She stomped past all the people in line at the nurses’ station, blatantly ignoring the snickers and stares of the people around her. When the nurse’s eyes narrowed, Sydney rested both palms on the desk, leaning in, before the nurse had a chance to tell her to get to the back of the line again.
An almost smile surfaced. I had to give it to this tiny woman—she had drive.
“I know you are too busy tending to patients, which you should be, but right now, he’s garnering a ton of attention.” Her voice boomed, sounding loud, even from where I was seated. She peered back at me. She wasn’t lying as a few more people snapped pictures of me. “If we don’t get him to a room quickly, there will be paparazzi swarming this area like a pack of wolves.”
Thank goodness no one was asking for my autograph because I was in the worst possible mood. I didn’t want to get an earful from Noah in addition to getting injured.
Whatever Sydney had said worked because she flapped her hand back and forth, beckoning me. We followed the nurse through the double doors, to a curtained room in the back.
The nurse eyed me, but not in a creepy, predatory kind of way. I usually knew a stalker fan when I saw one. I could sniff them out.
“The doctor will be in shortly,” the nurse indicated.
I sat on the bed and responded with a tip of my chin. Sydney politely thanked her before the nurse stepped out of the room.
“Big Balls, please,” I uttered, my tone heavy with defeat.
Her finger was already on the keypad. “Why do you call your agent Big Balls?” She shook her head. “Forget it. I don’t even want to know. I already have a visual of a guy with gigantic balls and a little penis.”
I laughed and then grimaced. It even hurt to fucking laugh. “He programmed my phone a while ago with that name. It’s because he doesn’t bullshit and he gets me paid.”
Her eyebrows rose, then lowered as she placed the cell on my ear.
The phone rang only once before a deep baritone echoed through the cell. “What the heck happened?” His loud voice almost made me flinch—almost, but not really because I was used to Noah. He was my original agent who had gotten me signed.
I held my phone between my ear and good shoulder while Sydney paced the small space in front of us.
“I know. I’m sorry. Do you think I planned this? Do you think I wanted to beat James to a pulp?” My eyebrows pulled together.
Besides being my agent, Noah was one of my good friends. A friend who told me the truth when it hurt and annoyed the hell out of me at times.
“It’s all over social media,” he said. “You weren’t thinking. What if this guy presses charges? This is a shitshow right now. I got the GM calling me, wanting to know your status. Dr. Klein is headed down there. It’s off-season, man. Everyone is on fucking break. It’s a good thing he didn’t leave town to go on vacation.”
I heard him, but not really. My head was too full of pictures of James kissing my sister. Myengagedsister. The fucker. Now, I was getting fired up again.
“Are you even listening to me right now?!”
No.“Yes.” I ran one heavy hand down my face. “Look, man, my sister is fucking my best friend, and she’s engaged … to another man. What did you think I was going to do?” I snapped.
There was a pause, followed by Noah’s shocked voice. “Your sister cheated on her fiancé with your best friend?”
I could already see how Noah was concocting this in his head, how he would sell this to management and anyone who was calling him for information.
“Just talk to Roger.” Roger was the GM. “And don’t spin it the way I’m thinking you’re going to. I won’t do that to my sister.” Even though, right now, I thought she was the shittiest person in the world.
“How else do you want me to spin it? You know you’re trending on Twitter right now. They think Brandy is your girlfriend, and that’s why you broke up with Tiffany. And who the hell was that shirtless woman? There are a ton of theories out there. If we only set them—”
My voice was hard. “No.”
Silence stretched between us.
“Have you seen the doctor yet?”
And then quieter. “No.”
Another beat of silence stretched between us.
“Austin …” He sighed heavily. “I think the best way to clear up what’s happening is to tell the truth.”