Her expression flickered with confusion before hardening. “Who was it, then?”
I swallowed. “Me.”
Macey’s eyes widened, and she stepped out of my arms like I’d burned her. “What?”
I forced myself to keep going. “I’ve had this theory for a while that Victoria was behind one of the accounts bullying you online. Yesterday, I went to her office to confront her about it. I wanted to put an end to the mean comments.”
Macey’s whole body went rigid. Then?—
“Youwhat?” she exploded. “You went to my boss’s office and accused her of cyberbullying me? Do you know how bad that makes me look?”
“I think the only person it looks bad on is me,” I said, trying to keep my voice level.
“Well, you’re not the one who lost their job today.”
I took a step toward her, but she jerked back. “Macey, I didn’t mean?—”
“Why didn’t youtellme about your theory?” she cut in. Her voice was rising, thick with disbelief and something else—hurt.
“I…tried. Once or twice,” I admitted. “The timing was never right.”
Her mouth fell open, and she let out a bitter laugh, one that sent ice-cold dread through my chest. She whispered under her breath, “Kyle was right.”
I stiffened. “Kyle?” My voice came out sharp, my own frustration snapping. “Your ex-boyfriend?”
“Oh, don’t try to turn this around on me,” she shot back. “Kyle implied that you might be keeping secrets. I stood up for you. Defended you. And now I feel like an idiot because guess what? You were lying to me this whole time.”
Kyle? What the hell did Kyle know about anything? A jealous ex grasping at straws, trying to wedge himself between us. Just another influencer trying to climb to the top. And now Macey was quoting him like he was some kind of prophet?
I clenched my jaw, forcing down the sharp words fighting to escape. This wasn’t about him. This was about me screwing up.
I exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry, Macey.” And I was. More than she probably realized. “I shouldn’t have kept this from you.”
Her arms stayed folded tight across her chest; her stance guarded.
“But look on the bright side,” I tried. “Getting fired isn’t the worst thing. Now you can focus all your energy on your blog.”
Macey inhaled sharply, her nostrils flaring, and when she spoke, her voice was pure venom.
“Are you serious right now?”
I sighed. “I just want what’s best for you.”
She threw her hands up, pacing a tight circle. “Sure, as long as it’s also what you want, too. God, you’re being so controlling right now.”
“Controlling?” I flinched like she’d slapped me. “I’m not trying to control you.”
“You’re acting like a controlling boyfriend. You don’t need to protect me or fight my battles for me. I’m more than capable of doing that on my own.”
My heart pounded, her frustration spilling into the room and leaving no space for anything else. “I know you can. I was just trying to help. We’re close enough for that.”
She stopped pacing long enough to fix me with a look that cut straight through me. “Your help got me fired, Noah.” Her voice trembled—not with sadness, but with pure, white-hot anger. “And you’re not even my boyfriend.”
The words hit harder than they should have. I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to stay still, not to reach for her, even though some instinct deep in my bones demanded to.
Macey’s breath came quick and uneven, but she wasn’t finished. “The only reason we’ve been faking a relationship is because you suggested it would benefit our careers.”
“I think we’re at the point where we can both acknowledge we had more reasons for agreeing to fake date than that.”
