Page 77 of Away We Go

“Here.” Nicky takes back his phone, scrolls around and then hands it back to me. “They’re going to publish these as proof.”

I look at the grainy photos in front of me. They show us cuddled up on that bench next to the river in Imola. Nicky is wearing his cap and my face is in profile, but it is unmistakably us, and we look very much like a couple.

“We were careful,” he says, answering my unspoken protest that we hadn’t been reckless that day. We’d checked to make sure no one was watching. “I guess they were lurking somewhere sight unseen.”

My head spins and I feel sick at this invasion of our privacy. Not only had they intruded into a personal moment between two friends, but they’ve twisted it into something it’s not.

Yuck.

“Can we stop it?”

We both look at Frieda who is frowning more deeply than before. “I’m sorry,” she sighs with a pained expression. “It’s too late. The story just broke.”

As if on cue, my phone blows up with notifications. I watch in horror as my Instagram and TikTok accounts light up with follower and friend requests, while half listening to Nicky’s phone do the same, probably with likes and comments from his already huge fanbase.

“This isn’t good,” Frieda says with a hard look at Nicky. She predicted this may happen; that this may be a problem. Now we have to deal with the fallout.

“Nicky?” James calls from the front seat. “We’ve got a problem.”

Another one?

We all look at where he’s pointing. The front entrance to the hotel is filled with people making a beeline to our car.

“Who are they?”

“Reporters,” Nicky and Frieda answer in unison.

“Is there another way in?” Nicky asks his bodyguard.

James shakes his head, his jaw set in a hard line. “I’ve spoken with security inside. They’re going to manage the situation in there; we just need to get from the car to the lobby.”

The pack outside our car seems to have grown bigger and more menacing than a moment ago and I gnaw at my lip, worried about our safety.

“Nicky, are you going to be okay?”

His eyes float over me like a soft caress. “Just stay close to me and James.”

I nod.

James opens his door and runs around to where we’re waiting. “You look after Cherry,” Nicky says. The two men exchange a glance.

“Of course.”

“But what about you—”

The door opens and the media pack surges to get to us. I keep close to Nicky, hiding my face against his chest, regretting that whatever photos they get of the two of us here will add fuel to our relationship rumour.

“Let’s move.”

We shuffle forward and the pack forms a circle around us. As they move in tighter, air gets trapped in my lungs as I start to panic.

“Nicky? Is it true?”they yell at us.

“Isn’t she too young for you?”

“How long will this one last?”

I gape at their audacity, momentarily losing my footing.

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