It’s not until Stacey gently shakes my shoulder that I realize I’ve been sitting on the couch, totally spaced out.
“Are you really okay?” she asks, her gaze shimmering with concern. “You’ve been totally zoned out.”
I quickly slap on a reassuring smile. “I’m fine, promise. Just a lot happening.”
“No kidding,” Rylee snorts. “Well, while you were halfway conscious, here’s what’s happening. Grace has amplified the post through every social network she has at her disposal, and I’ve been on the phone with different media outlets, making sure the statement is broadcasted beyond social media. My editorfrom ICON magazine even called. She wants an exclusive from Jayce.”
My brows shoot up in surprise. “Really?”
Grace laughs. “The guys haven’t even finished practice yet, and we’ve already flipped the whole script on this scandal. Jayce’s popularity online is soaring, and people are coming to his defense, demanding whoever leaked the photos be held accountable. Skyler’s still hunting them down.”
I’m so stunned, I can hardly murmur, “Holy shit.”
Suddenly, Skyler lets out a triumphant cackle.
“Gotcha, bitch!” she declares.
I scramble down to kneel next to her on the floor. “You found it? You found the leak?”
“Yep,” she nods. “Tracked down the IP of the computer they originated from and… oh, what the fuck. Seriously? Sorry, Sutton, it looks like you’ve got some serious fucking drama going down with your fiancé’s family?—”
Heart racing, I interrupt her. “What? Why? What is it?”
She looks up at me with a furrowed brow. “The IP belongs to a guy named Ryan Vaughn.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: FAMILY DRAMA
JAYCE
Standingin the locker room after practice, I’m pulling a t-shirt over my head, just finishing getting dressed, when Jensen suddenly exclaims, “Holy shit! Jayce! Check your phone.”
Frowning, I look over at him and find him staring down at his own phone, wide-eyed as he scrolls frantically through whatever has stunned him. I feel a coil of dread form in my stomach as I dig my phone out of my locker. God, what now? My mind briefly wonders if something has happened in my family, especially when I see I have a ton of messages from everyone from our company’s PR manager to my sister.
What the fuck?
Sinking onto the bench in front of my locker, I open Hallie’s messages first, honestly trusting her to have more information than anyone else.
Hallie: Jayce! WTF? What is Ryan trying to do? Is he out of his mind?
Her message has several images attached—screenshots from media sites and social media—and as I look through them, I immediately recognize them as the pictures his PI took of methat he dropped on the family in the middle of that awful dinner weeks ago.
To quote Hallie: What the fuck?
Hallie: Thank God for Sutton! She saved your ass!
What? What did Sutton do?
Hallie’s sent me a video on top of everything else, and when I click on it, Sutton’s face comes onto the screen. She looks gorgeous, poised, and completely confident as she speaks. Turning from my locker, I make my way to the nearest bench and slowly sink down onto it as I watch her start to speak. Her statement is short and to the point, but within just a few moments, she totally undermines the credibility of the pictures and eviscerates the person who leaked them.
“Dude, Sutton’s a total badass,” Carson murmurs, his voice right next to my ear.
With a start, I look up and realize that the guys have gathered around me and are watching the video as well. They all look impressed, and Wilder gives my shoulder a nudge.
“That’s a good woman right there,” he says. “A ride or die.”
I look back down at the screen and slowly nod. “Yeah…yeah, she is.”
“Her statement is all over the place,” Jensen declares, showing me his phone. “News outlets are even showing it. It’s completely overwhelming the pictures and people are singing your and Sutton’s praises. There’s even a hashtag trending.”
