Movement in my periphery draws my attention. It’s a man and woman holding hands with a kid around Maverick’s age. All three are wading into the shallows of the aquamarine ocean and laughing with each passing wave. My heart pangs at the sight of them. Enough to remind me why I’m turning my life upside down. For Maverick.
“Okay,” I say softly. “I’ll walk away from Iris.”
“Thank you.”
“I won’t kick her out of the bungalow, though. I’ll offer her the place for the week, on my dime. It’s the least I can do after what she’s been through.”
“Make her sign an NDA in exchange for the place.”
“Would you drop the NDA thing? I’m not gonna tell Iris who I am. For the first time in a long time, I got to be with a woman without having to wonder if she only wanted to be with me because I’m Roman Maguire.”
He sighs. “I’ll get a new place booked for you. Do you want to fly over to Maui, since that’s where Coach is staying?”
“No, he wants to play at some golf club here in Kauai.”
“Okay. I’ll text you the info. Thanks for listening to reason about this, Roman.”
I glance at that happy family playing in the shallow waves again. I might be listening to reason about this, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.
Chapter 11
Roman
As I openthe door of the bungalow, Iris laments, “I’ll never be able to leave my house again.”
Shit. I quietly close the door and peek around the corner. She’s lying on the couch facing away from me in the midst of a FaceTime call.
“News cycles move at the speed of light these days,” one of two female faces on Iris’s screen offers. The other woman on Iris’s screen adds, “Give it a day or two, and the world will forget all about the viral ‘Runaway Bride.’”
“The ‘HornyRunaway Bride,’” Iris says with a sniffle. “Let’s not gloss over that.” She sniffles again. “I can’t believe the only part anyone cares about is that I said I was going get myself railed and scrambledin Hawaii. Why isn’t anyone talking about Brandonbeing a lying, cheating piece of shit?”
“They are, honey. Lots of people are saying exactly that.”
The second woman says, “I know the negative voices seem a lot louder to you, but not everyone on the internet is dragging you. Lots of people are cheering you on and calling you a badass for what you did.”
Iris shakes her head. “If only I hadn’t said that thing at the end about getting myself railed and scrambled. You know I was only parroting Brandon’s exact words, right?”
“Weknow that, yes, but it seems that got lost in translation for anyone who hasn’t pored over Brandon’s phone, like we have.”
Iris groans. “If Roman sees that video, I’ll die of em-
barrassment.”
I jolt at the mention of my name.
“Why?”
“If he sees it, he’ll think I walked in on him in that bathroom as part of some diabolical plan.”
“Was it aplan?” one of the women retorts. “No. But did youmanifestthat hunky man? I honestly think you did, baby.”
The other one laughs. “I think maybe you’re a witch.”
Iris scoffs. “If I had magical powers, I assure you, a video of me at my absolute worst wouldn’t be going viral.”
One of the women lets out an angry grunt. “I swear, if I find out the identity of MackDaddy310, I’m going to strangle them for posting that stupid video.”
“It had to be one of Brandon’s fraternity brothers,” the other woman says. “Or one of their plus-ones. The angle is from where they were sitting.”
