22. Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Carissa

I don't think it's normal to get nervous about a female friend coming to hang out, but I'm freaking out. Maybe it's because I never really had girlfriends after I hit puberty, so this feels like new territory to me. Like my sister, most of my friends in high school and college were guys. Unlike my sister, none of them were true friends. Once they realized I wasn't likely to let them out of the friend zone, they slinked away with their tails between their legs, leaving me alone in every sense of the word.

The solitude was nice while I was in PT school so I could focus on getting through all my training, but it did leave some things to be desired.

Like knowing what to do when a girl comes over.

Kasey shows up right when she said she would Saturday afternoon, a bag of junk food in her arms and a tote full of books hanging on her shoulder. Last week, when I was at Derek's, we talked about our shared love of reading, and Kasey asked if we could get together to talk books when she got back from San Francisco so she could have a distraction from Liam being away on his tour. Obviously I said yes—I need all the friends I can get—but now that our hangout is here…

"Hey!" I say, stepping back to let her into my apartment.

Dropping the junk food on the kitchen island, Kasey takes in the space with wide eyes. The kitchen and living room are lumped together in one open space—a lot like Cole's actual house—everything clean and bright and new. "You can afford all this working for Cole's team?"

I snort. "Not even a little bit. My brother-in-law is paying for it." And while I feel incredibly guilty for taking advantage of his generosity, I'd have to get two more part-time jobs to pay for something like this, and I wouldn't feel safe in anything less. The curse of not leaving home before now, probably.

"Rich people are the best. I pretty much moved in with Liam a week after I met him because his house was so much better than where I was living."

I raise an eyebrow. "I thought you stayed with him because of paparazzi stuff."

Her eyes practically sparkle as she grins at me. "That too, but Liam and his house were hard to resist."

This is my first time interacting with her without Liam's arms wrapped around her, and the longer I look at her, the more I realize how close in age we are. Plus, before Liam she didn't live in wealth like the rest of the group, and her shorts and tank top make me feel better about wearing leggings and an oversized t-shirt. She feels…normal.

After a new Hot Scoop article showed up this morning, I'm desperate for normal.

Kasey's eyebrows pull low. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Dang it," I mutter, as tears spill out of my eyes. "I promise there's a reason I'm crying, and it's not you. I mean, it's sort of you, but it's not…"

Grabbing my hand, she pulls me over to the couch and plops down, bringing me with her. "I could be way off base here, but I'm going to guess you're overwhelmed. I read the article they posted this morning."

I nod, amazed by how easily she locked on to the feelings that came out of nowhere. "I never wanted to be famous," I blubber. "And I'm not… Cole and I aren't even dating! And suddenly it feels like everyone knows who I am and they're talking about me and I don't know what to do." This feels like everything with Peter all over again, and my stomach is twisting itself into knots. "I don't know how to handle this again."

Kasey takes hold of my other hand and squeezes both. "Take it from someone who is still new to this world. It's okay to be overwhelmed, and it's okay to feel scared. But you also have a pretty great support system. What has Cole said about all this?"

I look at my phone, which I left on the kitchen counter as soon as I found the article. "I don't know. I've been comfort-watching Bridgerton all day, trying to keep my mind off of things."

"Hmm." Kasey pulls her phone out of her pocket and purses her lips as she reads something. "Now I understand why he asked if I was still hanging out with you today. He's clearly worried about you."

I know I shouldn't, but I shift her phone closer so I can read exactly what he said to her.

Cole:

Are you still going over to Carissa's today?

Kasey:

Planning on it!

Cole:

Good.

That's it? How did she get worry out of that ?

Kasey chuckles and offers a soft smile. "Cole and I rarely have reasons to talk outside of the group chat, so the fact that he even asked is pretty damning."

"Damning?" I repeat.

"I just mean it's clear he didn't want you to be alone. Which is strange."

"Strange?" I repeat. I'm sounding like Liam's parakeet, Nelson, who is almost as famous as Liam himself.

Kasey nods. "I've only known Cole for a few months, and the first time I met him was the day after Sage broke up with him, so he was pretty miserable. The gang always says he hasn't been himself since, but I've had to take their word for it until now. He is stepping up to look out for you."

Warmth spreads through me, calming some of the fears and anxieties roiling in my gut.

"All that to say," Kasey continues, "Cole won't let Hot Scoop or anyone else hurt you. Neither will the rest of us. You can breathe."

I can breathe . Just having someone next to me who has been through something like this is making it easier to bear the potential backlash from the article, and I throw my arms around Kasey's shoulders to pull her into a tight hug. "Thank you," I whisper. I'm crying again, but these are tears of relief more than anything. "And I'm sorry that I'm not doing a very good job of distracting you."

She shrugs, cheeks turning pink as she tucks some hair behind her ear. "Oh, well, I'm doing better than I thought I would."

I gasp and grab her hand, staring at the glittering ring on her finger. "Did Liam propose ?"

Her eyes go wide. "Yes?"

"Why did that sound like a question?" I ask with a laugh.

"I mean, he did propose. But then he…we… "

That's when I notice the second band pressed up against the first. The wedding band. "Kasey!" I shriek. "Did you guys…?"

She covers her face with her hands, but she can't hide the broad smile that stretches across her mouth. "We eloped. Yesterday. But you can't tell anyone! Liam wants to tell everyone in person, and he won't be back for weeks ."

I squeal with excitement. "You got married!" And oh boy, how am I going to keep that secret? "Oh my gosh, everyone is going to be so mad when they find out!" Hopefully not from me…

"I know," Kasey says, still hiding behind her hands. "But we were talking about a wedding, and neither of us really wanted any pomp and circumstance. And after his first show, we decided we didn't want to wait and we just…" She shrugs, grinning again. " I got married . And my parents are going to kill me but I don't even care because I'm Liam Connolly's wife . If we didn't have to keep it a secret, I would let it slip to Hot Scoop to get the attention off of you for a bit, but…"

I hug her again. "Thanks, but you deserve privacy too. I've been through this before, so I just need to—"

"You have?" Eyebrows pulling low, Kasey stares at me like I just said something crazy.

Because I did. Grimacing, I nod and curl my legs up to my chest. "Back home, before I came here, I sort of got involved with a married man who was running for governor, and someone found out." It's way easier to say than I would have thought, but maybe that's because Kasey shared her secret with me first. "I didn't know he was married. And he was my client too, so it was all…"

"Messy?" Kasey guesses. When I nod, she squeezes my hand. "My boyfriend in college stole my script and sold it to a producer, who got it turned into a movie, and I didn't get any of the credit."

My jaw drops. "Seriously? Okay, why do men suck? "

Snickering, she hops off the couch, grabbing the food and her books. "Not all men. I ended up with one of the good ones, and I couldn't be happier with the way the dumb things in life led me to him." She pulls out a bag of gummy worms and, to my amusement, a copy of the first Bridgerton book. "Anyway, if you can get through something like that with your ex, you can handle anything that Hot Scoop might dish out. And for the record?" She takes my hand and smiles. "Cole Evanson is not the type of guy who has bedpost notches. And I'm pretty sure he likes you."

I know he likes me, which is part of the problem. But I keep that to myself, grateful for a friend who seems perfectly content to get lost in a fantasy world with me for an afternoon and pretend everyone can get a happily ever after. Kasey is right. She got one, even if her new husband is in a different state right now, and if she can be happy in a world of tabloids and gossip, maybe I can be too.

When the timing is right.