Well, fuck.
29
ASHER
The sound of heels clicking on the floor gets annoying as Blaire paces across the room. She’s been going on and on about how she told me so, and how coming here was a horrible idea. If I have to hear about her hatred for damage control one more time, I’m going to lose it.
Tessa still hasn’t been able to have any pain meds, so with every tap of Blaire’s shoe, it’s clear her headache is getting worse. I grab her hand and run my thumb back and forth to comfort her. Delaney and Savannah watch my publicist like she’s some kind of circus act. Though, that’s probably because of their connection to Tessa. If she doesn’t like someone, neither do they.
“Is she always like this?” Savan
nah questions.
Colby snorts. “She’s worse.”
“Okay.” Blaire takes a deep breath. “Okay, I can spin this. There has to be a way to spin this.”
I don’t miss the way Tessa rolls her eyes. She’s slowly starting to look better than she did this morning, with the color coming back into her. Blondie over there might be worried about my image, but my only concern is the girl in the hospital bed.
“And how do you intend to do that, all knowing one?” I quip.
She turns to glare at me, then her expression turns to disgust. “For starters, you can stop doing that.”
Her hand gestures to where Tessa’s hand and mine are intertwined. Tess squirms uncomfortably and goes to pull away, but I tighten my grip, shaking my head when she looks at me. There’s not a damn thing Blaire can say that will make me let go. Especially not when I just got her back and I almost lost her forever.
“I still don’t understand how they found out.” Delaney sighs. “You haven’t left this room. Do you think it was one of the nurses?”
I shake my head. “They’re under HIPPA and all that.”
Colby sits up and runs his hands over his face. “The articles said it came from a reliable source.”
Tessa gasps and turns to Zayn and Knox with wide eyes. “You don’t think—”
“No,” Knox stops her question before it’s even asked. “He’s not that fucked up.”
Zayn, however, doesn’t look so convinced. “I don’t know, man. I was outside having a cigarette when he left, and he was pretty pissed off.”
“Easton,” Delaney says, annoyed. “Of course. I swear, when he doesn’t get what he wants, he makes the stupidest fucking choices.”
Blaire stops and crosses her arms over her chest. “Are you all done? Congratulations, you figured out the irrelevant.”
“Irrelevant?” Savannah narrows her eyes at her.
“It doesn’t matter how they know. The only thing that matters is what they know, and how we can twist it into a story we can deal with.”
Everyone looks annoyed by the situation, except for Lennon, who is still curled up in the corner, though she’s been annoyed since she got here. She hasn’t left but she also hasn’t said a single word to anyone. She just sits there, staring out the window and glancing at Tessa every now and then.
Blaire focuses all her attention solely on me. “It has to look like you were doing her a favor by being here.”
“What?” Delaney balks. “No.”
“Laney,” Tessa tries, but her sister isn’t hearing it.
“I said no. Absolutely not. You’re not going to paint her as some desperate charity case.”
As she rolls her eyes, Blaire looks bored. “Then please, enlighten me. What do you think we should do?”
Delaney stands and stalks toward her. “I think you should check your fucking attitude before I take your three-inch stiletto and jab it into your eye socket.”