Chapter 5

Spendingthe day with Remy both heals and hurts. Even before Griff and I became a couple, the three of us spent time together. It’s hard to be with Remy and not think about Griff. The two of them have been inseparable since we were kids.

But Remy’s patient and sweet to me all day. He doesn’t bring up Griff and he doesn’t razz me for my stupid plan that took me all the way to the airport.

It’s not until the next day that Remy drops a bomb on me.

The scent of vanilla waffles tickles my nose. Part of me’s a little insulted Remy’s babying me. The other part really wants some waffles. I hurry downstairs and into the kitchen.

After breakfast, Remy pushes his plate away. “I need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.” I glance at the clock. “I’m supposed to be at Miller’s by noon. Then, after my shift, I was thinking about stopping by the bar to help you out.”

I brace myself for him to say no.

“Yeah, I’d like you there.” He rubs one hand over his chest. “I should start teaching you the ropes. You can help me decide what we’re going to do with the place, eventually.” He leans forward and pats my hand. “But I need to talk to you about something else.”

The waffles I just inhaled do an unhappy tap dance in my stomach. “What?”

“Jerry called me yesterday.”

I fidget at the name of Griff’s boss. The owner of the garage where I left Griff’s car—and smashed mine to bits.

“That’s when I realized you were gone.”

I swallow hard. “What’d he have to say?”

Pain ripples over Remy’s expression, looking a little too close to pity for my taste. “What do you think he had to say?”

I lift one shoulder. “I dunno.”

“One of the other mechanics noticed Griff’s car parked oddly out by the garage. They saw broken glass. Investigated a little more. Found your car vandalized.”

My lower lip trembles. “Really?” I squeak.

“Molly.” He sighs. “Jerry saw the show.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. Damn. Jerry must think I’m horrible. I’ll never be able to look him in the eyes again.

“He figured you probably did it, but it was too late,” Remy says gently. “The other guys called the cops to report a break-in.”

My heart thuds. “What?” I glance up and meet Remy’s intense, blue-eyed stare.

“They had to get ahold of Griff. That’s why Jerry called me.”

I shift my gaze away from Remy’s face. “What’d Griff say?”

“He declined to press charges.” Remy’s voice falters. “I talked to him. Explained that we saw the show and what he did.”

“What’d you do, congratulate him?”

“Molly.” He lets out a louder sigh. “You know I didn’t.”

“Sorry,” I mumble. Remy was ready to kill Griff the other night. I bet he vented some of that rage once he got Griff on the phone. “What’d Griff say?”

Remy hesitates, then shakes his head. “He says he didn’t do it.”

“What a load!” I jump out of my chair and point toward the living room. “We all saw it.”

“Molly,” he says in his irritatingly patient voice. “He didn’t know the show was airing, yet.”

“Yeah, so? That doesn’t mean he’s innocent.”

He squeezes his eyes shut for a few seconds. “It sounds like what’s happening on set, and what the show’s been airing, are two different things.”

I drop back into my chair. “That doesn’t prove anything.”

“I know.”

“Did you tell him…” I lower my voice and glance away. “All the awful stuff the show said about me? And all the crap being posted about me online?”

“I did,” Remy says. “He didn’t know about any of it. I don’t think they would’ve been able to show that footage if you hadn’t signed the release.”

Once again, Remy’s giving me grief over something I did when I was caught off-guard and just wanted to support my boyfriend. “How was I supposed to know they’d use it that way! I thought I was helping Griff.”

“I know that.” The slower and more patiently Remy speaks, the angrier I’m getting. “And he knows that. I don’t think there’s a lot we can do about it now.”

“Maybe we can tell the show I signed it under duress. Because I did.”

“We can talk to a lawyer about pursuing that. But it’s probably going to take a lot of money.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Not many things in life are fair, Molly.”

“Yeah, I should know that by now,” I grumble. “Now that Griff knows what the show’s doing, will he leave and come home?” I hate the pitiful note of hope coloring my voice. I don’t want to see Griff or talk to him ever again.

Liar.

I don’t want my brother to know how bad I want to see Griff.

Remy presses his lips tight and flashes his pity eyes at me. “I don’t know if he can.”

“All he has to do is lose a fight.”

Remy shakes his head. “He says he already didn’t do well in one of the fights and he was surprised they didn’t send him home.”

“But that’s…that’s crazy. The show’s supposed to be a fighting com-pe-ti-tion.” I sound out each syllable as if it will somehow make a difference.

“That’s what he thought too.” Remy glances toward the living room. “But obviously it’s more than that.”

“So, is Griff lying? Or is the show rigged?”

“I think it’s clear by now, the show is fucked.” He shrugs. “Except when you two were sneaking around behind my back, Griff’s never lied to me.”

I glare at Remy. How dare he throw that in my face now of all times. I should’ve known he’d end up taking Griff’s side. “We didn’t sneak around. Does it make you feel better now? You were right all along. We never should’ve been together. Happy?”

“I didn’t say that, Molly.” He glares at me. “No, I’m not happy about any of this.”

“Let me get this straight.” I stand and lean over the table. “With your own two eyes.” I point two fingers at his eyes and then toward the television. “You saw your best friend in bed with another woman in black-and-white. And after one conversation with him, you’re ready to take his side. You’re trying to tell me maybe it’s not what it seems. That I didn’t see and hear him in bed with someone else. Do I have that right?”

Remy’s not a fan of being spoken down to by anyone. He stands and leans over the table so we’re almost nose-to-nose. “There are no sides, Molly. There’s the truth. And there’s whatever agenda the show is trying to push.”

“Bullshit! We all saw it. If Griff really didn’t do it, why hasn’t he tried to call me and explain himself?”

“He can’t let them know we talked about the show with anyone on the outside.”

“He talked to you! For a long time, apparently.”

He throws his head back and stares at the ceiling, pure frustration tightening his jaw. “I only got to talk to him because the cops reached him on set. The show couldn’t listen in on the call with the cops, so as soon as I got there, Jerry gave me the phone.”

“Oh.” I blink and sit back down, pulling my chair closer to the table.

Remy takes his seat again, too. “We couldn’t talk long. I let him know I had strong feelings about what he did.”

I roll my eyes.

“I told him about the show and all the bullshit being said about you. How they kept showing you in the opening credits. The shit people are saying about you online. He had no idea.”

Mortification heats me from head to toe. Remy told Griff how dumb and slutty the world thinks I am? I better get used to it. Those clips of me will live on into infinity. “Was he mad?”

“Of course. He’s furious. He never wanted you brought into any of this.”

“I only signed that dumb release form to help him.”

“Your heart was in the right place.”

“My heart is stupid,” I grumble.

“The interest in you will die off eventually.”

I don’t believe that for a second. Especially if Griff stays on the show, or worse, wins. They’ll ask him to come back for reunion shows, spin-offs, and who knows what else.

I would’ve been there to support him through all of it.

Now, I can’t wait to leave for college and never come back to this awful town.