Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
T ressy
“Ms. Meyers, this is Dana Yeh from Viewpoint Media. I would love to talk to you about an article we’re doing on Denee Henning. As her closest friend, we’re reaching out to get your memories of her. With the resurgence of “Broad Street” on streaming services, there’s been increased interest in the cast and especially in the tragic death of Denee.” A pause. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but there have been some rumors circulating about…aspects of her passing. We would love to get the true story and clear up inconsistencies. I hope you’ll call?—”
I hung up before she finished, having listened to more than enough to know what she wanted. And to guess at what rumors she was talking about. Rumors I had no intention of ever discussing.
I’d just put Krista down in the room next to the bedroom I’d slept in last night. She’d tried hard to keep her eyes open but had lost the battle on the drive home. Before we left the arena, Rowdy had asked if I wanted to join a few of the Angels and Devils at the bar for drinks or if I wanted to stay in and “take it easy.”
“I’d be more than happy to keep an eye on Krista for you,” Raffi had jumped in before I could say anything. “I think she’s going to sleep pretty well tonight. She’s had a busy day.”
According to Krista, it’d been the best day ever . She and her new best friend had played all day and her dad had cooked on a grill, “like a hibachi outside,” but he’d made hamburgers and hot dogs that tasted “delicious.” She’d arrived at the arena with Daisy and her family, grinning from ear to ear, the knees of her pants scuffed and a stain on her shirt that looked like ketchup.
Daisy had asked if Mandy could sit with Krista during the game because Derek was presenting the colors during the anthem, and I’d been more than happy to keep the girls with me in the suite.
I’d noticed the voice message on my phone sometime after dinner, but I didn’t recognize the number, so I hadn’t bothered to listen to it earlier. But I figured I should at least check to make sure it wasn’t anything I needed to deal with.
Now I wish I hadn’t bothered. My stomach knotted, and I broke out in a cold chill.
I knew the reporter was fishing for information. She didn’t know anything. Only a few people in the world knew what had happened the night Denee had died. And all of them were under an NDA.
So, no, I wouldn’t be calling Dana Yeh back to clear up anything about the night Denee had died. But there’d been another, even more troubling message waiting for me.
From my sister.
“Hey, um, I really don’t want to upset you anymore than you already are, but I wanted to give you a heads up. Lucas is being a total dick. He posted on Instagram that he was worried about you, and he hoped you were all right. I got him to take it down, but it was out there for a couple of hours. I just wanted you to know so if anyone asked you about it, you knew what was going on. I’m really sorry.
“And I got a call from some reporter, Dana something. She’s poking around for info. You know she’ll never get anything out of me or Mom. I hope you know that. But…I just thought you should know. Love you, sissy.”
My heart clenched a little when she called me sissy. She hadn’t called me that in years. The cynical Bad Girl scoffed, but I knew Tiff meant the sentiment behind it. We were sisters. First and foremost. When it came to me and Krista, Tiff would have our backs. Mom, too, when push came to shove. We had our issues, but she would never hang Krista or me out for the buzzards.
But the reporter was going to be an issue.
Checking the clock, I wondered when Rowdy would get here. I really wanted to talk to him about the situation. At least, as much as I could say about it. Because as much as I wanted to tell him everything, I just couldn’t.
Walking into the living area, I made a pitstop in the kitchenette to grab a bottle of water then sank down onto the couch. Then I pulled up Instagram on my phone because I couldn’t stop myself. I had to be sure there wasn’t anything being said about me or Krista that I needed to get ahead of.
That was my first mistake. The second was actually scrolling through the posts. A few seemed genuinely concerned for my safety, prompted by Lucas’ post, which had been screenshot, of course. Nothing was ever truly gone on the internet.
And if you didn’t know Lucas like I did, you’d actually think he genuinely cared for me. I knew better. Everything he did benefited only one person. Lucas.
