Page 238 of Fame & Chaos

Have I done something wrong?

Have I pushed him away somehow?

Or has being on tour reminded him how much easier life is when he’s screwing random women instead of trying to stay faithful to me?

Sasha is a deal breaker.

This is a deal breaker.

Tears burn behind my eyes while acid crawls up my throat. My stomach churns so violently that I think I might throw up right here in the staff room. I still have five hours left in my shift, but there’s no way I can work now, not after this.

I somehow force my legs to move and make my way toward Ingrid, our Duty Nurse for the night. My whole body is shaking so badly my bones feel like they’re rattling apart.

“Shit, Indi, are you okay?” Ingrid asks immediately, rushing toward me. I shake my head, fighting the urge to gag. “Do you need a doctor?”

Again, I shake my head because if I try to speak, I’m going to lose it completely.

“Okay, sweetheart, I think you need to go home. Are you okay to drive?”

I nod automatically even though I honestly don’t know.

She gently grabs my handbag and presses it into my hands. “Look, I don’t know what just happened, but I hope it works out.”

I nod again before turning and hurrying out of Emergency toward the car park. I’m barely holding myself together. My hands are shaking so violently that I can’t even open my handbag to get my keys out. I’m trying so hard not to cry, but the second the first tear slips free, everything breaks apart.

A sob rips out of me.

My body folds against the side of my car while I cry into my hands hard. My knees give out, and I slide helplessly down the door until I’m curled up on the freezing concrete beside the car. I don’t even know how long I stay there in the autumn cold before my cell starts ringing. It takes every bit of strength to drag myself upright enough to lean against the car and answer.

Even though he’s the last person I want to hear from right now.

“What?” I whisper.

There’s a pause.

“Indi… baby, are you crying?”

I want to scream at him, punch him, hate him.

Instead, all I can think about is how badly I want him to hold me right now.

“Why would you send that to me?” I ask shakily.

“What?”

I close my eyes. “The picture of you and Sasha, Caleb. Don’t play dumb. Are you sleeping with her again?”

“What? God, no. I wouldn’t go near her—”

“Yeah, right. If you wouldn’t go near her, then why did I just get a photo of the two of you all over each other?”

He goes quiet for half a second, and my heart pounds harder.

“I didn’t send it, Indi. I swear. I left my cell on the bar—”

“But why did you even have a photo with Sasha? Why is she there?” I snap, anger cutting through the heartbreak.

“I didn’t know she was here, baby. She blindsided me. She jumped on me and kissed me. You know I wouldn’t do this to you. Indi, you know me—”