He’s breathing hard for someone who should’ve just walked down the hallway.
“You see this?” he says, holding up his phone.
I frown. “Hold on a sec, Brinley.”
He stops when he realizes she’s on FaceTime.
“Shit, I’m sorry.” He runs his hand through his hair, his eyes flashing over to me. “You might want to—”
“What?” I ask, sitting up straighter.
He steps closer and turns his phone toward me. It’s a news article pulled up on his screen. My eyes zero in on the name in the first line, and for a second, I don’t even process what I’m seeing.
“What is it?” she asks.
I look back at her. “They—” I start, then stop.
Owen mutters under his breath. “It’s everywhere, man.”
“Cooper,” she says, snapping her voice to get my attention. “What is it?”
I haven’t told her anything about what’s going on with her father blackmailing me. This is another one of those things that I don’t want to tell her about over the phone. Not like this.
“There was an article posted online. They’re saying… someone leaked that you’re Coach Dawson’s daughter.”
Brinley’s eyes widen. The look on her face makes it clear she had nothing to do with this being released. Not that I ever thought she would’ve.
“Where would this even come from? I don’t think anyone even knows…”
There’s no way any of the guys or Atlee would say anything. The only person outside of them who knows is Wren. But she already knows what it’s like living with the disappointment of having a shitty father, so there’s no way she’d be the one behind it either.
“I don’t know.”
My phone vibrates again with another message, and I quickly hit the silence button on the side to shut the damn thing up.
Her eyes flash to me before they dart away, likely piecing together that the messages coming through are about the article.
“Brinley, look at me,” I say until her gaze connects with mine. “I’m not going anywhere, and I won’t let you go through this alone.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Brinley
“It’s everywhere already.”
I did a quick search on my phone for my father’s name, and it’s everywhere. All the major media outlets, anyway. I quickly swipe out of the browser when a call from my mom comes through.
“Oh shit,” I mutter under my breath.
Cooper is already studying me, worry etched in his features. I ignore it, only for it to buzz again.
“Brinley?” he asks.
My stomach tightens. “It’s my mom,” I say.
“You can answer it, if you want. You can call me back.”
“No—” I cut him off.
