Page 30 of Rescue My Heart

She hung up, her mind racing. How had things spiraled so fast? Just a few hours ago, she’d been wrapped in McKenna’s arms, feeling like everything was finally falling into place. Now, it felt like the ground was being pulled out from under her.

Mazey walked back into the kitchen, her expression unreadable. McKenna turned, her brow furrowed with concern.

“Everything okay?” McKenna asked, her voice gentle but laced with worry.

Mazey forced a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s just...work stuff. Something leaked, and now there’s this whole thing going on with the media,” she said, trying to downplay the severity of it.

McKenna took a step closer and reached out to touch Mazey’s arm. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Mazey’s heart twisted at the kindness in McKenna’s beautiful brown eyes. She wanted to tell her everything, to let her in completely, but fear held her back. The media attention, the scrutiny—it was exactly what she’d been running from. And now, here she was, standing at the edge of the cliff again about to fall into the chaos.

“I... I don’t know,” Mazey admitted quietly, her voice cracking. “I don’t know how to handle this.”

McKenna pulled her into a tight embrace, her hand gently stroking Mazey’s back. “We’ll figure it out,” she whispered. “We’ll deal with it together.”

Mazey closed her eyes, allowing herself to melt into McKenna’s arms for a moment. She wanted to believe that everything would be okay, that they could handle whatever was thrown their way. But as she buried her face in McKenna’s shoulder, a part of her couldn’t shake the fear that this was just the beginning of something that could tear them apart.

Mazey’s phone buzzed. Her manager was coming to pick her up. She wanted to have a meeting with her. Mazey hurried to find her own clothes and dress. She grabbed her bag, her movements hurried and distracted. The comfortable ease they’d shared moments ago now felt like a fragile memory slipping through her fingers.

“Are you okay?” McKenna asked gently, trying to catch Mazey’s eye.

Mazey paused at the door, turning to face her. “Yeah, I’m fine.”.

“Will I see you later?” McKenna asked, a trace of uncertainty in her voice.

Mazey hesitated for a moment, then nodded, though it felt more like a promise she wasn’t sure she could keep. “Yeah, I’ll text you when I’m free.”

Mazey’s fingers tightened around her phone as she waited for her manager to pull up. The silence of the neighborhood was comforting, but her mind was anything but quiet. What had she gotten herself into? Her feelings for McKenna had come fast and hard, overwhelming her in ways she hadn’t expected. But now, with the reality of her life crashing down on her, she wasn’t sure if she could handle it. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to let anyone in, especially not someone like McKenna, who made everything feel so...real.

Her phone buzzed again. She sighed and answered, her voice tight. “Hey, I’m outside.”

Just then she saw a black Mercedes pull up. Her manager rolled down the window.

“You okay?” Her voice was brusque, but Mazey could hear the underlying tension. “You’ve been dodging calls. This is serious, Mazey.”

She swallowed and got in the car, trying to keep her voice steady. “I know. I’ve been...distracted.”

“Distracted by a hot firefighter? Look, Mazey, this is all over the tabloids. You’ve got photos everywhere, and people are already talking.”

Her heart pounded, the weight of it all sinking in. “I didn’t realize it was out like that.”

“It is. And we need to handle it before it becomes a bigger mess.”

Mazey rubbed her forehead, closing her eyes. Of course it was a mess. It always was, wasn’t it? She couldn’t just have something for herself, not without it becoming public property.

Olivia’s voice broke through her thoughts. “Look, you know how this works. We can spin it, but we need to get ahead of it.”

“Spin it?” she repeated, her throat tight. “This isn’t just...some fling.”

“Mazey, I get it, okay? I get that you’re probably feeling something here, but you’ve got a career to think about. Your image. You can’t be caught with just anyone.”

Mazey’s chest tightened. Her image. The brand she’d been carefully maintaining for years. The smiling, flawless actress who never slipped up, never gave people too much to talk about. She hated it. But what other choice did she have?

“I don’t want to hurt them,” Mazey whispered, still not ready to admit that she was in love with a woman.

Her manager sighed, her tone softening just a bit. “I’m not saying you have to hurt anyone. But you need to think about what’s best for you. For your future.”

Mazey bit her lip, staring out at the empty street. What if McKenna was part of her future? What if, for once, she wanted to let someone in, to stop pretending? But could she really risk it? Could she handle the pressure that would come with it? The judgment? The loss of control?

---