Many of the posts praised him for continuing to care about the woman who’d dumped him so carelessly so many years ago. Which was bullshit. Yeah, I’d dumped his ass more than seven years ago, after he’d cheated on me. Multiple times. But, of course, no one talked about what a sleaze Lucas was. And luckily, no one had questioned Krista’s paternity. I’d never revealed who her father was, and I never would. He hadn’t wanted her, but her mother certainly had.
I couldn’t help but compare Lucas to Rowdy. Lucas wasn’t even in the same league. Even in the few short days I’d known him, I knew Rowdy would never use me the way Lucas had. Continued to do.
And yet… I was going to leave. I had to leave. I couldn’t just stay here.
A soft knock on the outside door made my head pop up from my phone, and I tossed it on the table in front of the couch and shot up off the couch to get to Rowdy.
All the stress that’d been building up inside me eased at the sight of his smile.
“Hi—Whoa, hey. You okay? What happened?”
I threw my arms around his shoulder and clung as soon as I’d opened the door. His arms wrapped around my back, holding me tight against him. Shoving my face in his neck, I breathed him in. He smelled like mint and lime and his still-damp hair clung to my fingers as I wound them around the strands.
With his foot, he pushed the door shut behind him, then lifted me off my feet and walked to the couch.
“Tressy. What’s going on? Talk to me.”
“I can’t stay.”
Idiot. Why the hell had I blurted that out? It wasn’t even what I’d wanted to say. Not really. But it was true.
Rowdy stilled for a second before his hand on my lower back began to make small, soothing circles.
“Like, you gotta leave right this second? I thought your car wouldn’t be ready until Monday. Or are you talking about forever?”
My breath caught, and I had to remember to breathe.
“And if you’re talking about right now, I’d say, I’m sure you could at least wait until morning. And if you’re talking about forever, well… Why not? It’s not like people don’t move out of New York City. I mean, smart people move out of the city all the time.”
I huffed out a laugh and shook my head, rubbing my cheek against the soft cotton of his long-sleeved t-shirt.
“I think you might be biased about the city.”
“You do know there’s more than one city in the country, right? Like, Philadelphia’s a city. Pittsburgh, Harrisburg. We’ve got several just in Pennsylvania.”
“But none of them are where I live. Where I work. Where Krista goes to school.”
His body tensed. I could tell me didn’t want to talk about this. Not now. Probably not later either. But he had to know.
“We can’t hide here forever.”
“That’s what you’ve been doing? Hiding?”
“That’s what it feels like.”
“Why? Because you didn’t announce to everyone that you were on a TV show more than a decade ago? It’s not like people here don’t know your name.”
Okay, when he put it like that, I started to feel kind of ridiculous. But that still didn’t solve the underlying problem.
“I can’t just pick up everything and move here on a whim.”
“Why not? People do it every day.”
Everything he said sounded so logical, even though I knew it wasn’t. I couldn’t move to another state after spending just a few nights in this small town. Could we?
I pulled back so I could look at him. “Our entire life is in New York.”
Those words sounded so final. And, from the look on his face, he knew I meant them.
The muscles in his jaw clenched, but otherwise, his expression didn’t change. I didn’t know what I’d expected from him, but it wasn’t this slow nod. “Okay. So, when are you planning to leave? ”
No argument? No charm? No fight?
“The mechanic called and said he got the tires today. I guess…tomorrow sometime?”
Another nod. “Why don’t you let me make you and Krista breakfast before you go? You can come over to my place.”
“Sure. That’d be…um, great.”
Now his smile returned in full force, and my knees literally went weak.
Girl, you are crazy to walk away from this.
Especially when he lifted his hands from around my waist to land on my shoulders. Heat spread outward from his touch, seeping into my veins, making me heat from the inside out. Then his hands slid up to cup my cheeks.
“Then I guess we better work up an appetite.”
He kissed me like he wanted to inhale me.
And I held on like I wanted to let him.