Page 127 of My Secret Bandit

Bile rose in my throat when I saw the number of comments had reached the thousands. The fight to keep my shit together teetered on failure as I read this caption.

@thestephaniepugh: Mateo Linx should be ashamed of himself. He celebrates obesity when he should advocate and teach others to make healthier choices. Healthy is beautiful, not this.

Tears didn’t consume me like I expected. Instead, anger did. I was angry that she made this picture that was intimate and personal, public. I never wanted it uploaded for millions of people to see. I was angry that she called Mateo out like he force fed me sugar and carbs as a child. I was angry she thought she had any right to comment about me or my body when she didn’t even know me. Mostly I was angry because after the fucking week we’ve had, this was the last thing I wanted any of us to have to deal with.

“The bitch would pick the least covered picture out of the bunch,” I said with a short laugh. I should’ve stopped while I was ahead but didn’t. Now I couldn’t do anything but hate-laugh my way through the comment section.

Disgusting.

Lingerie shouldn’t be made in those sizes.

Give her your trainer’s info. She needs it.

Mateo will forever be gross for this.

How does he have sex with that?

Stephanie and Mateo forever!

Somewhere in the distance, I heard the door open and then shut again, but my eyes were busy scrolling, getting angrier by the second. Then, like a tiny sliver of a rainbow after a hurricane, I saw it.

@MateoLinx: The only person who should be ashamed here is you. I see nothing in this picture but the purest, sexiest, most beautiful woman that’s ever lived. And I feel sorry for you that you thought this would do anything but show your true colors. I’m sorry it didn’t work out between us. But let’s be honest, it never would have lasted. I could never be with someone who demeans others online like it’s their full-time job. It’s time to move on, Stephanie. Find someone new to focus all this attention on. It’s been four years and I’ve grown tired of it. What point are you trying to prove? That women can only be beautiful if they look like you? If that’s your message, you’re lying to everyone. You, of all people, know beauty doesn’t come in some perfectly pre-packaged box. It takes a certain person to achieve both inner and outer beauty. And I’m proud to say Jameson has achieved both. I’m proud she’s mine. I hope one day you can find someone who will love you as much as I love Jameson. I really do.

There were the tears I thought were coming earlier.

But instead of being sad tears, they were happy ones.

Not because a wave of positive comments came through that mimicked Mateo’s but because nowhere in me did I find shame while looking at the person in the picture.

She was beautiful. Radiant, even. The smile in her eyes showed how happy she was. How ready she was to give her all to that one special person.

“Can I have this?” The velvety voice eased into my ears and his fingers slipped the phone from my grip. “Don’t worry, ab—“

I cut his words off with my lips and he didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

His warm hands slipped over my hips, down my thighs, then lifted me up like it was no problem at all.

I was at home here and I never planned on leaving again.

Threemonths.

A full three months passed since we laid Mariana to rest, and the talk Thomas gave us after her funeral helped steer us all in a better direction.

I moved back in with Mateo and started renting out my old house to vacationers. I accepted a full-time position at Tampa Sports under Jeffrey.

Mateo easily settled back into his training routine and got closer to his goals every day.

Xander and Sierra were spending more time together.

But there were still rough days.

One after the Bandits lost their second playoff game. I wanted to see my team make it all the way to the end. And having everything they’d worked so hard for snatched away by a missed field goal was a tough pill to swallow.

Another hard day came when Amelia called, crying and needing to hear a voice other than her grandparents’ or her own. She stayed the weekend with us. We tried distracting her the best we could, but only so much fun could help you forget. Eventually, you settled down, and that’s when the memories came in and your mind got away from you. We consoled her when she cried until she fell asleep, then consoled each other as we cried later.

Today wasn’t one of those bad days, though.

Today had actually been a really great day.

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