Page 116 of Try Hard
“No. I know how these things work. That shit is hard when nobody is in your corner and you’re being threatened with losing everything you care about if you speak out. It was never okay.”
“The only thing I care about not losing is you.”
“Eve,” I whispered, brushing my fingers through her hair, “I’m not going anywhere.”
“But… the comments online, the impact it’s clearly having on your job.” She winced. “I’m guessing they’re seeing this as the perfect opportunity to get you on camera. A celebrity presenter of sorts.”
I laughed bitterly. “Pretty much. Though, they seem to be going with the ‘girlfriend of a celebrity’ angle, as opposed to thinking I’m a celebrity.”
Despite it all, hope flitted undeniably across Eve’s face. That was the moment I realised we hadn’t actually talked about that, about being girlfriends. The world had simply decided that for us and slapped the label on. As much as I’d always wanted to be her girlfriend, it was still pretty shitty of everyone to steal that from us.
I cleared my throat, my eyes running over her face like I was trying to engrave her into my brain. She didn’t seem to want to go anywhere, but, with the sudden social media circus, there was a part of me that worried I’d lose her anyway. When I’d only just gotten her back, too. “I wonder who the wannabe paparazzo was.”
“Kieran texted me when I was on my way over. He says they’re looking into it.” She sighed heavily, her hands running soothingly up and down my sides. “My first thought was Sammy…”
I laughed ruefully. “Mine too. But then—”
“—she was in some of the pictures.”
“Exactly.” I pulled my phone out again. Texts from Kim and Tanika. “I have a similar message from Kim. Oh, and threats of death against whoever it was from Tanika.”
Eve laughed, leaning to look at the message. “She always was protective of you.”
“Never threatened to kill anyone for me before, though.” I put my phone away again and looked at Eve. “And she was never as protective as you are.”
“Yes, well. I like to think she and I love you in very different ways.” She blushed and I felt my stomach jolt.
It wasn’t a declaration of love, not quite, but that was there, simmering under the surface of her words. And we both knew it.
I hummed and pressed a kiss to her soft lips. I’d take her telling me she loved me in any situation, but there were, perhaps, better moments than this one. “Well, let us hope we don’t need to bail Tanika out of prison to attend this wedding.”
“It’d be okay if you didn’t want to attend, you know?” she asked before pressing another quick, reassuring kiss against my lips. I was never going to get over Eve Archer kissing me.
I shook my head. When I’d first realised what was happening, that had been my second thought—right after needing to speak to Eve, though, that quest had been interrupted by Simon. Now, I didn’t want that. “I still want to go, I think. It’s been nice, reconnecting with Kim and Tanika. And, you know, they, uh, brought me back to you—”
“And I’ll be forever grateful for that,” she said quickly and emphatically, holding me against her body.
I smiled blissfully at her. “Me too.”
A month ago, if someone had told me this would happen, I’d have been horrified, convinced I’d never feel happy again. But, with Eve at my side through it all, it was easier to smile than I’d ever have guessed.
“Well,” Eve said seriously after a moment of adoringly staring at each other, “we can keep our distance from each other if they haven’t figured out who sold the pics before then.”
I chewed my lip. I didn’t want that. But I also didn’t really want more photos of us together being sold for public consumption. That was the price though, right? Eve had warned me about that. And I was going to have to make a choice.
“We can work it out,” she said urgently, like she was reading my mind and wanted to give me anything to prevent me walking away. “We’ll figure out how to avoid getting photographed together. And, you know, I’m not that famous anymore—not really relevant. Andra thinks the interest will die down quickly. And we’ll find a way to make it tolerable.”
I nodded and kissed her. I didn’t want to hide her. She was exquisite, and I knew how ridiculously lucky I was to be with her. I just needed to wrap my head around this whole thing and figure out how to handle it. Eve had been upfront about what she could offer. I had known the deal going in. Of course, intellectually understanding something and experiencing it were two very different things, but I would figure it out. For her.
She kissed me like she thought I was going to break, like she was terrified I’d disappear. Her hands traced over me, revelling in our closeness. Her mouth was desperately sad and loving. I’d never been wanted or understood like this before.
I wasn’t going anywhere, though. I didn’t want to lose her either. The road might not be clear and easy, but I was committed to navigating it with her. And I poured every bit of that certainty into the kiss.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Eve
Of all the ways I’d imagined a ‘meet the parents’ situation over the years, I’d never envisioned it going quite like this. Of course, Ophelia and I knew each other’s parents, we’d met, but sitting down to dinner together with our families still felt monumental.
