Chapter 14

14

I didn't see Kade the next day. Hell, Rory and I didn't even leave our yurt. High winds and lots of thunder and lightning kept us inside. Like Jabril predicted, shooting was canceled for the day. We only had sporadic Internet because of the wind, so we spent a lot of the day napping and playing cards. I'd told him Kade and Nora split, omitting the details, and he thankfully didn't push after I said it wasn't my story to tell.

The following morning, Rory's phone lit up with notifications. I'd barely rolled out of bed and thrown on clothes to go grab breakfast in the cantina before it started beeping. We'd likely have to hit makeup and costuming after a quick meal, because even though the wind hadn't completely died down, the storm had mostly dissipated. Wasn't looking forward to the blaring alarm from the app Jabril had everyone install so he could send an all-hands alert when necessary. Like severe weather alerts, only louder.

Rory's phone's repeated dinging was equally annoying.

"Can't you silence those? What's all the drama about, anyway?"

Rory's lips thinned as he thumbed open his screen. "Shit, shit, shit."

"What the matter?" After the Matt debacle, I'd closed my social media accounts, and only recently re-opened an IG account to send business to my Only Fae channel. I kept alerts firmly off, and Rory curated my page for me and blocked toxic fuckwads. Better for my mental health.

He didn't answer, just swore under his breath and kept scrolling. "That asshole! That fucking asshole. Why can't he just stop? He's like some online nightmare stalker who you can't get a restraining order against."

Now he had my full attention. There was only one person in our lives who provoked that kind of response. I tensed.

"What's Matt up to now? Mining our breakup for more content?" I said it in a deceptively light tone, because that's most likely exactly what he was doing. Without me writing his content, he was pretty limited in what he had to offer. I'd loved him once and took great pains to portray him in a compelling light to our followers. Even though he brought in professional writers to replace me, they didn't know him—and his ego—the way I did. Any time one of his streams didn't hit, his next one would offer some horrible tidbit about something I'd supposedly done to him. The guy should be a fiction writer with the scenarios he created. "You know what? I don't want to know. I'm done worrying about what he says."

And I was . . . until I saw Rory's face. His eyes bugged, and breath streamed from his nose like a bull about to charge. I hadn't seen him this angry since Matt had ambushed me on air.

I swallowed. "Is it bad?"

He looked up from his screen and nodded. He held it out to me.

I hesitated before reaching for it.

Seeing Matt's face always felt like having a sword thrust through my chest. Even after all this time, it was so hard to comprehend that he was the guy I'd planned to spend my life with. I wasn't in love with him anymore—if anything, I hated him—but it still hurt. He'd represented the idea of family, of belonging, especially after my mom died. When we'd split, he'd upended my entire world. People I thought were friends all chose sides, and it wasn't mine. That would never not hurt.

I could tell by the website header this wasn't Matt's channel, but one of the big Hollywood gossip sites. The words were a jumble, though a small picture of him at the top of an article made me try to decipher the content. He'd definitely had a glow up since I'd last seen him. Money could do that for a guy. "Is he engaged to his boyfriend or something?"

"Scroll down to the other photos, then I'll read it to you."

So I did. And holy hell. "What the fuck is this?"

A picture of Kade and Nora at some event together, both dressed to the nines, with Kade's expression painfully neutral, while Nora smiled for the camera. The picture was torn in half with each face set inside part of a broken heart. Damn, these sites worked fast. But what did that have to do with Matt? I shot Rory a questioning glance.

"Keep scrolling."

After a bunch of text, a picture of Kade with a huge smile giving me a bro hug right after he'd ridden Fio. I gazed up at him like a simp. I wanted to cringe seeing my obvious crush written all over my face. Still, it was just a hug. Nothing incriminating.

I kept going.

A picture of Kade crouched down before me with his hand on my shoulder.

Taken right after the incident with the birds and Old George. We were gazing into each other's eyes, and we were so close our noses almost touched. We'd been discussing whether I wanted to continue the shoot after my ordeal. It looked a little . . . intimate, though nothing scandalous. Well, except for my outfit. No good way to spin that.

