Page 13 of Bae

My fingers tightened on the screen. My vision blurred a little, and a sick feeling wormed its way through my middle.

The gossip was never ending. The rumors never stopped swirling. The press was obsessed with us. They made the #BuzzBoss look like Barney.Thatwas something I never imagined could happen.

Even now, three months after Evie… they wouldn’t stop. I was beginning to think they never would.

Trent made a sound and ripped the device out of my grip. The screen went dark, and he thrust it at Molly. “Why the hell are you even reading that garbage? You know that shit ain’t welcome here.”

Molly looked guilty, her eyes sliding to me, then away. “I know it’s not true,” she offered.

Does she really? Or does some part of her believe some sliver of it?

“Outside is clear,” Trent said, not as kind as he could have. “Thanks for waiting ‘til I got here.”

Did he call her and tell her to wait?

She nodded and glanced back at me. “Rimmel—”

I held up my hand. “No worries. Like I said, any reading is good reading.”

Trent made a rude sound.

Molly left, making sure to glance out before slipping out into the well-lit parking lot.

“They were here, weren’t they?” I asked.

“Fucking paps,” Trent swore. “Took me a while to get them the hell off the property.”

And that’s why he was late and Molly stayed. Nothing like a new divorce headline to bring the vultures into the lot so they could flash their bright bulbs and hurl questions that bordered on insults at me.

“Thank you for doing that,” I said sincerely. My chest felt constricted and my stomach vacant.

“You know I like giving those bastards hell.” He flashed a quick smile.

Trent had become quite a shield the last couple weeks. It embarrassed me I needed one, but the truth was I could only handle so much of the press before I became overwhelmed.

They weren’t nice to me. Sometimes they weren’t that nice to Trent and Drew either, so the fact that Trent took them on during times he didn’t really have to in order to keep them away from me said a lot about what kind of man he was.

I grabbed Romeo’s Alpha U hoodie and my bag from behind the counter. As I was pulling the well-loved garment over my head, I paused the briefest of seconds to close my eyes and exhale.

Sometimes all the alone time a girl got to center herself was inside her husband’s hoodie.

When I was finished, I glanced back at Trent and offered a smile before digging the keys to my SUV out of my bag.

He appeared before me and gently took the keys, tossing them back in my bag. “I’ll drive you home tonight. You can come back to get your car tomorrow.”

“Think they’re waiting on the main road?” I asked, shoulders slumping a little.

“Probably. But that’s okay. I’ve picked up some tips on driving fast from Drew.”

I snorted. “Like you needed tips.”

Trent slung his arm across my shoulders and led us toward the exit. I sighed and leaned into him a little more than I should have. It had been a long day. Actually, not really. Just the last few minutes had been.

His arm tightened around me, but he didn’t say anything. Trent was a really good listener. He heard a lot more than most people, even when they didn’t say a word.

His Mustang was at the curb instead of in a parking spot. He ushered me into the passenger seat, shut the door, and moved around the front toward the driver’s side.

Don’t let it get to you,I told myself.Replace the thoughts with something else.

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