Page 30 of Man Seeking Woman

Nodding, Kay said, "I won't."

"I'm serious, this needs to stay between us. The paper has it all wrong to begin with, but the truth would probably ruin him, and I don't want to do that either. He might be an ass, but I won't be responsible for destroying his life."

"You have my word, El, you know you can trust me. As your best friend, I am legally obligated to take all your secrets to the grave."

Spilling my guts to her, I told her every detail of the night. From the start of the date, to his unholy request, to my landlord showing up with an eviction letter. Saying it out loud, all of it sounded even worse than in my head.

It morphed into this palpable object, something I could actually touch and feel. Like the weight of the world was resting on my shoulders. My life was falling apart, crumbling into dust at my feet, and I wasn't sure how to pick it up and put it back together.

Kay gave me a hug, pressing her hands into my back as she spoke into my ear. "Let me help, El."

"No, no, I can't let you do that." Pulling out of the hug, I gave her a small smile. "This is my problem, and while I appreciate the offer, I'll fix this myself."

"At least let me talk to my father, I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem helping. He knows the family, let me talk to him."

"Thanks, but no. I just need to talk to August myself. Maybe he can give a statement or something, straighten this whole thing out."

"I'm sure there's some legal out he can threaten the newspaper with so they can't use your photo again or harrass you. Because once they learn who you are, that's it, they'll be like fucking vultures."

"If it comes to that, you'll be the first person I'll turn to. But for now, I've got this."

This wasn't her problem to fix, it was mine. And as much as I knew she wanted to help because that's just how she was, I wasn't going to drag her into this mess.

Kay's father was a big shot lawyer. And while having her on my side was great, I felt like that would only make things worse. I would end up in the headlines again, and not for the reason I would want.

I wanted to be on the front page for composing breathtaking music, not scandalous chatter that wasn't true and didn't reflect who I was.

I need to see him again. That's the only way to clear this up.

August had to fix this, he owed me that much.