“She kept telling me that it was just a joke and asking me why I was so mad. There was no talking to her like that. She’s back on whatever she was taking when we were together. She was so out of it. I was surprised she could walk out of the room.”
“How long did you stay there?” I asked him. He shook his head.
“Not long. Maybe another twenty minutes before I gave up talking to her. I’m over it. Talking reason to her I mean. I’m still mad about it all,” he gave me a smile that was meant to be reassuring but it looked more like a grimace.
“What’s this?” Dallas asked loudly. His voice was filled with shock and amusement, causing all of us to turn. He was standing by the coat rack, with one hand holding up Cash’s zip up hoodie, and the other holding a small black velvet box. He opened it and raised his eyebrows.
“Hey, give me that.” Cash stormed over to him and snatched the ring from his hands. Dallas laughed and patted his back.
“Wow, congrats man. You and Audrey?” Ronny asked. Cash checked the ring before shoving it into his pocket. He looked up at the room and glowered.
“Yeah. I mean, not yet, but I plan on it soon. I wanted to hear what you guys thought about it.”
“Audrey’s great. She fits right in with the crew,” Ronny said.
“Yeah, I like her too,” Dallas agreed. I swallowed, knowing he wasn’t really asking them. He wanted to know my opinion. I smiled and told him the honest truth.
“Cash, I’m so happy for you. If you want to talk before you do it, I’m here for you.”
He nodded. Just then Tate hung up the phone and came over to us. My heart was hopeful for good news, but the scowl on his face made it slowly start to deflate.
“We can sue for emotional distress and have it taken down if you want. But that’s not going to stop any of the people who have already saved the song from reposting it.”
“Have they?” I asked, realizing it was kind of a stupid question. When no one said anything, it confirmed it. I groaned.
“What do you want to do? My dad thinks we can get a nice settlement from her if we do sue.”
“Fuck yeah, take her signing bonus. All of it,” Dallas said, his blue eyes wide with greed. The idea wasn’t appealing to me. We’d spend months in court and have to see her every time. I’d have to listen to the audio and be shamed for it every single time. I shook my head and looked towards my husband. He saw me getting upset again and hurried over to envelope me in a hug.
“It’s alright, we’ll do whatever you want to do. I’ll support you no matter what.”
“It doesn’t upset you? Hearing it?” I asked, looking up at him. He smiled softly and shrugged.
“Babe, I hear myself sound like that on a daily basis. Yeah, it’s awkward because it’s real, and I hate that you’re on it too, but I’m more mad that you’re hurting. My job is to protect you from those things. When I can’t do that, it’s frustrating.”
“Ugh, stop. Is this the shit that got her to marry you?” Ronny smirked. Tate and I looked over and saw that he wasn’t scowling. I relaxed and flipped him off. He stuck his tongue out at me. Baby steps.
I pulled away from Tate and sighed. What did I want to do? My options were to sue or let her walk all over me. I said my thoughts aloud.
“What if we flipped the narrative?” Dallas asked from behind me. I turned to look at him and hear him out. He was sprawled out on the couch, picking his nails.
“What do you mean?”
My brother glanced up at me as if he had only spoke in his head and he was surprised we heard him.
“Well, right now all the articles and posts are about how good she got you. Revenge for Ronny, the party snub, all that. People are laughing at you guys, talking about how embarrassed you should be and-”
“I get it. What are you proposing we do about it?” I snapped. He was enjoying telling me all of this too much.
“We could cover it.”
“What?”
He leapt up, his body contorting in a weird backflip thing that only someone as tall and lanky as him could do. He was like a cat, landing on his feet. He cocked his head and smiled wide, as if he had the most genius idea.
“Seriously. Let’s cover it. Your… noises and everything. Yeah, it’s gross coming from me, but I can block it out. I’d rather hear you overcoming her bullshit with stage versions of it than the song she did. That shit is nauseating.”
“Cover it. How are Tate and I supposed to do that?”
