I tucked the phone back intomy pocket and took a deep breath. There was no gentle way to say this, wasthere? The truth was the truth.
“It’s all over Twitter,” Isaid. “Possibly other places, too.”
“No,” Quinn said. “No. No,itcan’tbe.”
“It is.”
I didn’t want to addthat it was spreading like wildfire, that there werethousands of tweets, but itwas.
One page of lyrics couldn’t be all thatcritical, but it hinted at a larger problem.
Someone with access hadtaken those photos.
“I… that notebook… that’s… Isaw ityesterday.”
“You’re sure?” I asked,inching toward him. Quinn was pale at the best of times, but he was sicklywhite now.
“I’m sure,” he said, voicegetting distant.
“You couldn’t have droppedit somewhere? Out in public?”
Did he have it in his pocketwhen we’dleft this morning? Was this my fault for taking him on the bike?
“I…” Quinn trailed off,looking up at me. “I—” he repeated.
I was so busy staring intohis eyes that I almost didn’t notice him falling in time to catch him. Hecollapsed like a puppet with cut strings, and I barely managed to get my handunder his shoulder as he lost consciousness altogether.
Good. Great. Exactly what Ineeded right now.
Sighing, I hefted Quinnbridal-style into my arms and looked around for a couch to put him down on.
My first day on this job wasgoing so well.
SEVEN
QUINN
My head throbbed as I openedmy eyes, wincing against the too-bright fluorescent light above me.
What—?
Fox’s face swam into my vision,concern written all over it, a deep line between his dark, perfectly-shapedbrows.
Fox took care of himself. Hewasneat.An army thing, I thought. He’d been in the army, hadn’the?
The British one. I figuredneatnesswas kind of a universal military trait. He probably knew how to iron. And sew abutton.
That was kind of hot. Therewereplentyof things about Fox that were hot, but the fact that he wascapable of taking care of other people was one of the hottest.
“Stay put,” he said. “I’llbe back in a second.”
I didn’t have thestrength to argue. My head was still spinning, and the effort of sittingup—which was a direct contradiction of what Fox had just told me to do—made mystomach clench.
I’d passed out.
Right in front of Fox.
Embarrassing didn’t even begin tocover it. As if bursting into tears yesterday hadn’t been enough.