Who had bothered to take these? And why?

I scrolled down again.

Oh, shit.

A picture of us outside The Gay Bar. Kade's fingers had just brushed the lock of hair from my face, and he'd kept his hand on my cheek. Our expressions spoke of heat and want. That had to be a trick of the light. At least on his side. We looked like we were about to go at it.

I handed the phone back and sunk down onto the edge of my mattress. I might throw up.

"What's the article say? I still don't see what this has to do with Matt." Maybe, just like Kade and Nora's break up, Matt was simply being referenced in relation to our own split? Only I didn't think so.

Rory began to read. Matt had done a livestream yesterday evening, where he was the first to break the news that Kade and Nora had broken up. He'd opened the video with, "Teremie the Cheater strikes again." I barely heard the rest of the article, instead grabbing my phone and using my voice app to call up Matt's channel. The video popped up first and had an ungodly number of views already. I hit play, and Rory came to sit beside me.

It was awful. I numbly listened to Matt's smooth voice weave a tale about how I'd come between a happy couple and broken them up. "Homewrecker" was thrown around liberally. He'd also referenced our own "tragic" love story.

As much as his accusations would have hurt a few months ago, now I shook with the fury, and my heart slammed in my chest, a growl caught in my throat. Matt could say what he wanted about me, but Kade was trying to relaunch his movie career. Matt basically accused him of cheating and being secretly bi. And what would Nora think? I didn't know her, but Kade cared for her. She'd assume he'd cheated on her like her ex. This time, Matt wasn't only fucking with my life. He screwed with two people who had nothing to do with him. For ratings. Again.

I needed to talk to Kade. Apologize. He probably hated me since I'd brought my mess to his doorstep.

Once the video ended, I hopped up and shoved my feet into slides.

"Where are you going?" Rory asked.

"To see Kade. Maybe his publicist can do damage control. Something. Matt is such a piece of shit!"

I rushed out the door, almost tripping over a large badger who looked like he'd bedded down for the day. I'd stopped questioning the animals we'd found on our stoop every morning. None had acted hostile, and this one didn't either. Just yawned and watched as I hurried off toward Kade's cabin.

I passed crew as I went, many sniggering when they thought I wouldn't hear. I ignored them. Let them think what they want.

A glint at the corner of my eye had me glancing to the side. Did a double take. A group of goblins raised swords and raced toward the trees. Great costuming. Jabril hired top-notch talent, that was for sure. Why were they rehearsing out this way though? I looked to see if any camera crew were around. When I didn't see any, I glanced back to the goblins.

They were gone.

They must have been moving a lot faster than I'd realized. I dismissed them and sped my steps.

Reaching Kade's place, I knocked. Waited. Knocked again.

Kade answered the door shirtless, hair still wet from a shower, with his ear pods in, and clearly on the phone. For a second, I lost my train of thought. His pecs had a light dusting of hair and a very sexy happy trail disappeared into low slung joggers. And his adonis belt . . . wowza, perfect to trace with my tongue. I might actually be drooling.

I shook myself mentally. Focus .

"Hey Leslie, let me call you back." He huffed. "Yes, I get it. I know you will. Thanks." He clicked off his earpiece. "My publicist," he said in way of explanation.

"IswearIhadnothingtodowiththis." Yes, it was all one word. Not adequate, but I felt suddenly tongue-tied and not just because he was shirtless. I wrapped my arms around myself. "I want to apologize for . . ." Not sure what to say. My ex being a douche? For accidentally dragging him into this mess? For all the false accusations?

He tilted his head in such a wolf-like way that I wanted to laugh. Only nothing was funny at the moment.

"Apologize? For the paparazzi doing what they do?" He stood back from the door. "Why don't you come in? You seem upset."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? People might think that we're . . . you know."

"I don't care what people think. And you're clearly upset, and I don't want to discuss our private business in the doorway where anyone can eavesdrop."

