Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
JANE
“Oh, God. This post compares Austin to Taggert,” I groaned, scrolling through the short paragraphs beneath the reposted copy of the picture.
“How?” Hazel asked, sounding far calmer than me.
“It says that no one should be surprised by a sex scandal from the Chicago Chaos when there was one just last season. It’s ridiculous. Taggert got caught cheating on his reporter girlfriend by a rival of hers. It’s completely different.”
“I agree.” Hazel rolled balls of cookie dough and flattened them on a tray. “But I think you should stop looking at that stuff. It’s not going to make you feel any better.”
I breathed in the aroma of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies from the tray that had already gone in the oven and scrolled down my feed to the next post about Austin and me. I clicked on the ‘read more’ button and the nausea worsened.
“This one is just gross.” The original poster had left a comment about how it was always the quiet ones who were secretly kinkiest, and each responding comment was worse than the last. A bunch of men with nothing better to do than insult and objectify a woman they’d never met.
Hazel glanced over, her eyes narrowed. “Put. It. Down.”
“But I need to know what everyone is saying.” I wished I could stop looking, but I couldn’t help it.
The next poster had attempted to enhance the photograph to make everything clearer, and bile burned the back of my throat. I swiped past quickly, hating how cheap it made me feel. As if a moment that had been magical for Austin and me was nothing more than entertainment to these people.
And the comments…
If they weren’t directed solely at me, then they focused on the physical aspect of our relationship—something that was pretty much brand new. There was more than that between us, wasn’t there?
I liked to think so, but we hadn’t made any kind of commitment. In fact, I’d made a point of not pressuring him to commit.
My phone rang, and Alec’s name appeared on the screen. I stared at it for a long moment. I wanted a comforting hug from my big brother more than almost anything, but I burned inside with the humiliation of knowing that he—and his teammates—may have seen that awful photograph.
I’d had Hazel clear all my messages and missed calls before I looked at my phone earlier because I’d been afraid of what I might see. Finger shaking, I answered the call.
“Jane?”
The concern in his voice undid me, and I promptly burst into tears.
“Oh, Janie. We’re on our way.”
“D-don’t w-worry,” I sniffled, turning away from the counter so Hazel wouldn’t see me make a mess of myself. “It’s fine. You don’t have to come.”
He needed to be in training. Their first proper game of the season was this weekend coming—against the Chaos, because the universe was apparently testing my loyalty.
Alec made a sound of disbelief. “Mom, Dad, and I will be there soon. It’s happening, so don’t argue. Our plane just landed. Once we’ve found a taxi, we’ll come straight over.”
My vision swam and tears spilled down my cheeks, irritating my already sore eyes. “But what about getting ready for your game?”
“Our game is in Chicago, so I’ll just be there early. A couple of days won’t make or break anything. You’re our priority right now.”
“I don’t deserve that,” I wailed. “This is my fault. I made a mistake, and I just know they’re going to drag you all into it.”
Not to mention that I’d pushed them away when they tried to help in the past and told them they were smothering. I didn’t deserve for them to come rushing to my rescue now, when my behavior had humiliated them publicly.
“It’s the photographer’s fault.” It sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth. “Or maybe the media outlets’, or the people who are spreading it around social media. Not yours. So get that thought out of your head. We’ll be there soon.”
He hung up.
I stared at the phone, baffled. “My family is coming.”
“Oh, good.” Hazel extracted a tray of cookies from the oven and set them on a chopping board, then slotted another inside to bake. “I hope I’ve made enough cookies.”
“I’m sure you have.” I doubted Alec would eat any.
He was too serious about maintaining a healthy diet, just like Austin.
I wondered idly how the cookies would taste.
I’d never known Hazel to bake before, but I’d definitely noticed that she believed cookies could solve any problem, no matter how monumental.
My social media feed reappeared on my screen, along with another few dozen notifications from the alert I’d set. With a sigh, I opened the first one and read it. More of the same. I was a slut. Austin was a player. We were both into kink and showing off our bodies.
Never mind that we’d been in the dark, somewhere that was supposed to be away from prying eyes, and that as far as anyone knew, we were in a committed relationship.
What was wrong with people?
“Hey.” Hazel covered the screen with her hand. “Give that to me.”
“No.” I tried to shake her off, determined to keep looking. Knowledge was power, after all.
