Page 91 of Let Me Love You (Excess All Areas 5)

Alex looked at him. “What are you sorry for?”

“I’ve not always been the best big brother. I should have protected you from Dad more. Called him out on his shit sooner. I—”

“Fucking shut up,” Alex interrupted. “You have always been there for me. You’ve never judged me. And you aren’t responsible for Dad’s shit. Every single time when it mattered to me, you were there. If you’ve been carrying guilt around for that, you need to let it go.”

“How are you so good at that?”

“What?”

“Shaking shit off.”

Alex laughed. “You can’t be me—” he glanced down at his open pink silk shirt with nothing underneath and jeans “—and not learn how to tune out negativity you don’t want.”

Ben laughed. “Yeah. Well, you’re a smart little shit.”

Alex stood up straight. “I love you too, Ben. Find something you love, something selfishly for you, that fills that thing inside you, and aim straight, yeah?”

There was a vibe.

Chaya couldn’t quite put her finger on whatever the hell it was.

But there was definitely a vibe.

It had been there when she’d jogged past two colleagues she knew in passing, coming off a late shift, in the car park. They’d smiled politely through the drizzle. Not friendly. At first, she’d put it down to a hectic shift and lack of sleep, but it had continued.

And the nurses from the previous shift at the nurses’ station had stopped talking as she’d neared them, then giggled almost immediately once she was by.

She knew who might be able to clue her in.

“Hey, Amber. Can I ask you an honest question?” Chaya said when she found her readying a cubicle.

Amber tilted her head. “Of course.”

“There’s a vibe today. Do you know why?”

Amber tossed the waste into the appropriate receptacles, then looked up, confused. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Shit,” Amber said. “I assumed you knew.”

She didn’t. Sometimes ignorance was bliss. But now she knew there was a rumour, she might as well know. “What is it?”

“The headlines…how you cheated on your fiancé to hook up with a rock star. I mean, it’s nonsense, right?”

Chaya placed both her palms on the cool leather of the hospital gurney as a sense of panic began to rise. “You said headlines. Like, public knowledge? Not just hospital gossip?”

“Yeah, it’s everywhere online this morning.”

Everywhere. Meaning, her parents had probably seen it. Her friends. She started to feel sick. Did Ben know?

“I didn’t…” But she stopped herself from saying any more, even as the need to defend herself raged. None of it was her proudest moment. If Ben was involved, then maybe the band’s PR team could help change the narrative. Willow might be able to help too. She’d gone through a similar thing with Luke and had been able to live through the invasion of her and Luke’s privacy.

“It doesn’t name sources, but I think it came from one of the nurses who was there the day the band brought their grandmother in. I guess she saw you and the guitarist holding each other before your fiancé arrived. Or maybe it was a patient or visitor, but I figured they wouldn’t necessarily know who you were. But the article I read said ‘she’.”

Chaya shook her head. “And they thought they’d just make up a story and create a narrative based on a thirty-second observation. You know, it’s hard being a doctor. Harder being a junior doctor. Harder still being a female junior doctor. I don’t get the world we live in, where a woman feels the need to bring down another woman. And for what? A bit of gossip and fun.”

“It was probably for cash, is my guess. I’m sorry, Chaya. Sorry I even read it. But you know how addictive those celebrity columns are.”

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