Page 268 of Sin Bin

“Thank God you picked up!” Jess burst out in exasperation.

“Hey,” Meadow said weakly.

“Have you seen the pictures?”

Meadow shuffled back to the bed and sat down. “What pictures?”

“Apparently some Rebels went to a party after the game two nights ago,” Jess fumed. “The party was thrown by some Canadian racecar driver. A bunch of pictures were posted to a trashy gossip blog that covers hockey players. I’m pissed because the photos have been up for two whole days and I’m just now seeing them!”

Meadow felt a cold prickle of dread. “Which players went to the party?”

“Your man and mine, for starters!”

Meadow’s stomach bottomed out.

“Can you believe that shit?” Jess raged. “Did they seriously think we wouldn’t find out? Don’t they realize people are always taking pictures and posting them to social media?”

Meadow lay back on the bed and closed her eyes.

“At least the pictures with Logan aren’t too incriminating,” Jess ranted on. “In one picture he’s doing shots with the racecar driver, and the other picture shows him signing autographs for a bunch of models. But Dubs? That motherfucker has his arms wrapped around two skanky bitches! Even if nothing happened, he and Logan had no damn business being there! And the fact that they didn’t tell us about the party speaks volumes!”

Meadow squeezed her eyes shut tighter.

“You aren’t saying anything,” Jess snapped irritably. “Why are you taking this so well?”

“I’m not.” Meadow swallowed sickly. “I’m just…dealing with a lot right now.”

“Like what?”

She swallowed again. “Family stuff.”

Jess didn’t ask for details, and for that she was grateful.

“Let’s go out,” Jess suggested vindictively. “Let’s put on our hottest fuck-me dresses and hit the club. That’ll teach those lying bastards a lesson. Plus it’ll help take your mind off your family drama.”

Tears leaked from the corners of Meadow’s eyes and slid into her hair. She felt so raw, so fragile and broken. It was all she could do to hold herself together, to keep from flying apart into a million pieces.

“What do you say?” Jess prompted. “You with me?”

Meadow stared at the ceiling. She needed a distraction or she’d go crazy. “Sure,” she heard herself whisper. “I’ll go.”

“Great! I’m gonna ask one of my coworkers to go with us. She’s pregnant so she can be our designated driver.”

Meadow frowned. “Should she be clubbing in her condition?”

Jess laughed. “You haven’t met Emily. She loves to dance and have a good time. She knows her days of partying are numbered, so I’m sure she’ll jump at the chance to hang out with us. We’ll pick you up at nine. Be ready!”

“Okay.” Meadow hung up, dragged herself into the bathroom and took a shower, sobbing under the hot spray.

She felt exhausted and utterly depleted by the time she came out of the bathroom and made her way into the cavernous walk-in closet. She’d agreed to stay with Logan another week, so she’d brought a bunch of clothes over.

She chose a short red halter dress that she’d planned to wear on a date with him. Moving on autopilot, she flatironed her hair and put on more makeup than usual, applying red lipstick to match her dress.

Jess and Emily arrived shortly after nine. When Jess called to say they were in the lobby, Meadow went downstairs to meet them. Jess looked like a hot video vixen in a black bandage dress that barely covered her crotch.

Emily was a curvy blonde with blue eyes and a very small baby bump. Meadow couldn’t believe she was seven months pregnant. She seriously wished the young mom-to-be would reconsider spending an evening at some overloud, smoky club. But it wasn’t her place to police the actions of a perfect stranger. And she was hurting so much right now, she didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to worry about other people’s problems.

Jess appraised her from head to toe and whistled approvingly. “Looking good, baby!”

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