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“Ryan?” I ask again, and this time he looks at me. He pulls his bottom lip into his mouth and runs his fingers through his hair, smoothing down the bedhead from our night together.
The buzzing from my missing phone seems much louder now thanks to the silence hanging between us. I look down and see the corner of the phone peeking out from under my dress.
Before I can reach down for it, he stops me. His hand wraps around my wrist and he pulls me in and kisses me hard.
It feels nothing like our other kisses.
This one feels panicked. Like he’s kissing me because he’s scared he may not get the chance to do it again.
My stomach is turning somersaults and I can hear my heartbeat inside my ears.
I pull away and take a step back.
“What is going on?”
His eyes are on the floor and refuse to meet my own.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Juliet.”
He reaches for me but I step back again.
“Sorry for what? What the hell is happening?”
This makes no sense, and at this point, I’m just getting angry. I reach down for my phone and when the screen lights up I see the notifications.
15 missed calls from Olivia.
7 from Max.
“It’s my fault, I’ll tell them that. I swear. I’m so fucking sorry.”
I blink, still trying to wrap my mind around what he’s sorry for.
He holds out his phone, and I take it. It’s a grainy picture that looks like it was taken with a toaster.
“What am I looking at?” I ask, and he sighs.
“Click the link.”
I do, and when the page opens the image is much clearer.
It’s me. Well, it’s Ryan and me.
His hands are on my waist, and the other clubgoers around us are dancing without a care in the world. Under it in large, bold lettering is the headline.
Chaotix Frontman Behaving Badly with Publicist
Below is another image. This one shows Ryan’s hand gripping my thigh as I wrap it around him.
Then comes the nail in my coffin. The image of our lips crushed together in a passionate kiss.
A high-pitched ringing sounds in my ears and I can’t hear anything else. His mouth is moving but the words aren’t comprehendible. It’s like I hit the mute button on the TV. The scene continues to play out, and I’m just watching in silence.
It’s an out-of-body experience.
I know I’m here, and I know he’s there… but it doesn’t feel real. It feels like a bad dream and I need to be shaken awake before I’m stuck in it forever.
Chapter Forty-Four
