Page 97 of How We Fooled

I make sure the steering wheel is secure with my knee and snap a picture of me holding Liza’s hand, then hit Send without saying anything.

Ben:

Typical fucking Eli. No words. Just a picture, like a fucking tease.

Dalton:

You know we got your back. Name it, and we’re there if you need us.

Maya:

I love that you have each other. Don’t let anyone take that away.

I show Liza what Maya said, and she smiles.

“I love that we have each other too,” I say, bringing her hand to my lips to kiss it.

She laughs to herself. “You might not say that in a day or two.”

“Hey.” I laugh back. “You’re making jokes about it. That’s a good thing.”

She lowers her eyebrows at me.

“Right now, all we can do is be together and laugh our way through this mess.”

She gives me a blank stare as I pull into my driveway. “Don’t you dare say we’ll look back at this and think it’s funny.”

I laugh out loud. “No. I won’t do that. But we need to not be so stressed about it. What’s done is done. Let’s just figure out the damage and move on. The only thing that matters is you’re okay. Everything else is just static noise.”

I put the truck in park when we hear her phone ring. I don’t recognize the name on the screen, but by her expression, it can’t be good.

She swipes the call, inhaling a big breath and bringing it to her ear. “Hi, Susan.”

Tears spill from her face, and I open the truck door to race to her side, needing to hold her.

“Uh-huh. Yeah. Okay,” Liza says as I wrap my arms around her. “Yeah, I understand.” There’s another pause. “Okay. Bye.” The phone drops to the floor, and she buries herself into my chest. “I’ve been put on administrative leave until further notice.”

I hold her tighter, not sure what to say. Teaching was her dream, and because of me, that dream was just ripped away from her, right in front of me.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Eli

Later that night, our house has turned into a high-functioning office with my dad’s lawyers and my agent all sitting around the kitchen table, trying to come up with a plan.

I figured what’s done is done, and this is why these guys get paid, so Liza and I have been curled on the couch all day, not wanting to watch TV and just listening to music.

“Eli,” Dad yells out. “Come here, son.”

I stand and hold Liza’s hand, making sure she knows wherever I go, she goes. No secrets. We’re in this together.

We enter the kitchen, holding hands, and Steve starts talking. “We’re going to hold a press conference. I thought about what you said and agree; we need to make this more about what happened to Liza. If we tell your story about how you met before she was a teacher, I think we can get some people on our side. People love the hero of a story, and you definitely are one in this case.”

Liza grips my arm with her other hand. “He is. What would have happened to me if he hadn’t put up such a fight?”

Steve points at her. “Exactly. The only reason we are here is because he fought so hard for you that he got arrested.”

“I still don’t understand that. Why was I arrested once they knew what was going on?”

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