Page 47 of Finally Home

I shake my head slowly even though guilt swamps me as we leave the house. My therapist would tell me I’m undoing years of progress by running away but I can’t help it. I’m terrified of the disappointment and hurt I’ll see on Rhode’s face right now, and it’s making me feel sick again. Jamie’s brows shoot up in disbelief, so I blurt out the first thing that pops into my head. “No, uh…he’s at a brand shoot all day, so I’ll just call him when we land.”

Jamie looks like he doesn’t believe me, but I make my way to the car and pray he doesn’t push it. I can’t see Rhodes right now. Not when I’m so embarrassed and ashamed that I didn’t consider his career before dragging him into my mess. Rhodes was a virgin until three weeks ago, and even though he knows I’m not, I know the video will probably hurt him. Plus, I’m terrified that his entire opinion of me will change now that the entire world has seen me naked, drunk, and having sex.

My stomach ties in knots the whole drive to the airport, and texts and calls from my family come in rapid-fire. The only person I answer is my dad before I turn off my phone. I feel like a coward running because of this, but I’m overwhelmed and scared of what this will do to my personal life and my career.

Logically, I know it’s not a huge deal. I mean, people have sex with their spouses literally every day. But it’s not every day that your spouse films you having sex without your knowledge and then shares it with the world. It’s true, I don’t know for sure that Derrick leaked the video, but I can’t think of anybody else who would have access to a personal video like that.

After we’re in the air, I finally let myself start to think. The sooner I can come up with a solution, the sooner I can fix the mess I just made. Jeremy hugs me to his side as I stare out the window silently, listening to him mutter death threats the entire five-hour flight to Seattle. Once we land, Jeremy, Wes, and Asher head to the stadium to do damage control with Sirens management, while Jamie and I make the short trip to his apartment.

I don’t say a word the entire time, and only turn my phone back on once I make it to Jamie’s spare bedroom. I scroll through the myriad of missed messages. Now that I’m away from South Carolina, the guilt of leaving how I did threatens to choke me and sends tears down my cheeks.

I spend the next several hours ignoring every knock on the door and every attempt at conversation. Instead, I lie in the dark room with my tired eyes trained on the blank wall opposite the bed as I pretend the whole world hasn’t seen me naked. Why the hell did Derrick record that video? The fact that I was so drunk I barely remember the sex makes me feel kind of gross. But he was my husband, not a stranger or some one-night-stand—I trusted him.

I know I should call Rhodes and deal with the fallout of running away, but as my body warms under the blankets, my eyes slide shut. My tired mind goes blissfully blank for the first time all day, and I let sleep claim me.

Angry boyfriends and police reports are tomorrow’s problem.

CHAPTER 28

RHODES

I can’t wait to get home and see my girl.

Practice was brutal today, and my whole body aches as I walk into the locker room. Conversation comes to a complete halt when I round the corner, and several of my teammates send sympathetic glances my way. I chalk up the weirdness to Coach calling me out halfway through practice for being distracted. Which I was.

I hurry through a shower and am halfway dressed when Aidan and Copeland corner me by my locker, looks of confusion, fury, and sadness on their faces.

“Have you checked your phone yet?” Aidan asks softly. They’re freaking me the hell out, and when I shake my head Cope hands me his. Nothing could have prepared me for what I see on the screen.

“What the fuck is this?” I hiss, grabbing my own phone out of my locker in a panic. I have dozens of calls and texts from my parents, Archie, and the guys in Seattle, but not a single one from Wren. “Where did you get that?” I ask them. My voice is frenzied, but I can’t fucking help it.

Cope winces, and Aid looks miserable. “It’s everywhere, Rho. An anonymous Twitter account leaked it this morning, and it spread like wildfire. They’re more focused on him because he’s a pro athlete, but Wren isn’t exactly anonymous. There’s chatter that the Sirens might fire her over this, and the media is going insane over the double standard. Especially given her ex literally just had his own video leaked last month. There’s a hashtag and everything.”

Slamming my locker shut, I grab my bag and barely stop long enough to appreciate the supportive words from the girls upstairs as I grab Finn from them, then stomp out to my SUV. Apparently, literally everybody has seen the goddamn video before me, and they’re all as angry about it as I am. I gently buckle Finn into his harness and toss my bag in the back, hitting the button to dial Jamie from my Bluetooth.

“I guess you saw the video.” Jamie says when he answers. “We’re already working to get it removed, but since the account that released it is a dummy account, the platform is being a pain in the ass about it.

“We know it was Derrick, so why the fuck isn’t he in handcuffs? Isn’t this considered revenge porn?” I growl.

The line goes quiet long enough that I check to make sure I didn’t drop the call. Then a gust of air crackles through the speakers. “We can’t prove it was him,” he murmurs angrily. “The bastard is MIA, and until we can convince Wren to go to the police with his threatening texts, they won’t even look into it.”

His words register, and I nearly slam on the breaks. “Wait, why would you have to get her to go to the police? Isn’t that something Archie and I should do since she’s here?”

“Oh… so, there’s probably something you should know.” His tone tells me I won’t like what he has to say. “Wren is here…in Seattle.”

I jerk the wheel in shock and when another car honks at me, I pull off the road. “She’s in Seattle?!” I practically shout. “Why? I can be there in six hours. I’m gonna miss some practice, but I’ll figure it out because?—”

“Rhodes, man, I don’t think you should come.” He says it gently, but that doesn’t stop white hot anger from searing my veins and turning my vision red.

“You can’t keep me from my girl when she’s dealing with something like this!” I yell as I slam my hand down on the steering wheel. I like Jamie, but if he thinks he can tell me what to do when it comes to my girlfriend, he’s in for a rude awakening.

“Will you drop your fucking ego and just think for a second, Gray?” he says in admonishment. “Consider what’s going through her head right now and ask yourself if your presence would help or hurt that?”

I take a second to seriously consider his words. Wren and I have been best friends for nearly eight years, and she knows I wouldn’t leave her over something like this, so why didn’t she call me?

I consider everything that’s happened over the last week and realize that even though her divorce is finalized, it hasn’t gone public yet. To the public, this will look like a husband and wife having sex, so their outrage on her behalf makes sense. But if details about our relationship come out before their divorce news drops, the media will crucify both of us and paint Derrick as the victim. Add on how mortified she probably is, and damn it all to hell, Jamie’s right. If I know one thing about Wren Reid, it’s that she’s a runner when she’s overwhelmed. And I’d bet my last dollar she’s trying to protect our careers, and she’s probably worried my feelings are hurt by the stupid video even though I don’t give a fuck.

Should I give her space to deal with it on her own, or would that dig our relationship’s grave before it even has a chance?

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