Page 84 of Your Secret to Keep

Fuck.

Our secret’s out.

Chapter 50

Brooks

Thesecondwe’redismissedfrom our film session of a game well fucking played, a trainer is waiting for me. He waves me over as soon as I make eye contact. I already did my rehab, so I’m not sure what they could want. He shuffles his feet and keeps looking down at his phone then back at me.

“What’s up?” I ask shortly.

He doesn’t say anything but instead shows me something on his phone. It’s pictures and videos of me and Lia. A few of them. I swipe, each one feeling like a violation of privacy. The pool. Concert. Her at my place.

“What the fuck?” I shout. “How?”

“They dropped this morning. I saw an account post some pictures of Lia leaving your place a little while ago,” the trainer explains.

“Leaving?” Panic starts to roll in my stomach. If they saw her leaving, that means they were waiting for her.Fuck. “Where did she go?”

“Brooks, I have no idea.” He scrolls through things on his phone and says, “Some of this stuff is nasty.”

“What do you mean?” I ask as we walk back to the locker room.

“Besides the typical trolls, there are people mentioning the intern who was fired before her. It’s bad. And they’re basically saying the only reason Lia’s gotten the chances she has is because she’s sleeping with you.”

The words stop me like a brick wall. I pivot and turn to him. He waves his hands in surrender. “I absolutely don’t think any of that,” hestammers, stepping away from me. “I’m trying to give you an idea of what’s going on.”

“Okay, let’s think here. I need you to find Megan. Get her to deactivate Lia’s account and the Jags one, if it’s there too. Just have her figure it out.”

“Good idea. I’ll do that. But you need to go.”

“Yeah. I’ll go find Lia.”

He’s already jogging down the hall towards Megan’s office and I take off in the opposite direction, needing to get my stuff from my locker. I damn near sprint because I can’t risk being stopped by any other staff or teammates.

I’m trying to think what I would say if anyone stopped me. I don’t have a fucking clue.

Did I think this was a possibility? Sort of. I thought someone might see us together, one too many times, and there would be contemplating. But this looks like something that was intentionally held on to in order to make the biggest splash, the sharpest cut.

I’m in my car and I check my phone. Nothing from Lia, which just means I’ve got stuff from everyone else. I call her and it goes straight to voicemail.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Her phone must be off.

Fuck. Where do I go? There aren’t many places I’d think she’d go. I also haven’t met any of her friends, so I don’t know if that’s a possibility.

I’m contemplating my next move while I check my rear-view mirror, trying to see if anyone has followed me from the practice facility. No. I don’t think so.

The first place I can check, and I actually know where it is, is her old apartment. With every second that I’m driving, the reality of this keepssettling in. Everyone knows. I’m not sure what more they know but it’s definitely that Lia and I are in some sort of relationship. The blurry picture of her and I in the pool comes roaring back. My knuckles are bone white while gripping the steering wheel, and I have to remind myself not to go 100 MPH. The last thing I need is a fucking ticket.

I’m pulling up to her old apartment, wondering what this means for her and I. What happens when I find her? Maybe I should’ve stayed back and talked to Megan? No. I need to make sure Lia’s okay. Fuck, I’m sure she’s freaking out.

I park and looking for signs of her car, which I don’t see. That would be too easy.

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