Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

AVA

I spend most of Monday sleeping off my allergic-reaction hangover. I get up to get myself food a few times but don't fully wake until late afternoon. When I check my email, my heart rate spikes to see a notification email from Instagram stating I have over a hundred new notifications. What's going on?

Anxiety builds as I open the app on my phone and dial in to the reason for the sudden spike. A picture of me and Jett, taken from somewhere across the street, coming into my rental last night, has blown up overnight, and my hopes that there won't be negative consequences to it slip quickly away when I come across comments saying that the only reason I was hired to plan Gabriella's wedding is because I'm sleeping with the groom's best friend.

"No, no, no, no, no," I mutter. There are hundreds of comments on the post from a Houston celebrity gossip account, so I have no hope that it hasn't spread to a wider, national audience. Not with Jett in the mix of the story. Has Kristen seen it? Have the people at Rutledge? My chest hurts, and I think my heart even stops when I see a comment from Chelsea: Sleeping with someone is probably the only way she gets jobs these days .

I gasp. This is definitely not the image Rutledge wants connected with their wholesome annual fundraiser. I flop back onto my pillows, covering my eyes with my arm and wishing I could go back to sleep and wake up to this all being some weird nightmare thanks to the exhausting day before.

I call Gabriella. "Ignore them," she says when I tell her about the comments. She already knows about the post. She sounds a little smug when she says, "The one with Jett's arm around you? Claro."

"That's easy for you to say. No one's accusing you of sleeping around," I whine. The old feelings from the awful comments during the Hope Sanctuary Alliance fiasco are creeping up on me. I almost lost my job because of how bad it got. If this gets worse, I could lose a huge account for Kristen. I think I might throw up.

"Ava. They're trolls."

"Chelsea said something."

"That little—" Gabriella mutters a string of words in Spanish that I'm pretty sure are bad words. "Ava, she's bitter and vindictive. A troll," she reiterates. "Besides, Jett took care of it. Didn't you see his post?"

Jett posted on social media? He's definitely more the type to ignore it than me. "No…" I put Gabriella on speaker and tap to his account. There's a picture of us from his junior year of college, right after I moved to Reno. It's after a football game, a selfie of us eating chips and guac, him with his salt-and-vinegar chips and me with a tortilla chip and a smile that says I think Jett's crazy. My chest pinches now for a different reason. Please take a moment to keep my friend @Ava.Lemmon in your thoughts. In some tragic events Sunday night, she discovered she's allergic to avocados. A couple of sobbing emojis have me breaking into laughter.

"It's perfect, right?" Gabriella says, laughter in her voice as well.

"Hmm, yeah," I say distractedly as I keep reading. In all seriousness, I'm so glad I could be there to help an old friend. He gives a shout-out to Dr. Reeves and the people at St. Joseph's Medical Center. The comments on his post are much more positive, and I've even relaxed a little at his words.

I pull in a long breath, trying to believe what Gabriella said about it just being online trolls. "This still could be bad for Rutledge and Kristen."

"No offense, Ava, but people said a lot worse after the Hope Sanctuary Alliance thing. Rutledge has seen that and they're still looking at the firm. Worst-case scenario, you resign and work for me."

A breathy laugh escapes. "Yeah, because the spin on that will be so much better."

"The difference is I know you and what's real."

The affection in her voice makes me relax more. I'll figure out my own response and hope Rutledge and Kristen are as discerning as Gabriella is trying to convince me they are. But even after I thank her and we hang up, the anxious pinch in my chest won't go completely away. I text Kristen, letting her know about the post and the misunderstanding so it doesn't surprise her. Waiting for her response doesn't help me on the worrying front. I knew planning this wedding was a bad idea. I just didn't realize how big of a part Jett McCombs would play in that.

And yet, I don't think I could stay away, even if it's for the best.

Kristen texts back later that evening saying that she'll keep an eye on things. I should have called because I'm not sure how to interpret the tone. She does add, People are awful after that. So maybe it's going to be fine? It's hard to convince myself.

Gabriella sends me a post suggestion that Dalton came up with—funny and echoing Jett's language about our just-friends relationship—and makes me promise to stay off social media for a while. She insists that her social media manager will keep an eye on things and let me know if things get really bad. Still, I sleep restlessly that night, likely a combo of sleeping all day Monday and the Instagram mess.

The next day I take it easy, working mostly on my laptop, stalking various people involved with the wedding while ignoring my own notifications on any of the apps I check out. That's the best I can do to keep my promise to Gabriella. If there's one thing I won't let happen again, it's being surprised by a situation like I was with Mrs. Page outing her husband at a charity fundraiser. We're upping the game on Gabriella's wedding by making it a big event, and I'm worried that means someone will try to use it for their own platform. If her wedding turns into The Hope Sanctuary Alliance 2.0, how will I forgive myself for hurting or humiliating Gabriella? She certainly won't want me to have anything to do with her future campaign if anything happens.

Which would be totally fine, I have to remind myself.

So far everyone passes my vetting. I'll call in some favors later for the more prominent guests—political friends Gabriella's parents know, the bridesmaids and groomsmen, the officiant, any famous friends of Colby's. I'll want more than what their Instagram accounts can tell me. While my mind is on the subject, I open the spreadsheet my assistant is keeping up-to-date with RSVPs. When I checked it a couple of days ago, some early ones had already rolled in, thanks to us installing a button on the wedding website that makes it easy for the guests to do it in one click and a few things to fill in.

My eyes find Jett's name without me really thinking about it, smiling that he's on top of it. I blink when I notice that he's filled in the spot for a plus-one. Hayden Reid. Her name pops out immediately. Commenters on the post yesterday said Jett and Hayden were dating and that he was cheating on her with me. I tap over to her account before I can stop myself. I need to see what she said about the whole fiasco.

She hasn't mentioned anything. There is a picture of her and Jett sitting in camp chairs on the field at the Pumas stadium. Got to meet Houston's favorite QB today! But they are kind of leaning together like it's more. Is there more?

That's not the point. I shake my head, scrolling through a few more pictures to get an idea of their relationship, which is stupid. She's his plus-one. There's something going on. I just don't like it. The only other thing that maybe connects them is a selfie of her with the caption, Texting my new favorite and a heart-eyes emoji. I note that she has over two million fans, which almost justifies me looking into her. That's some heavy hitting.

I shouldn't, but I google her. She played basketball at University of Houston, and I wonder if her height—almost six feet—is something Jett is attracted to. I'm no shorty—I'm five-eight—but picturing her next to Jett is an attractive image. Attractive only in the fact that they're both insanely beautiful, and in some good heels she'd probably stand nearly at his height. Talk about intimidating.

I close my laptop, even though a voice says I should probably keep looking into her. Two million followers is nothing to blink at. Despite Gabriella being Miss Texas and coming from a family with a lot of influence in Texas, she didn't go over a million followers until after she started dating Colby. Hayden's large presence on social media also means she likely knows how to handle herself too. I ignore the wiggling jealousy in my stomach and move to get up. Time to enjoy the beach right outside my door and go for a walk to clear my head.