“Let’s sit down.” She leads me into the living room. “Do you want anything to drink?”
I shake my head and sit. “I’m good, thank you.” To distract myself, I examine the bright room without really noticing much. “Is Bill home?”
Sharon crosses her legs in the armchair and rolls her lips. “He went to the store to get something quick but he should be back anytime now. What’s going on?” Her back straightens almost unnaturally. “Is Harper okay?”
“I hope so.” I pause. Wait a second. I look at her and find her curious gaze already on me. “Why are you asking about Harper?”
“Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“Mmmm, yeah.” My left leg bounces, but I don’t feel like stopping. Right now, it feels soothing.
“I don’t think Bill has seen the video yet.”
At this point, I’m not sure if that’s good news or bad news.
I draw my eyebrows together. “But you have?”
She grimaces. “I have, sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong, and I know you weren’t the only one.”
“Definitely not. When I checked it earlier, it was at five hundred thousand views.”
I rear back as if she slapped me because she might as well have. “Five hundred thousand views?”
Her whole posture stoops as she nods.
“Crap.” My poor jaw is getting another workout, but I try to keep it together in front of Sharon.
“I’ve tried calling her, but it goes straight to voicemail. Is she all right?”
“That’s one of the reasons I’m here since I have the same issue. She was fine when I left in the middle of the night.”
Her eyes widen. “You left her in the middle of the night?”
“Mmm, I did.”
A door slams somewhere, and Sharon jumps up. “That’s Bill. Let me get him.”
My gut rolls over knowing what I’m about to tell Bill.
Calm down. You didn’t do anything wrong.
While I wait, I pull my phone out of my pocket and check it for the millionth time in case I missed a call or text, but still nothing. Damn it.
Bill walks in a moment later, stopping behind the armchair Sharon just sat in. “What’s going on, Ryan?”
My mouth is so dry, I can barely open it.
Sharon follows with some water bottles. “Honey, stop standing there. Sit down.”
She hands me one, and I unscrew the cap to take a huge gulp. “Thank you.”
Bill puts his on the coffee table and continues to stare at me. “You’re making me nervous, what is it?”
Bill isn’t one to get nervous, but then, I don’t just show up unannounced on his doorstep on the one day a week we don’t have training either.
Sharon said he hasn’t seen the recording yet, so I clear my throat and decide to just go for it. “There’s a video online of Harper and me from last night. Her ex is in it too. Natasha Leopolt picked it up and decided to go a step further and claim that we’ve had a fight over it and you cut me loose.”