So I entered. His cabin wasn't luxurious by Hollywood standards, but it had a stone fireplace, a cozy living room, separate bedroom, and a large window at the back that opened onto a scenic view of a meadow. I purposely looked around like the décor was the most interesting interior design I'd ever seen. Anything to give me a minute to regroup. He just seemed so unfazed. I stuffed my hands into my hoodie pockets and shifted from foot to foot.

"Not sure where to start." I bit my lip. "I promise I had nothing to do with those pictures or that story."

"Let's sit." He waved me to a very comfy looking sofa with a flannel throw across the back.

I perched on the very edge of a cushion, my leg bouncing.

Once he'd settled, he said, "Why would you assume I'd blame you?"

"Because . . ." Wow, this was harder to explain than I realized. I picked at a cuticle, not meeting his gaze. "My ex targets me when he wants better ratings. I didn't expect him to pull someone else into it. I should have known he'd do anything to stay on top. Plus, I don't know who else you told about your break-up but it can't be many people, so it would be natural you'd think I did it. And everyone already thinks I'm a cheater and Matt's the victim. My credibility is basically nonexistent, and no one ever believes me."

"So you assumed I wouldn't either?"

I winced. "I didn't mean to make it sound like—"

"Hey." Kade closed his hand over mine, sending a burst of warmth through me. "I don't think you had anything to do with it."

I peeked at him from under my lashes. "I'm so relieved to hear you say that. I honestly thought you might blame me."

He sighed. "This isn't my first rodeo, T. My family courts scandal every day of the week. I had to separate what junk journalism says about me from who I really am a long time ago."

"I should have known that my ex would make up more stories about me. I'm just not sure why he used you to do it. Or how he knew you and Nora broke up."

"I considered that. I'm pretty sure one of Hyde's minions snapped the photos and must have overheard our conversation the other night and reported it to him. He basically admitted to being friends with your ex, right?"

"That's what it seemed like." Damn Hyde and his nastiness. No wonder he and Matt were friends—cut from the same slimy cloth. And I had found it odd that a couple of his entourage joined us on the bus. That still didn't make any sense, though. "Why would Hyde do that to you? He hates me, but it seems ill advised to piss off a producer. That can't be good for his career."

Kade grimaced. "I can't say for certain, but it's no secret Jiz wants to replace him. If Jiz does it now, Hyde can claim it's retaliation for one of his minion's actions. Creates a series of problems for the production and opens us up for a wrongful termination lawsuit."

Wow. That was a whole other level of scheming.

"Did you talk to Nora? Does she think you cheated on her?"

He released my hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She's pissed off and hurt that our breakup is already in the news and wasn't all that interested in what I had to say. I don't know if she believed me that I was never unfaithful. And for the moment, I need to let her process and grieve our relationship. If she wants to talk to me, we'll talk. It's . . . I had hoped that once she accepted our split, we'd be able to be friends again. That's looking unlikely now."

My stomach sank. "I'm so sorry."

"Me, too. Though I don't have much of a defense after the photos." He rubbed at his forehead, like talking about this was giving him a headache.

"What do you mean? We were just talking." We hadn't actually been doing anything in the pics.

Kade looked up. "You don't see it?"

"See what?" Oh, shit. Did my attraction to him make her think—

"How attracted I am to you."

Another one of those needle scratch on the record moments. I blinked.

"You're attracted to me?" Now I sounded like a parrot, but I couldn't help it.

"Did you not look at the photos? Or maybe as a human you don't feel . . ."

And then sadness crashed over me like an icy wave. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself.

"No, I feel it. I just didn't think you . . . aren't you straight?"

"Obviously not anymore." He sounded so blasé, like we were discussing the weather.

"Um, I'm not sure it's that simple."

"It is for a wolf." He leaned back, placing his arm over the back of the sofa. "Only humans worry about genitalia."

Okaaay . I'd leave that alone for now.

Kade. Savage. Was. Attracted. To. Me. Would it be weird to jump up and down? Probably. Except, what did it mean? If wolves didn't mate with humans, it would always be casual, right? So, attraction meant sex. A friends-with-benefits situation at most. Was I okay with that?