Page 131 of Offside Devil

“How was your weekend?” She bites back a grin. “Get up to anything interesting?” Before I can even start to lie, she adds, “Have sex in any public places and leave wearing someone else’s clothes?”

I gasp and that’s apparently answer enough.

“I knew it was you in that picture!” She slaps a hand over her mouth as she cackles.

I grab her arm and jerk her close. “Mind keeping your voice down? We’re surrounded by children.”

Rachelle actually giggles. “I’m sorry, but when Jace showed me that picture this morning, I didn’t believe him. I mean, Zane normally wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like that. But there is only one person I know of who could convince him.”

“Daniel,” I interject. “He showed up with Daniel and we ran into each other. And what picture are you talking about?”

“The picture of you and Zane!” She whips out her phone. The picture is locked and loaded like she’s been waiting all morning for this moment.

Thanks to the bubbles and flashing lights, the picture is blurry and washed out, but there’s definitely a shirtless man leading a woman in a men’s button-down through the lounge by the hand.

“Where did you get this?”

I didn’t see any cameras there, but I should have known better. What if Peter Morris gets a hold of this? CPS liked Jace with a serious girlfriend, but they might frown upon fucking said girlfriend in public places.

“Jace saw it online. Someone tagged him in it and accused him of cheating on me.” She rolls her eyes and takes the phone back. “But I knew they had the wrong guy. Jace was very much not cheating on me that night, if you know what I mean.”

“Thank God. I’d feel terrible if this messed things up for you two.”

She waves me off. “Please. I’m so used to this kind of shit by now. There’s always someone with a camera and internet access who thinks they know more about my relationship than I do.”

“I guess that’s what I’m signing up for,” I mutter.

Rachelle snaps her attention back to me. “So things are serious with you two, then?”

“Oh. No. I didn’t mean—I mean, kinda, but—I just meant?—”

A scream cuts through my rambling, and I’m jumping across a floor made of trampolines like Tigger on Adderall before I can even process what’s happening.

Then I see Aiden.

He’s cowering in the farthest corner of the “Bounce Zone” while a man towers over him with a professional camera in his hand.

As I get close, I hear him talking. “… wasn’t trying to scare you, kid. I just want to know where your mom is. Or is she your babysitter?”

“Hey!” I scream, shoving past all the useless adults who have stopped to gawk. “Get away from him!”

The photographer whirls around. Recognition lights up his face and he reaches for his camera. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

The shutter clicks, but I ignore him. I’m locked on Aiden shaking in the corner.

Images of dark closets flood my mind. I can smell the mothballs and the drying blood. Can feel the dust under my fingers while I curled in on myself, hoping no one would come looking for me.

I know exactly how Aiden feels right now.

I hate that this is all because of me.

I drop to my knees next to him and throw my jacket over his head. “It’s okay, buddy. I’m here. It’s okay.”

A man in the crowd yells, “What’s going on?”

But it’s too late. Because the photographer is already here. He got his pictures and scared Aiden. No one can undo that.

“Come on.” I lift him to his feet and curl myself around him. “I’ll get you out of here.”

---