Page 72 of The Road Trip Romance

“Thank fuck! Tell me you didn’t look yet,” she says, her voice breathy as if she was running.

“Marti? Look at what?” I ask, but then my eyes glance over and my jaw drops.

It’s a headline.

“Lacey Collins Devastated by Tate Anders’s Infidelity”

“There were some more photos that got leaked. Apparently, Lacey saw them. She texted Tate but he didn’t answer, so she talked to someone and…shit, it’s bad,” Marti says quickly, the words running together.

“Yeah. Fine! I’ll call her now,” Tate growls and hangs up on Carol.

“Marti, how? I mean, the only time anyone saw us was in Chicago. After that we were really careful,” I say as I feel the tears in my eyes.

“I’m sorry, Soph. It looks like maybe a few got taken by tourists at Mount Rushmore? I’m not sure. It’s a mess. As you are well aware, the media thinks Lacey and Tate are still together, so it looks…bad,” she says.

I swallow hard. “I know,” I whisper unsure of what to tell her.Do I say that Tate and I are together? Are we actually together?We haven’t formally spoken about the status of our relationship, but he did reference me as his girlfriend recently so…maybe? I decide to wait. It’s too early to tell her the truth. I don’t even know what’s going to happen between us when we reach my house. Hell, maybe this whole thing was a bad idea. Perhaps we should just remain friends—friends who had a hot tryst on a road trip.

“What do you mean you know?” she says.

“I mean…I know,” I reply. Fuck. Marti is going to see through me.

My phone pings then and I realize I’ve missed messages from both Anissa and Lex. And then I get one from Mark.

Mark: Uh, what the hell is going on?

Shit. “Uh, just a sec, Marti,” I state as I try to type a reply to Mark.

“Uh, guys?” Penn says from the passenger seat. My fingers pause on the phone’s keyboard.

“I know,” Tate growls and then presses call on his phone. I don’t see the name, but based on the tense look on his face and his locked jaw, I’m guessing it’s Lacey.

“Hey,” he answers. “Yeah…no. We were taking a road trip. I’m working on a new project. Yeah. Uh-huh. I told you it was good. Yeah. No. Fuck, I’m sorry, OK? I should have called. I know. Shit, Lace. Maybe a little warning next time? Yeah. OK. Yep. We’ll talk soon, I’m in the middle of dealing with this with Carol. You want her to call Sherry?” He pauses.

“Hello?” Marti’s voice pulls me out of Tate’s conversation.

“Uh, listen. We’re like an hour from my house. Can I call you back?” I ask her.

“Media outlets are calling me. What should I tell them?” she asks.

Tate hangs up and looks over at me.

“What do we say?” I mouth.

“Marti?” he asks me. I nod.

He takes the phone from my hand. “Hey, Marti. Call Carol. I just spoke to Lacey. Her agent, Sherry, is already working on damage control. The party line is I’m working on a new film project and was visiting some potential filming locations with the author, who is a good friend. Basically, all of this was a big misunderstanding,” he says. I feel the tears threaten again.A good friend. Why do those words hurt so much?

“Yep. Will do,” he adds and then hangs up and hands me back my phone.

For one long moment, everyone stops talking. The only sound is of the car’s tires on the road as Rex drives. I glance over and see Tate looking at his phone. He’s reading text messages.

I pull up my web browser, but before I can type in anything, Tate’s hand comes over mine.

“Don’t. Just…it never helps to look,” he assures me. “Just stick to the party line. OK?”

I swallow and nod. I don’t like any of this.

“Damn! This is everywhere,” Penn says.

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