But then something inside me deflated. If knowledge was power, then why wasn’t I feeling better or getting closer to solidifying a plan with each post I looked at? Instead, I was growing more miserable. That wasn’t productive.
I let go. “Fine. Take it.”
She pocketed the phone before I had time to second-guess my decision. “Here. Have a cookie or two.”
She slid a plate piled high with warm cookies, each oozing melted chocolate, toward me. I took one and bit into it. The flavors coalesced on my tongue, and I moaned.
“That’s amazing. I thought Austin said you can’t cook?”
She laughed. “I can’t, but I can bake a top tier cookie.”
I finished the cookie, licked the chocolate off my fingers, and reached for another. “Have you ever thought about becoming a baker?”
Because seriously, these were good.
She rolled her eyes. “Austin has paid for me to spend years at college. I can’t just drop out and become a baker, can I?”
Somehow, I didn’t think Austin would agree. He wanted her to be happy. But I was miserable, and she was being nice and supplying me with delicious cookies, so now wasn’t the time to push her to talk about something she didn’t want to.
“What other types of cookies do you make?” I asked, grasping for an easy conversational topic.
We chatted about cookies until the doorbell interrupted us.
I jumped up, suddenly too tangled up inside to eat another bite.
The cookies I’d already demolished sat like a lead weight in the bottom of my gut as I went to the door to see if it was my family or someone else like, God forbid, Sylvia or Austin’s dad.
I checked through the peephole and relaxed when I spotted my mom’s familiar face front and center. The instant I opened the door, she threw her arms around me and dragged me into a hug that smelled of her favorite floral perfume and felt like home.
“My little girl.”
She squeezed me tighter and Dad joined in, slinging an arm around each of us. Alec came around from behind, and all of a sudden, I was sandwiched between the three of them in a warm, loving cocoon.
Alec let go first, and Dad followed his lead, but Mom clung to me until it became a little awkward. When she finally pulled away, she dabbed at her eyes.
“I know you don’t like us interfering,” she sniffed, allowing Dad to usher her forward, so he could close the door. “But Alec told us what happened, and we had to come see you and make sure you’re all right.”
“Tally is sorry she couldn’t make it. Keysha is away, and she had a big order to complete,” Alec added, scanning me up and down. “You look like you’ve been through hell.”
I grimaced. I hadn’t thought it was that bad. My face was a mess, sure, but I was fully dressed in nice-ish clothes, and I was mostly clean, so that was a win.
Mom licked her fingertip and wiped my cheek. “Is that chocolate?”
My cheeks heated and everything came flooding back to me. The photograph, the scathing comments from people who thought they had a right to an opinion about it. The shame I’d brought to the family.
“I’m sorry.” I couldn’t look at them. “I’m so ashamed of myself. I know that isn’t enough, but—”
“Jane Marie Foster-Wright.” That was Mom’s ‘I mean business’ voice. “There is nothing shameful about doing intimate things with someone you care about. The only person who should be ashamed of themselves is the one who violated you by taking that photograph and putting it online.”
My lip wobbled and my insides quivered.
Violated.
That was how I felt, but I hadn’t allowed myself to believe it was an accurate term because I’d been the one foolish enough to make love where anyone could come across us.
“She’s right,” Hazel said from nearby.
I gestured to her, my thoughts whirling. “Family, this is Hazel, Austin’s sister. Hazel, this is my mom, Delia, my dad, Pete, and my brother, Alec.”
Hazel grinned. “I’m so pleased you came. Partly because Jane needs you, but also, umm…” She glanced from Dad to Alec and her cheeks turned pink. “I’m a massive fan.”
Dad shook her hand and sent her an easy smile. “Pleasure to meet you, Hazel.”
“Yeah, it is,” Alec echoed, but he was looking around, not focused on her. “What I want to know is where the hell Austin is and why he’s not here, taking care of Jane.”
I bit my lip. “He had to meet with the team manager. Hazel came over to keep me company while he’s away.”
Alec’s eyes narrowed. “You should be his priority. Not hockey.”
“I’m fine here,” I said weakly.
“Uh-huh.” He crossed his arms, dubious.
So this was happening. My family had arrived and already thought they knew best. Don’t get me wrong; it was lovely of them to come, but couldn’t they be supportive without looking for someone to blame?
“Why don’t you all come to the living room?” Hazel suggested with a thread of uncertainty in her tone. “I’ll get you some cookies, and you can talk.”
“That sounds great,” Mom said warmly and indicated for her to show the way.