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“Marcus Russell, Evie? Really!” she screeches at me down the phone. I put her on speaker so I can walk around and get dressed. And give my eardrum a fighting chance at surviving.
“Yeah,” I breathe out. “Marcus.”
“I can’t believe you never said a word, all these years. You could have been round the world with him and James. What were you thinking, woman?”
“It’s complicated?”
She doesn’t miss the way I raise the ending of complicated to sound like a question. “I’ll bet. Anyway, you must come out for tea and we need to talk strategy.”
“Strategy for what?” I ask as I stare at my battered body. Twisting myself round to look at different angles in the mirror, I sigh.
“How to get you and Marcus Russell together, of course!”
“I don’t think so. Marcus Russell is not relationship material,” I spew out.
“Well what about a one night stand then? Take what you can, girlfriend.” She states in a fake American accent. I can imagine her clicking her fingers in time with that statement. “He’s supposed to be an animal in bed. According to the gossip blogs, nothing short of amazing!”
I say nothing.
When the silence becomes a bit uncomfortable, she draws out, “You are fucking kidding me. You’ve had sex with Marcus Russell. No way. 5:30 p.m. Vincenzo’s. You better come, Evie, otherwise I am revoking all girlfriend privileges.” She’s screeching down the phone again.
“Book the table then. I’ll get Tommy to come with me.”
“Is it okay for Lauren to come? She's better at interrogation techniques than me. I always forget vital information.” I know she’s trying to lighten the mood, but her tone is a little too serious.
I laugh, “If you want. But there’s nothing to tell, so you’ll be totally bored.” I wince at my lie as I spot another hickey in an unfortunate place. “I know I don’t have to say this to you, but just make sure Lauren doesn’t blab about where we’re going. I don’t want us followed. I know my name was not on that statement, but by the amounts of calls and texts, I’ve been an easy find. I’m not sure why though. I’m hardly exciting. They’ll be slagging me off as a gold-digging hanger-on looking for a payday by tomorrow, so…”
“See you at 5:30. I’ll get Vinny to shove us near the back. It’ll be fine, you worry too much.” I feel the grin in her voice, as well as the excitement. Oh, dear.
Skimming through my wardrobe, I start to look for an outfit that covers me up enough so I don’t end up looking worse than I feel, finally dragging out a black dress. Up to my chin, long sleeves, no cut outs, but mid-thigh length. I check my legs again to make sure the dress will cover the tops of my thighs. The man is a menace. Why couldn’t he keep his chops to himself?
I smirk at the thought. No chance, it was heaven.
I shower again, dress, and head down to face the fall out.
Jude rushes up to me as I enter the kitchen. He’s definitely been waiting for me.
Grabbing my hands, he spins me into his body. “Evie I need to, I’m sorry E, so fucking sorry.” He’s so upset, his eyes are on mine as his words come out at a million a minute. “Please say you’ll forgive me. I won’t ever say anything else like that. I just lost it when I saw you. I’ve apologised to James, about outing Kellen in that way. Please don’t leave. I don’t want to lose you or James, I’m so sorry!”
I reach up and put my arms around his neck. “Forgiven, Brown,” I say, kissing him on the cheek, and hug him hard. “I know you didn’t mean it in a horrible way, but your accusations hurt. You can’t have such double standards, it's not fair.”
“I know.” He’s literally hanging his head. “Come on, let's have some tea.” He smiles at me. “Yorkshire?” he asks.
“Every time,” I respond.
We sit in companionable silence, dunking biscuits in our tea, then get onto general chit chat. He nods to my dress, “You going out?”
“Yep, tea with Grace and Lauren at Vinny’s. I should be safe, do you think?”
“Yeah. Jonno said Kellen is getting most of the attention and flack. James is with Kellen for a few hours, then he’s headed out. Darryl’s with him. Loads of people have connected with James online, and the band site traffic has gone mental, but as yet, no paps at our door.” He sips his tea and carries on. “All comms are going through the PR company Kellen has, so we’ve not been too bothered here.”
“All good then.” I start to get up to go and he puts his hand on my arm.
“I am sorry, Evie. I just love you and James so much. I don’t want you hurt and I just saw red.”
I bend down and take his face in my hands. “I love you. And I know it would be the same if I thought someone was hurting you.” I kiss his cheek again before leaving the house.
With Tommy driving, noting no activity outside the house—well nothing suspicious—I grin. It would take a brave man to get past Jonno’s security.
