“She’s right,” I said.
“We won’t let him win,” Iris said as we both stood up. “I think we should go public.”
“Iris, I don’t?—”
“I think that’s the only way he doesn’t win, Nash,” I said, grabbing his hand as Iris grabbed his other.
“I don’t want him to force us to announce our relationship to the world,” Nash sighed. “He’s already done it to me once, and I will not be manipulated into doing it again.”
“I look at it like a big fuck you to him,” Iris grinned. “He just needs to go get fucked.”
I laughed as Nash cracked a smile. “You’re right, Petal. He needs to get fucked.”
“I agree and no better way to do that than seem unphased by his antics,” Jo said, putting her purse down and sitting at the seat closest to us.
“Are you sure you want to go public, Iris?” Luke asked, looking upset. “Once people know about your relationship, they get nosey, have opinions and a whole mess of problems come with it.”
“Do you expect me to stay quiet?” Iris snapped.
“Jo is great at what she does,” Luke said, stepping towards Iris. “Let her do her job and in a week or two it will all blow over.”
I glanced at Jo, who was watching us patiently.
“What do you think, Jo?” I asked, curious as to what she was thinking.
“I can do whatever you ask me to. It might be hard to make this go away, but that’s what Nash pays me for,” she said patiently. “Luke is right, once you go public, everyone will be in your business, especially if Nash wins the championship. Your relationship will be brought up over and over again, but once you jump over this hurdle, you won’t have to hide who you are anymore. You can go to his rodeo, be by his side and live your life without fear of someone finding you guys out. No matter what, people will always wonder if what they read was true. So, you need to decide what you are comfortable living with.”
Iris turned towards us, biting her lip. “I don’t want to hide.”
“Neither do I,” I said. “I know it won’t be easy, but I don’t want to live in fear of someone taking a picture or stopping us from living our life.”
Nash took a deep breath. “I want whatever will make y’all happy. I don’t care if we are public or not, as long as I get to call you mine.”
“Then let’s do it,” Iris said, looking at Jo.
“Fuck yes! I was hoping you would say that,” Jo said, getting some papers out of her purse. “I have a statement drafted already to address the situation and to condemn whoever gave photos of your private life to the press. It’s simple, but givesus time to figure out our next steps without worrying about the press breathing down our neck.”
Nash grabbed the paper and we all looked it over. It was simple, straightforward, and to the point.
“Would it help if we made a statement?” Hunter asked. “We know what it’s like to have the press in your face about your relationship and we can say they are our good friends.”
“No statement, but in the next day or two I need Nash to post a picture of y’all and if you’d like, you could repost or comment on his photo,” Jo said, as she typed on her phone.
“I don’t want you guys to think you have to help us,” Iris said. “I know the spotlight is always on you and if this is too much?—”
“Nope. Us triads need to stick together,” Valencia said quickly. “We’ve learned to ignore the hate as much as we can and if we can help, we want to.”
“Great! Now that that’s settled, Nash, tomorrow you have that event at Love4All with the puppies,” Jo said, getting up. “If Iris and Beau come with you, then make sure you get photographed together.”
“Jo.” Nash sighed.
“Don’t Jo me, we need all the good press we can get.” She grabbed her purse. “Now go to the event and please get your ass back on the road because I don’t know how else you’re going to pay me. Love you, bye!”
She walked away as we all watched her.
“Damn, I should have asked where she got that suit,” Genevieve said, breaking the silence. “Her ass looked great in it.”
“I can make you one,” Camila said, kissing her cheek. “I’ll make your ass look even better.”
