Page 16 of Big & Bossy

“Mom,” Tiana groaned, pulling back from Fred as she slipped the ring over her finger. “Can’t you just let me have my moment without dragging Jack’s love life into it?”

“No, no, I’m serious. You know, my friend’s niece just got back from France. If I message her now I could probably talk her into coming over this evening or maybe tomorrow morning before you have to leave.”

“Mom, please,” I sighed. “Can we not do this again? You know how much I hate?—”

Tiana’s phone dinged from beside her on the sofa.

A second later, Dad’s.

Mom’s and Fred’s went off at the same time.

Mine buzzed in my pocket. And then buzzed again. And again.

All around us phones were going off, over and over, alert after alert.

“What the fuck?” I pulled my phone from my pocket, my family going absolutely silent as they collectively stared at their screens.

It was Samantha in Public Relations. I opened the message, and within a second a photo and a link filled my screen. Lover’s Quarrel: America’s Most Eligible Bachelor in the Doghouse.

Clear as fucking crystal, the photo they’d used was of me, eyes wide at the table, a furious Mandy standing on the other side. No. Fuck no, they were watching? Beneath the headline was a video. I hesitated with my thumb over the play button, the terror already sinking into my bones, but before I could press it, the sound filtered out of Tiana’s phone.

“I don’t know how I ever let myself love a man like you.”

My mom’s.

“I don’t know how I ever let myself love a man like you.”

Fred’s.

Dad’s.

Mine.

I don’t know how I ever let myself love a man like you.

Chapter 8

Mandy

Every angry stab of pain that shot through my feet, my ankles, my calves, and my thighs reminded me that I was okay. I was alive, I was in control of myself, and I was not a puppet. I was not Jackson’s little plaything that he could manipulate and force to do his bidding or spend time with him. I could handle this. I had to handle this.

“Daydreaming again?” Harry huffed from beside me, sweat building on his forehead as he tried to keep my pace. He’d done alright on the flat path, but now, as we ascended higher on the Shadow Canyon Trail, he was struggling with the uphill. I figured he also wasn’t used to running on trails; he generally pounded cement or a treadmill.

“Maybe,” I chuckled, slowing my speed to give him time to catch his breath. “All this shit with Jackson has just been eating away at my brain. I think I’m down to my final ten brain cells.”

“Better make sure those ten brain cells are your interior decorating ones.”

Harry’s hand wrapping around my arm made my fight or flight response kick in for a fraction of a second before I realized he was asking me to stop running altogether. Every time he touched me I couldn’t help but think that it was something more than just an innocent gesture. He’d always been there for me ever since my final year of university, always by my side, almost as close to me as Amanda. But that hadn’t stopped him from trying to lay it on me at our graduation. Hadn’t stopped me from reciprocating, either.

I’d told him time and time again during those early years that I was broken, that I wasn’t relationship material, that I had my own troubles and heartbreak to deal with. I made it abundantly clear. He also knew what Jack had done to me. But there was still a part of me that thought there might be a chance he hadn’t moved on from our one night spent together all those years ago, and he still had feelings for me even though our relationship was purely platonic now and had been for eight years.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, turning on my heel as he leaned over himself, hands braced on his knees as he desperately sucked in breaths. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he wheezed. “Can we turn back?”

“We’re closer to the parking lot if we keep going from here.” I pulled my hydration pack off my back and forced the spout into his mouth. He sucked greedily, taking in every drop of water he could and breathing heavily through his nose between swallows. “You sure you’re okay? I can call for assistance?—”

“I’m fine, Mandy. Let’s just take it slow the rest of the way back to the car.” Slowly, he lifted himself back upright, his face red and dripping.

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