Page 97 of Break the Ice

“What are you trying to say, Jhene?”

“What’s up with you and Rafe Golding? You know the gossip blogs are starting to… let me just say there’s rumors.”

My fork slips out of my hands and clangs as it hits my kitchen tile. “Wait, what are you talking about? Gossip blogs?”

“You know, all the fan girls who follow the Wolves and their love lives. You’ve been a name that’s come up more than a few times.”

“I forgot you lurk that garbage for your assignments.” I lean on my kitchen counter and massage my temples. They’ve started throbbing just at the idea of what people could be saying. “Tell me what they have.”

“Some blurry photos snapped of the two of you. One anonymous source claims to have seen Rafe outside your apartment building. Another says they saw you at Gourmande and the Onyx Hotel together…”

That’s because it’s all true. And then some.

“The rumors will go away.”

“You say that so confidently.”

I pick up my phone in the palm of my hand and challenge her on camera. “You think it’s not going to be going away? Why are you bringing this up?”

“Are you fucking him?”

“Jhene, mind your damn business!”

“That’s a yes,” she says, the judgment in her tone. “Mari, he’s bad news. You shouldn’t get mixed up with him. It could be David all over again.”

“I’ve got to go.”

I hang up with no warning, my pulse running fast. It takes me another moment before I’m coming down from the accusations that had been so sudden, I’d been thrown for a loop. Jhene already knew the answer, but the moment she asked, she got her confirmation.

My lunch is forgotten about, left untouched on the kitchen counter.

I go to the luggage in the hall. My emergency collection of things I’d put together in case I needed to skip town fast.

The walls feel like they’re closing in. The careful image I’ve put together, rebuilding from the bottom up after the Coach Abernathy scandal, is about to come tumbling down. If it’s not at the hands of Detective Gomez and the Seattle PD, it’ll be anonymous gossipers hell bent on revealing details about me and Rafe.

If he’s been seen outside my apartment, what else has been witnessed by wandering eyes?

My phone vibrates in my hand as a text from the last person I want to speak to comes in. Texts I’d hoped would disappear with Mr. Blackman’s death.

it’s time we meet for real

I text back without even letting a moment pass.

It’s over. Stay away.

The text messages are the final straw I need to convince me I need a break. If not to Montenegro just yet, I need a few days away from my life. I grab my to-go essentials backpack and luggage and check into a local hotel. Hopefully, to clear my head on what move to make next.

When I show my face at the team’s training facility, I’ve made up my mind. I’m in for a couple hours for a reason. I breeze through the corridors offering friendly smiles and nods of my head, but I don’t slow down for anyone.

Coach Oates slips into step with me, asking if I’ll be attending tonight’s game at the Climate Pledge. He plans on driving over and make an offer to carpool. I decline without even pretending to give it a second thought.

I won’t be attending tonight’s game.

All rules are out the window.

It’s crunch time and I’m in survival mode.

I walk into my office in a straight shot for my desk. Logging into my computer, there’s a few emails I’d like to send and some files and search histories that need to be deleted. All steps to cover my tracks before I disappear for good.