Page 106 of The Future Play

Like he’d cheat with someone who looks like her.

He could do a lot better.

No guy wants a fat cow like that.

Fat slut is probably playing them both.

I wonder if she jiggles while they fuck.

Tears fill my eyes and Jamie is instantly next to me.

“What?”

I try to turn the phone screen off, but he snatches it out of my hand, reading through the comments.

I sniff back my tears. People are mean. They’re assholeswho sit behind keyboards and insult others to make themselves feel better. I shouldn’t let their words bother me. I know who I am.

It shouldn’t hurt.

But it fucking does. Because some of the deepest wounds—the ones I’ve worked hardest on and try to bury deep inside me—involve my weight.

The people who matter love me exactly as I am, but that doesn’t make it easier to be the source of such unnecessary vitriol.

“I just need a minute.”

I hurry over to the bathroom, ignoring as Jamie calls after me.

The bathroom isn’t very big, so I have nowhere to go. I sink to the floor, leaning against the bathtub, and pull my knees up to my chest. Everything hurts, and all I want to do is break. I’m trying and failing to hold it together, so I stop fighting the tears.

I feel awful. And was Jamie being accusatory when I first walked in? Is this what I have to look forward to anytime Jamie and I do anything? There’s a lot I can manage, but I don’t know how to manage this.

Normally, this is when I’d find myself surrounded by the girls in a cocoon of love, but I don’t have that here. I miss them. I miss my perfect dream apartment. I miss home.

Jamie knocks on the door. “Mands…” He tries the handle, and when it opens, he walks in, pausing when he sees me.

I try to wipe my tears, but more come.

He sits down next to me and wraps his arm around me, fingers curling through my hair.

“Are you mad at me?” I sniff.

“No. I’m mad at all those fuckers who wrote those things about you.”

“Butwereyou mad at me? Because it seemed like you were when I came in.”

“I was mad at the situation and mad that my agent was yelling at me like it was all my fault, not the paparazzi’s.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t you dare apologize.” He sighs and rests his head against mine. “We’ve got a learning curve to figure out, but we can do that together.”

“I’m not going to make you look bad, am I?”

“No. All it’ll take is one post on social media to clear it all up. Even if we didn’t, it wouldn’t make a difference. It’s okay. But you’re not okay. And that pisses me off because I don’t want anyone hurting you.”

I wipe at my eyes. “I need to grow some thicker skin.”

“No. I like your beautiful heart just the way it is. I like all of you the way you are. People are awful and cruel, and I’m sorry you were on the receiving end of it, but that’s a reflection of them, not you. From the moment I first saw you, no one else has ever compared. You are stunning. A goddess. A queen. My queen. I hate that those words hit somewhere deep down and make you think they’re true because they’re not. If you could see yourself through my eyes…” He sighs, but it’s not a tired sigh this time. It’s like he’s in awe of me. He tilts my chin so I’m looking at him. “You would never doubt your beauty, inside or out. I love you.”

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