Page 65 of Faking the Shot

“What church?”

Diana mentioned one in the burbs. “How about you?”

“I do more online church than a real one.”

“It must be hard when you’re famous to feel like you can go somewhere and just be.”

“So hard.”

Diana nodded. “I think Zac finds the same.”

Another thing they had in common. She wondered what it would be like to attend church with him. To have kids to take to Sunday school, to see them grow up in a youth group like she had, before drama classes and theater performances had stolen her weekends. Those years with youth group had been good years. And what she wanted for her kids one day. If she ever was to have children.

The first period ended, and she settled back and small-talked with Benson and some others, posed for some photos, then visited the bathroom.

While in the stall, she heard a couple of women come in, continuing their conversation. “… so full of herself. Did you see her on the jumbotron before?”

She winced. She had some idea who the “her” might be.

“I know, right? She’s not even that pretty.”

“I don’t know what he sees in her.”

“Right? I’m not buying it.”

She wasn’t?

“I bet she’ll just dump him like she has all the others. Then he’ll play bad and we’ll be losing again.”

She flushed, and opened the stall door and washed her hands, catching their looks of shock in the mirror. She half-smiled, but said nothing. Everyone was entitled to their own opinion, and she knew she didn’t look like she did when she was glammed up for a glitzy event. But still, it stung to realize that some people obviously did not want her here.

She blinked back emotion—the women weren’t the first who’d made nasty comments—and returned to her seat, and picked up her phone. Notifications were already popping up about where she’d been seen. Her excitement when he’d scored. The fact he’d looked up at her and smiled. She hadn’t seen that, but already there was a video online showing his smile.

Oh, he was selling this so much better than she was. How could those women have not believed them? Was her reputation truly so bad that they just thought she’d chew him up and spit him out? This was why she needed to have a relationship that worked. This was why she had to work harder to convince people that they were an item. Maybe it was time to change some rules, to hug a little, maybe even… kiss.

She shivered, and Benson encouraged her to put on her jacket. “It’s cold in here.”

Sure was. Between those women and Diana she was feeling frozen out.

“Excuse me.” Diana passed by her then took her seat.

Ainsley blinked hard, pasted a smile on her face.

Diana touched her arm. She turned. “I heard what they said.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Kirsten and Meg. They didn’t mean anything by it.”

“You were in the bathroom, too?”

Diana nodded. “You left, and you should’ve heard them continue. They couldn’t believe you didn’t say anything, and I think they were both embarrassed. As they should be. This isn’t high school. And Zac is not a toy.”

Ainsley pressed her lips together. That sounded like a warning. “He’s a good guy,” she murmured.

“He is. And he’s trying to be a good Christian guy. And I’m sorry, but I’m just not very comfortable with the fact that you guys are both trying to sell a lie.”

Ainsley exhaled. “It’s supposed to help him out.”

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