Page 40 of Protecting Hailey

“When did you live there?”

“That was a long time ago. I—”

Her gaze drifted behind me, and then her mouth dropped open. “Oh, my god,” she whispered.

I closed my eyes, knowing exactly what she was seeing without having to turn around.

“Trey?” she squinted and then narrowed her eyes. “That son of a bitch.”

She stormed past me and I spun around to follow her. The idiot had his tongue halfway down a girl’s throat. I shook my head and ran after Hailey.

By the time I’d caught up to her, she was a foot away from her boyfriend and was pulling him off of the girl. “What the hell, Trey?”

The idiot looked annoyed. I couldn’t fucking believe it. Then he looked between Hailey and the blonde in front of him and he wiped his mouth. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

Hailey cocked her hip. “Really? Because it looks like you were French kissing her tonsils.”

I cringed. It did look like that.

“Are you Hailey?” the girl asked.

Hailey stared at her, but ignored her question. Turning back to Trey, she said, “You have two seconds to tell me what the hell is going on before I lose my shit on the both of you.”

Trey put up his hands and shook his head. “Can we talk someplace else?”

“Fine.” Hailey walked away from the group and toward a quiet alcove.

Trey looked around. “I meant your place or something.”

“Oh no. You’re not coming back to my place until you tell me what’s going on.”

Trey gave me a side-eye glance. “Does he have to be here?”

“He’s my bodyguard, so yes. I might ask him to kick the shit out of you if I’m not happy with your response right now.”

Yes, Hailey. Please, just say the word.

Trey pouted, and Hailey looked at me. With a sigh, I turned my back to give them privacy, but I wouldn’t leave her side, not to make that asshole comfortable.

“Trey, I’m going to ask you one more time. Why in the hell were you kissing that girl?”

“I already told you we need to keep a low profile on our relationship. So, when Jason suggested I should be seen in public with some other girls, I thought it was a good idea. You know, make it seem like I’m back living the single life.”

“Jason, your manager, thought it would be a good idea if you cheated on me? Are you seriously blaming him for your mistakes?”

“No. No, I’m not blaming him. I’m just telling you why I did it.”

Hailey was silent for a few seconds. I wanted to turn around to ensure she was all right, but her words stopped me. “I don’t understand, Trey. How could you not know that kissing some other woman would hurt me?”

“Well, I knew I should have talked to you about it first, but I didn’t know you’d be here. And what you and I have is great, but it’s not like we love each other or anything.”

Fucking, stupid son-of-a-bitch.

His words confirmed my suspicions of him, but I knew how much they hurt Hailey.

“W-what?”

“Come on, Hailey. Let’s not pretend this isn’t what it is.”

---