Page 30 of When I Had You

I look down at the tee I stole from Cash, grinning like I got away scot-free from a bank robbery. Wonder if he woke up smiling like I did. Hope so since it’s race day. “Though it’s nothing big, I did . . .” I stop speaking when I lay my eyes on her. Her knuckles whitening, her eyes fixed forward, and a weird vibe fills the car. “What’s going on, Poppy?”

“You’ve missed the news this morning.” She glances at me and then back at the road again.

I push up to right myself and take a deep breath. My stomach twists in knots from the thought of my private life becoming gossip. “Did the story about Corbin come out?”

“Um. No.” She cringes and hands me her phone. “I know you don’t have social media for all the right reasons, but you need to get online.”

Taking the phone, I’m nervous about seeing what I’ll find. “I had all my notifications like Google Alerts off as well. What is it? Just tell me.”

“Open my phone.”

“I don’t think I want to,” I joke, but my laugh is riddled with nerves. I do it because, good or bad, we face our demons.

Even though it’s only been seconds ago, entering her code is the last moment of peace that I’ll have.

“‘Beauty and the Bad Boy?’” My eyes flick to the next article on the screen. “‘Bad Boy Image Gets Makeover by New Love Affair.’ I don’t understand. What is this?” I ask, scrambling as I scroll to the next article. My gut knows. This is a nightmare in the making.

And then I see the photo . . .

I cover my mouth to keep my jaw from dropping. Everything captured in that bright light moment in time makes Cash and me look like a couple. “Oh no,” I say, unsure what else I can.

“How are we feeling? Happy? Devastated? Caught in a news cycle?”

I can’t stop staring at the two of us together, looking like I never did with Corbin. “It’s nothing. I swear.” I glance up at her. “I would have told you.”

“You didn’t have a chance since it happened last night, or did I read two o’clock?”

I want to laugh, to tell her all the good things about last night, but I know what these stories mean. Our lives are about to be turned upside down.

“We didn’t have sex,” I blurt like someone who’s most definitely guilty. “I don’t need to defend myself.”

“No,” she says, “not to me or anyone.”

“Then why do I feel sick to my stomach?” I wrap my arms around my middle, wanting to curl inside myself and disappear. My eyes begin to water as reality sinks in. “I’ve made it so much worse for myself.” Dropping my head into my hand, I squeeze my eyes closed. “And for Cash.” All the good we shared is gone in the daylight. While I was flying, oblivious to the gossip splashed all over the internet, he’s been dealing with this directly. I jerk up and look at Poppy. “He’s going to hate me. More than he does already.”

“He hates you? Why would he hate you?”

“I dragged him into this mess when he should be concentrating on the race today.”

“Is this the club you were at when you texted me?”

“One and the same. I called him to save me.” She’s polite enough not to verbally judge me, but her eyebrows shoot up, and eyes stare ahead like she’s in disbelief. As if it will make it any better, I add, “I had a few drinks and calling him seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Her mouth straggles down at the ends. “Um. All right . . . Well, since we can’t turn back time and make a better decision, how can I fix this? Lauren?”

“Lauren’s going to kill me. I’m shocked I haven’t heard from her yet.”

I pull my busted phone from my bag and turn it back on. Twenty-two texts and fourteen missed calls. “Yikes.”

“Nothing is unfixable.”

I glance over at her, and trepidation fills me as I pull up my contacts list. “I should call him.”

“Are you sure?”

“No,” I reply, already calling. “I’m not sure, but I—”

“Hel—” His voice cuts out, replaced by silence, so I pull the phone from my ear to stare at the screen. “Cash? Can you hear me?” I put it to my ear again, but the line only crackles, and then the screen goes out. “Cash?” I scramble to push buttons, but nothing brings my phone back to life. “Dammit!”

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