Part 13 (2/2)

Break It Up E. M. Tippetts 35650K 2022-07-22

”h.e.l.lo?” I answer.

”Hey, Kyra. So...somehow the paparazzi got a picture of you and Zach in Libby somewhere in Albuquerque.”

Not what I need just now.

”And the photographer sold it to People,” she continues.

”What?” I all but shriek. ”No. They can't...they-”

”I'm sorry. I didn't know you and he were...um...”

”Friends,” I finish off. ”That photo can't run, okay? Triple Cross is having enough trouble as it is in the media. If that photo is made public, people will find out about me and the press will use my past to ruin Triple Cross's reputation and everything will be wrecked.”

”I don't think it'd be that bad,” says Chloe.

”You don't know about my past. Not in detail.” That was the thing about Chloe being relatively new to the family. She only knew some of the highlights of my past.

”Okay, listen, I hope you're wrong about that. I'll talk to Jason or Dave or...I dunno. If there's a way to stop the picture from being published, we'll find it.”

”Thank you.”

”But are you guys just friends? Why was he in Albuquerque?”

”He was stopping through.”

”Uh-huh.”

”We're close, you know?”

”Right.”

”I'm serious!”

”Hey, what? I didn't say anything.”

I slump against the wall. ”He thinks of me as just a friend.”

”Ouch.”

”Yeah.” My throat is tight, and that comes out as a whisper. I trudge the last few steps to my room and let myself in.

”I take it that's not mutual?”

”No.”

”I'm sorry. I know how that goes.”

”You do?”

”Yeah. Before Jason and I got together, I fell pretty hard for a friend of mine.”

”You did?”

”Yep. It burns.”

”So what should I do?”

”I think the generic advice is that you should tell him how you feel.”

”So is that what you think I should do?”

”If I were you...I'd probably worry so much about losing what I have that I'd clam up and suffer on.”

I can't help but chuckle at her honesty.

”But Jason told me how he felt, you know? Told me he didn't really want to be friends. It worked out.”

”I don't think I've got the guts.”

”I hear that.”

”Please get that photo pulled from the magazine.”

”Yeah, we'll get to work on that.”

We sign off, and I wish I could say sharing my pain eased it, but it didn't.

TRIPLE CROSS has only one show scheduled for Lisbon and it begins in fifteen minutes. There's no sign of Ben anywhere.

Zach tears up and down the concrete halls backstage. ”Does anyone have a clue where he is? You just let him wander off?”

Logan is calmer, but I gather he's letting Zach bear the brunt of the stress. I'm in his dressing room with Aidan and Brent, which means Logan's on camera and he feels the need to say something. Even though this doc.u.mentary's been shooting for a few days, the guys aren't yet comfortable enough to just go on with their lives with a camera crew tailing them.

Logan stares at his reflection in the mirror then turns to look at me.

I motion to Brent not to put me in the shot. I might not be recognizable in the zoo footage, but if I keep appearing, people will realize it's the same person every time. They'll see my dark skin tone and the fact that I'm a brunette.

Logan doesn't notice this silent exchange, though. He just looks at me as if we're alone and says, ”One thing I'll say about my mother. This kind of stuff never happened on her watch.”

That statement prompts me to answer, but I don't want to interact with him on camera. Aidan can ask the follow-up question, I think.

Only he doesn't. He's tapping away on his cell phone.

This moment will pa.s.s, I think. It's not that big a deal. Only, he needs to not talk about his mother. If there's any chance of this candid moment going public, even through leaked footage, that is not good.

”She kept track of us at all times. If we sneaked off and she didn't know where we were, she'd come down on us like a ton of bricks.”

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