Page 4 of Tempt My Heart

"If I go to the cops, he'll release the full video. I don't want that out there, I don’t want anyone else to see it and know how fucking stupid I am."

"What does he want?" Jesse asked, slumping down onto the floor and holding her knees just under the rips in her jeans as Freya grumbled a protest to Ali’s words.

"He wants me to get Christopher to take me to Blake's wedding and then to leak photos of it to him."

"Why doesn't he just get a press pass?"

She looked to Freya and sighed, pulling her legs off her lap and tucking them beneath her. "Rose has insisted on no press at the wedding after everything that happened last year."

"Understandable," Freya said as Jesse snorted.

"She's a socialite, isn't she supposed to love the press?"

Freya shot her a sharp look and Jesse raised her hands in supplication. "I think you'd have a grudge with the press too if they falsely announced your death."

"Besides," Ali said as she sipped at the glass of water she'd had the foresight to leave next to her glass of rum and coke. "Rose is a businesswoman, not a socialite."

"So what are you going to do?" Freya said quietly as they all stared absently at the movie.

"I don't know. I have until Monday to figure something out."

"Well, we're here for you if you need us. Whatever we can do to help," Jesse said as Freya nodded and Ali scooched up so Jesse could sit on her other side.

"For now, I just need you to make sure I'm not drinking on my own."

"That, we definitely can do," Jesse said with a grin as she clambered over the back of the sofa to the kitchen just adjacent to their living area.

"Don't worry, Al. If Jared screws with you, he screws with all of us."

Ali smiled slightly before pressing a kiss to her friend's cheek. "Love you."

"We love you too, babe." Jesse grinned as she handed a glass to Freya and then sat back down. "But do we need to watch a holiday movie? It's barely spooky season."

Ali passed her the remote and she immediately put on her latest obsession—Lockwood & Co.

Freya wrinkled her nose. "What is this?"

"Ghosts'n’ shit." Jesse didn't look away from the screen even when Ali laughed.

"This is, what, your third re-watch?"

"I'm a dedicated person," Jesse said with a shrug. “I swear if they don’t renew it I’m going to riot.”

"It's kind of likeScooby Doo," she explained and Freya looked back at her blankly. "Or likeSupernatural?" Ali tried again and then shook her head when Freya still looked confused.

"Sometimes I forget why we're friends with you," she teased and Freya smirked.

"Well, that's easy. You're the smart one, Jesse's the sporty one and I'm the rich one."

"I'm not sporty," Jesse said, wrinkling her nose and Ali grimaced.

"And I'm not that smart." She nodded to the phone where it lay after Freya had watched the video. "Case in point."

"Jared's a shitbag," Jesse said easily. "It could have happened to anyone."

Ali sighed. "Let's just focus on something else."

They fell quiet for a few minutes while they watched the screen until Jesse let loose a massive sigh that made it sound like she was about to burst.

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