Page 106 of Living on the Edge

“This is about way more than just the article.”

“You’re scaring me, Ryleigh.” I search her face, and the wariness in hers is unmistakable.

“Believe me—I’m scared too.”

Chapter32

Ryleigh

We don’t talkat all on the drive to the hotel or as we drop our things in our room. I change into shorts and a tank top since it’s another scorching August day, and then we head down to the bus. We’re the first ones there and settle into seats in the back. Hopefully, we’ll have a few minutes alone before anyone else joins us.

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” he asks me right away. “Because it’s killing me.”

I nod and pull in a deep breath, slowly letting it out.

“Babe, don’t you trust me?” There’s so much sincerity in his voice it makes tears puddle in my eyes.

“I do,” I whisper. “The question is whether or not you trust me.”

“I do.” He doesn’t hesitate.

“Okay, so we have to go back to the beginning. Rich didn’t put me here to cover you guys. My assignment was to get the scoop on Lexi’s pregnancy and how it’s going to impact Nobody’s Fool. But he couldn’t get me here for them, so he used your newness, and mine, to put me on the tour.”

“Makes sense.” Angus shrugs. “And then you got Lexi to willingly give you the story.”

I nod. “Yup. But it turned out to be a non-story lacking drama or dissidence within the ranks. Everyone is excited for her, Kirsten is their good friend who’ll step in if Lexi can’t perform, end of story, everyone gets their HEA.”

“HEA?” he asks in confusion.

“Happily ever after.”

“Okay.” He frowns. “So then…?”

“But that was around the same time the story about your identity broke and… that was my fault.”

“Yououted me?” he asks in confusion.

I nod miserably. “You’d just turned me down when I asked you to do a video for me so I was annoyed. I’d gone looking for you, to give you a piece of my mind, and I was getting on the bus when you were talking with Alden. You and I weren’t really friends yet, so I listened and…then I stupidly told Rich what I heard.” I close my eyes, shaking my head. “So fucking stupid. And he ran with it. He found the records of you legally changing your name and put the story on the online version of the magazine.”

“Is this what’s had you so out of sorts lately?” he asks gently, cupping my chin. “Babe, that feels like a lifetime ago. And like you said, we didn’t have a relationship yet. You were here to do a story, and you got one.”

“Yeah, I know.” I pause. “But that’s not entirely what I’m talking about. Unfortunately, I’m not done.”

“There’s more.” Wariness creeps into his tone, his blue eyes shrouded. Worried.

I really hate that I put that look there after what he’s just gone through with his family.

But now that I’ve started, there’s no going back.

“So much more.” I rub my temples, fighting off a headache. “Anyway, Rich was super excited that I finally got something newsworthy. So he decided we needed to go with a version of what we told Sasha in the first place. I needed to write a story about a new band, discovering the ins and outs of success while on their first tour—and the implications after they discovered that their drummer had literally been lying to them since day one. He was gleeful, thinking this would be something worth featuring, something no one else had.”

He doesn’t say anything now, simply watching me as I continue.

“But as you know, it didn’t turn out to be the big deal we thought it would be and there truly wasn’t much for me to write about. I mean, there are lots of wonderful things to write about, and I did talk to the guys about how they felt about what you did, but when I sent Rich my notes he was less than impressed. He told me to keep digging, because he has a source telling him that you guys are on the verge of breaking up. As soon as this tour is over.” I hesitate. “And now I think he has multiple sources because I overheard something when we were in Minnesota.”

He doesn’t look surprised. “My mother? Jesus fucking Christ.”

I nod.

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