that has ever happened to me.
Another reason I do what I can to keep out of the public eye.
Fuck.
I don’t know what I can do here; I don’t know how I can make her feel better.
I envelop her in a tight hug and hold her to my chest, but I’m still feeling a little bit lost. Maybe it’d be better if Ididhave more experience with the media because then I might know what to do.
“You know we can get through this, Riley?” She doesn’t say anything. “I know it’s scary right now, but I can’t imagine anyone wouldreallycome to your home.”
She pulls back and glares at me. “Have you never read all those horror stories online? It seems to happen a lot, especially when it comes to women on their own…”
She’s right.
I know she’s right, but that only makes all of this so much harder.
“Let me make us a drink,” I say as I take her over to the couch. “We can talk about this a little more and work out a plan.”
Riley does as I ask, and I head to the kitchen to make us both something to drink, but my mind is spinning the whole time. I need to find something,anything, to make Riley feel better. For now, I think the best thing I can do is distract her. Talk about anything else to keep her mind off everything happening in the virtual world.
It’s hard to imagine any of the online threats becoming reality, but I don’t want to under-react to anything. I’d never be able to forgive myself if something really happened.
“You know, you’re always welcome to come and stay with me for a while,” I tell Riley as I hand her the drink. “I have a lot of security, which might help you to feel better.”
“Oh really? You’d do that for me, Alex?”
“Of course!” She doesn’t need to ask that. I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it.
“You don’t think that would put too much pressure on…” She flicks her finger between us both. “Us?”
I part my lips, about to insist that she couldn’t be more wrong, but the tension in her gaze halts me in my tracks. I can tell she doesn’t need more pressure piled on her shoulders.
“It’s entirely up to you, Riley. Whatever makes you feel comfortable. Just know that the offer is always there. Even if it’s just for a couple of nights.”
She doesn’t give me much of a reply, but Riley does rest her head on my shoulder, bringing us a little closer. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop me hating that I can’t do more. I don’t have the right words, and I can’t make her feel safe either.
“I don’t know if you remember, but I told you I had a rough time in high school.” Riley pulls back to give me a curious look. I wasn’t planning on telling her this story, but I don’t see why I need to hold it inside now. The story is written, and Ireallywant to give Riley something else to concentrate on. “That’s because my girlfriend at the time, my first love, cheated on me with my best friend.”
“Oh my God.” She claps her hands to her mouth in shock. “Are you serious? That’s dreadful. That must have been really hard.”
“I don’t know what was worse—losing her or losing my best friend. He was my next-door neighbor, and we’d grown up together like brothers. I thought he was always going to be my friend… but after I found out she’d cheated on me, they rubbed salt in the wound. I had to see them together at school and around town because they stayed together for a long time.”
Riley rubs my arm, reassuring me. I didn’t necessarily want to turn the spotlight around to focus on me, but I’m hoping that she isn’t lost in her own troubles anymore.
“They might still be together, for all I know, which sucks.” I try to laugh, but the sound that actually comes out is much too strangled to pull it off. “The bad guys aren’t supposed to win in the story, are they? They aren’t supposed to find happiness together. That’s not how it should work. It’s unfair.”
“But, Alex, you get to beyou,” Riley insists. “They might be together, who knows? And yes, that does suck. But every single day of your life, you get to be Alex Barrett, the super famous hockey player that everyone loves. I thinkyou’rethe winner here.”
I shoot her a half smile. “Maybe, but I’m the one who closed myself off ever since. I’ve never really been able to let anyone in. There’s a reason that I hate the media intrusion in my life, and why I don’t let anyone get close to me. And I think it all stems back to that moment.”
