Page 7 of The One I Love

“JR wanted to come, too, but—”

“I’m glad you came alone,” Eve assured her. Though she loved her eldest brother and knew he’d be supportive, she just wasn’t up to facing him right now.

“I told JR I thought that’s how you might feel.”

Once Eve had opened a bottle of wine and filled their glasses, she and Britt sat at the kitchen table, candies strewn before them.

“This thing with the tape going viral sucks.” Britt popped a piece of chocolate into her mouth and chewed.

“Tell me about it.” Eve started to lift her glass of wine, but set it back down. It was as if this crisis had sucked away all her energy.

Britt looked up from unpeeling another candy. “Did you know there was a video?”

“I didn’t.” Eve sighed the admission.

“I’m sorry.” Britt’s eyes, looking almost violet in the light, filled with sympathy. “Doing what he did, well, it’s like being violated over and over again.”

Eve’s throat wanted to close as the tightness in her chest moved upward. She cleared her throat. “Nyla said that because of your background in PR, you might be able to give me some tips.”

“I’m happy to help in any way I can.” Britt’s expression turned thoughtful. “Once I heard, I gave some thought to your situation.”

“Got any words of wisdom you’d like to share?” Eve forced a smile. “Any and all would be appreciated.”

“One thing I believe…” Britt paused, then plunged ahead. “The more public you and Anson are, the more the tape will stay in the news.”

“You’re saying I should keep my distance from Anson?”

“Not at all. I’m just saying you need to brace yourself for that and not be surprised.”

“I don’t like hiding, as if I’ve done something wrong.”

“The only thing you did wrong, Eve,” Britt’s tone was as soft as butter, “was put your faith in a man who didn’t deserve your trust.”

Eve managed to keep herself together, and Britt was sweet and all, but Eve had to admit she was happy her future sister-in-law couldn’t stay long.

Though Britt hadn’t come out and said it, the thought that the best thing Eve could do for Anson was to take a big step back kept circling in her brain.

Had it really been only a couple of hours ago that she and Anson had talked about being able to handle anything as long as they were together?

The door had barely shut behind Britt when suddenly Eve desperately wanted—no,needed—to speak with Anson. She wanted to hear his voice. She wanted to hear him tell her that nothing had changed between them. Without giving herself time to reconsider, Eve picked up her phone and called him.

He answered immediately.

“Eve. I’m so glad to hear from you. I was just about to call and see how you’re holding up. How are you?” His voice sounded tightly wound but warm.

Tears that Eve hadn’t let fall before now spilled down her cheeks. “Not so good. You’ve seen the video.”

Several heartbeats of silence had her holding her breath.

“I heard about it.” He paused. “Jerome wanted to show it to me, but I didn’t watch it.”

“I never knew Jason was recording, Anson. I swear I didn’t know that video existed.”

“Even if you knew about it,” Anson told her, “making that video public was wrong. What happened between you two was private. He had no right to record something so intimate without your consent, much less show it to the world. Do you have any idea why he’d do something like this?”

Eve did a brief replay of what she’d told Nyla about Jason calling and how she’d told him she was in a relationship and not interested in picking up where they’d left off all those years ago.

“What a jerk,” was Anson’s only response.

---