Page 146 of Take What You Want

“No. I knew you deserved to know. We just…there was a lot Jane and I had to figure out first. Now please, I need to go talk toher. We will sit down and I’ll tell you anything you want to know. But I-I need to talk to her.”

Has she seen the photos? Is she freaking out?

Walker hangs his head before he reluctantly steps aside. Hayden places a hand on his shoulder that he shrugs off. Reid is unmoving, watching the scene with an air of indifference. He makes no move to talk to either of them.

I don’t waste my opportunity. As I walk past though, I stop and lean close to Walker, my best friend, my brother. “I truly am sorry for lying to you.” I never wanted it to come to this, but a part of me always knew there was this possibility. And yet I did it anyway.

But she’s worth it.

“Just go,” he grits out. Beneath the anger, I hear the deep-seated hurt, and as much as I want to stay here and try to fix this, I can’t.

I take my cue and sprint out of the studio, the need to get to Jane propelling me the entire way.

40

JANE

Ineed to talk to Walker.

I need to talk to Nikolai.

But first, I need to call my parents. I have to warn them not to look online. The idea of them opening up their phones to the image of their daughter pinned against a brick wall with her head thrown back in bliss…

Bile works its way up my throat and I choke it down. The tires squeal as I peel up the driveway and into the garage. I make my way inside and pace the length of the kitchen while I call my mom.

She answers in the first couple of rings.

“Hey sweetie,” she answers, and those two simple words and the familiarity of her voice unlock the tears I’ve been holding at bay. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

So that answers my question of if they’ve seen the photos.

“Please don’t get online,” I beg. “Is Dad there? Tell him, too. Please.”

I hear shuffling in the background and when Mom speaks next, her voice sounds slightly more distanced. She must've put me on speaker. “Janie, sweetheart, calm down. Breathe for me.”

“What’s going on?” Dad’s voice chimes in, growing stronger as he gets closer to the phone. “Jane, are you okay?”

“No,” I cry, and it takes a few minutes until I calm down enough to explain it to them. So much embarrassment and shame courses through me as I’m forced to tell my parents that there are photos of their daughter online, some close to naked, with their son’s best friend.

They sit silently as I blubber my way through the explanation. “I promise I didn’t know someone was taking photos.”

“Honey, we know,” Dad cuts in. “Who the hell does something like this? What organization would publish them? I’m going to find?—”

“Don’t! Please,” I beg. “I don’t want you to see them. Please just…let it go.”

“Jane, you can’t expect us to just let this slide. Someone should have to answer for this.” There’s that protector side of my dad that Walker inherited. He sees injustice and wants to right the wrong. Especially since it’s his little girl.

“I need to talk to Nikolai and his team. I don’t know what this means for him.”

It’s my mom’s turn to cut in. “He better not have had any part in this.”

“He’d never. You know him.” Nikolai is like a son to them. “Not only would he not do this to me, but this also looks bad for him. He’s supposed to be dating another singer.”

“Is he?” The tone of Dad’s voice sends a chill over my skin.

“Absolutely not. It’s been for promo.”

“Hmm.” I can tell he’s not impressed, but he loves Nikolai. Once he has the chance to hear it from him, especially not fresh off the information that photos of him with his daughter are circling, he’ll understand. “We’ll discuss that more later.”

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