"I'm not interested." My voice is hard as I step back, putting distance between us. "Leave."
"Come on, Dec." Her voice drops to a purr as she moves forward again, undeterred. "Don't play hard to get. I know you're wound tight. I can feel it." Her free hand trails up my bare arm. "No one needs to know. Just you and me, working out all that tension. I'll do that thing you like."
"Sienna. I said no."
She blinks, brows furrowing in surprise. "Since when do you turn down no-strings sex?"
"I'm not that guy anymore."
Her expression shifts from seductive to calculating.
"Right. You're the guy whose agent is suing him. Who is about to lose everything." She steps closer again, her voice softening into false sympathy. "That's exactly why you should come with me and forget about all of it for a few hours. Let me make you feel good."
"Get out, now!"
She stops, steps back. "You're making a mistake."
"I've made plenty of those. This isn't one of them."
She stares at me for a long moment, then huffs out a breath and turns on her heel. The sound of her heels clicking away as she leaves the locker room. The door slams behind her.
I stand there, breathing hard, my body still humming with unwanted arousal. The towel around my waist does nothing to hide my body's reaction, the evidence that part of me wanted what she offered.
But that's just biology. Physical response divorced from what I actually want.
And what I want is Ivy.
Her body, that kiss we didn’t finish in her hallway. Her sharp mind. The way she blushes when she's nervous. How she stands her ground even when she's terrified. The vulnerability shetrusted me with that I destroyed. I want the woman who has ruined me for casual sex and convenient arrangements.
Even if I never get her back, I can't go back to being the man who would have followed Sienna out of this locker room without a second thought.
In the parking garage, I lean against my car, breathing hard. My body is still wound tight with frustration, but the encounter left me feeling empty rather than tempted.
Because meaningless sex can't fix what's broken, and I'd rather spend the rest of my life wanting someone I can't have than settling for someone who wants the version of me that doesn't exist anymore.
I pull out my phone and call Patricia.
"I'm holding a press conference," I say before she can speak.
"Declan, we discussed this already."
"I'm exposing everything. Gregory's theft. The manipulations. The fake relationship with Evangeline. The edited video of Ivy." My voice is steady now, certain. "All of it."
Silence.
"That's career suicide," Patricia says finally.
"Maybe. But it's the truth." I lean back against my locker. "I'm done protecting lies."
"The lawsuit will proceed. Gregory will destroy you in court. The media will crucify you."
Something fierce and reckless burns in my chest.
"Let them. I've spent nine years letting him control me. I'm done."
"I need to advise you against this in the strongest possible terms."
"Noted. Set up the press conference for tomorrow."
