Page 92 of Tell Me Again
“We were playing dress up, Trevor. There was nothing indecent about it.”
“This,” he shouted, holding up his phone to display another one of the photos, “is indecent.”
Sam gasped. “I didn’t take that photo,” she whispered then scrolled through the texts on her phone to find the same image, sent by Peter an hour ago. It was a moody black-and-white photo of Grace, clearly inside Sam’s closet.
She wore a large-brimmed hat that Sam had saved from one of her most famous swimsuit edition photo spreads. The teen had re-created an iconic photo that had been taken of Sam between wardrobe changes. Sam had been seated on a wooden chair, wearing only low-rise bikini bottoms. Her long hair had covered her breasts and there was nothing particularly revealing about the photo, but the combination of light and shadows and the expression the camera caught had made the image wildly popular.
Trevor was right. Grace was an exact copy of Sam, from the fleshy pout of her lips to the slightly wounded look in her eyes. Even if she hadn’t been, Grace’s beauty was like a drug in the photo and Sam knew it would go viral in record time.
If that photo went public, it would change everything.
“She took a selfie.” Sam met Trevor’s gaze, needing him to understand that this wasn’t her fault. “I had no idea.”
“She was with you,” he shot back. “In this house. In your closet.”
“We agreed she wouldn’t share the photos.”
He shook his head. “One of the girls at the sleepover last night grabbed her phone and saw the photos. According to Grace, the girl is obsessed with reality TV and finding a way to become famous.”
Sam groaned. “And she thought those pictures were going to get her some traction?”
“Who knows what the hell she was thinking? But she posted them to Instagram and Tweeted with a caption hinting at some tragic family gossip.”
“Screwing with Grace’s life,” Sam muttered, “in one hundred and forty characters or less.”
“Grace made her take down the pictures, but they’re out there. She says this friend is thrilled because she’s gotten a thousand new followers in the past few hours.”
“Some friend. I’m sorry, Trevor,” she said automatically. “But I didn’t do this.”
He stared at her for a long moment then slammed his open palm onto the countertop before fisting both hands at his sides. “It would never have become an issue if you weren’t part of her life.”
He was wrong. The rational part of her knew he was wrong. He was angry and couldn’t mean those words. But the shadowed piece of her that still felt responsible for Bryce’s downward spiral yawned and stretched, as if coming out of a deep slumber. The darkness swept through her like a harsh wind, blowing away all she’d done to make amends for her mistakes. She was the lost soul once more, spinning in the whirlwind of her own demons.
“I love her,” she said, because it was the only thing that mattered. “I love you, Trevor. We’ll get Grace through this. You know I’d never do anything to hurt either of you.” Her voice broke on the last word. “You know,” she repeated, willing him to soften.
He remained rigid. “She’s going to be hurt,” he said, his tone so cold it made her bones shiver.
“This isn’t my fault,” she murmured, more to convince herself than him at this point.
He answered anyway. “It’s mine. For believing we could make ourselves into a happy little family unit. There’s too much past between us, Sam. Too much dysfunction. Too many opportunities for more pain.”
“If we stay together, we can get through it. I’m willing to fight for us. We’re stronger as a team than we are alone.”
“I’m good at alone,” he told her, running his hands through his hair. “Alone is what kept Grace safe until she met you.”
“So it’s over?” She hated asking the question almost as much as she dreaded his answer. “Is this your excuse for retreating back into the safe shell of loneliness?”
“Maybe you were right and it never really started,” he answered.
But she knew it had, because the searing pain in her chest meant her heart was breaking into a thousand pieces.
“Are you going to keep Grace from me?” She wrapped her arms around her waist and hugged herself tightly. He could do it. He could cut off his daughter from her and there would be nothing in Sam’s power to stop him.
“She’ll fight me if I try.”
That wasn’t the answer she wanted. None of this was what she wanted. “Say the word, Trevor, and I’ll walk away.”
“You’ll turn your back on her?”
