Chapter Thirty-Two
jake
My phone vibrating nonstop on the nightstand wakes me from my deep slumber.
I rub my eyes, trying to orient myself to where I’m at—a common problem, given my lifestyle.
My body instantly relaxes when I feel Kate’s warm body snuggled against my side, and the memories of last night come flashing back into my mind.
A shiver courses through me, merely thinking about how our evening went once we got back to our room.
I will never tire of hearing her scream my name and clench around my cock when I had her bent over the couch in our suite.
“Jake, can you get your phone?” Kate murmurs, turning over and pulling the covers closer to her chin. “Whoever it is will keep calling until you answer.”
I grimace when I glance down at the Caller ID and see Anna’s name.
God, I hope my erection wasn’t obvious in any pictures. It’s way too early to hear Anna chastise me for that.
Now sitting on the couch, I blow out a deep breath and steel myself for whatever drama is about to come my way. “What’s wrong?”
“I guess I’ll skip the morning pleasantries and get right to it then,” Anna replies, taking a brief pause. “Is Kate with you?”
My brows furrow. “She’s asleep in the other room. Why?”
Anna lets out a breath. “Okay. How do I put this delicately? Do not let Kate on social media today. Or tomorrow. Maybe not for a week or so.”
The muscles in my jaw tighten as I sit up straight. “What’s going on, Anna?”
“Two issues. I’m working to handle both of them, but it’s proving to be slightly more complicated than normal.” Anna’s tone falters a bit from her normal cheerful demeanor.
Fuck. Something is seriously wrong.
“Just tell me,” I bark, unable to hide my frustration. Any negativity related to Kate immediately puts me on edge.
“Only if you promise to remain calm and not lose your shit.”
I scoff. “No promises.”
“Okay. Well, Kate looked fantastic on the red carpet and did such a great job. Everyone who met her adored her.” Anna takes a pause, preparing herself to give me bad news.
She’s told me before about how she likes to use the sorority recruitment method when delivering bad news.
Something about pro, con, con, pro. I’m not sure I fully understand what she’s talking about, except that she tries to smush the negative news in between compliments to make it sting a little less.
“The internet had other strong feelings about Kate’s first red carpet. ”
“Tell me.” I clench my fist against my sweatpants as my anger rises.
“It started out with the usual commentary about what she’s wearing.
Some people loved it. Others hated it. Nothing out of the ordinary at first. Not until one rather prickly influencer made a video about how Kate looked like she was trying too hard.
Commenting how she basically wore a bridal gown to a night that should’ve been all about you. This may have gone viral.”
“I’m confused. They didn’t like that she wore an almost-white dress?”
“Technically, it was a cream Valentino, but that’s neither here nor there. The sentiment on social media is that she’s pushing you to pop the question.”
I chuckle. “Talk about the furthest thing from the truth. I’m the one who would marry her tomorrow. She isn’t ready.”
“Although that might be true, I highly doubt you want that shared on social media.”
“Definitely not. The fewer people talking about Kate, the better.” The tension in my shoulders starts to relax, because this doesn’t seem that bad. I was expecting way worse, based on how Anna started the call. “I assume this will blow over in a few days.”
“It’s slightly more complicated than that. A few strongly opinionated people on the internet who are clearly not fans of Kate’s took it upon themselves to come up with a list of women who would be worthy of dating and marrying you.”
A deep, sinister laugh reverberates out of me. “You can’t be fucking serious.”
“Unfortunately, I am. And it went more viral than the previous one. So, not only does the internet think Kate is trying to push you down the aisle, but they also have a rather specific list of blondes they believe should be on your arm. A few of them might have used some creative photo editing to swap out Kate’s face with the faces of these women.
There might be a poll trending. Some people believe you actually took some of these women to the movie premiere.
A few media outlets have asked whether you and Kate have broken up. ”
“What the fuck is wrong with people?” I stand up and start pacing in front of the couch. “It’s none of their goddamn business who I date.”
Anna sighs. “I know, Jake. There’s also one more thing we need to discuss.”
I groan, dragging a hand down my face, bewildered at what else could’ve possibly gone to shit in the few hours since I went to bed.
“Let me put you on hold while I conference someone in.”
Every muscle in my body is tense as I continue to pace and wait for Anna to come back on the line. How the fuck am I going to tell Kate about any of this? Does she even need to know? It’s stupid internet bullshit. Perhaps keeping her offline for a few days until it dies down is the best option.
“Did you tell him this is not my fault?”
“Jason? What are you doing on the call?” I ask. What the fuck is going on?
“So, she hasn’t told you yet. That figures,” Jason says, annoyed. “Waiting for me to drop the shit sandwich.”
“I was waiting for you to join us so we could have this conversation together, Jason. But if you want to throw a tantrum like a toddler, feel free to hang up at any time,” Anna replies sweetly, almost like she’s daring him to poke her back.
“I need someone to tell me what the fuck is going on,” I shout, my voice laced with venom as I clench my fists against my legs.
“Okay,” Anna says calmly. “Someone leaked the ballad you wrote about Kate. The one you’re uncertain about putting on the album. Normally, we could manage a situation like this one, but combined with the buzz from the red carpet… Let’s just say, things have gotten out of hand very quickly.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Jason adds. “At least everyone loves the fucking song.”
“Why do I feel like you’re leaving something out?”
“As you anticipated, the song has created some speculation about why Kate ended her engagement,” Anna says softly.
“Speculation? What are they saying?” I ask, a hint of anger in my tone. The last thing Kate needs is more people online dissecting her life.
“It’s merely stupid gossip. You know how it can be,” she replies, trying to avoid answering the question.
“Tell me,” I demand.
“People are questioning if she ended her engagement to chase after you. There may have been a few gold-digger references.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? She’s the complete opposite of a gold digger,” I yell, unable to control my growing frustration at the general shittiness of people.
“What Anna is trying to politely say is, we’re in the midst of a fucking storm.
The internet has convinced almost everyone overnight to hate Kate.
And there’s not much Anna or anyone else can do to quiet the noise.
Normally, I’m all for any type of press—good or bad, but even I don’t want this shit. ”
I collapse onto the couch, resting my elbow on my knees as I listen to Anna and Jason talk through various ways to try to mitigate the damage.
Fuck. How the hell am I going to tell Kate about this?
As if my thoughts somehow summon her, Kate walks out of the bedroom into the living area, arching an eyebrow at me and mouthing, “Everything okay?” I shake my head and say a quick goodbye to Anna and Jason.
They can continue their strategy session without me.
All my attention has to be focused on Kate.
Trying to find a way for us to weather yet another storm.
“What’s going on?” Kate asks, her brow deeply furrowed as she tries to wipe the sleepiness from her eyes.
I sigh and pat the cushion next to me. When she sits down, I pull her legs into my lap and start rubbing her socked feet, hoping to ease some of the tension I’m about to bring into her life once again.
Kate and I spend the next hour discussing everything Anna shared about the internet buzz from the red carpet and the leaked song. Her initial reaction wasn’t what I expected because she seemed almost stoic and even laughed off some of the comments for being so outlandish.
It wasn’t until later that morning, when she was in the shower alone, that I heard her break down, sobbing. And it absolutely gutted me.
It’s a chilling thought to realize that, no matter what I do, I can’t protect the woman I love from the cruelty of what other people say about her. And it’s only happening because of me.