Page 41 of Reckless

Millie barked out a laugh and headed down the hall.

She had a way of getting to the gooey, messy center of things, and I already knew I’d spend the rest of the day chewing over her words…but maybe that was exactly what I needed to do.

The unit filled up, so the day went fast, and by the time I’d stopped for my lunch break, I didn’t have the energy to do anything more than put money in the vending machines.

Sitting in the breakroom, I got a notification from the local news app on my phone.

Who is Gage Strickland’s Mystery Woman?

I clutched my forehead. “Oh, my god.” This had to be a dream…or a nightmare.

I scrolled through a stream of pictures of Gage and me together, taken that night in Independence Pub. I was wearing the red dress, we were talking, and for a brief moment, we leaned in, our heads close together. The caption read,Desperately in Love?To the rest of the world, we probably did look like a couple, even though that wasn’t the case. It had to be those teenage girls, the ones who cornered Gage. They probably wanted a snippet of their own fame, and this was the way they’d chose to get it. As well as a few dollars in the process.

I hissed. It amazed me how even the local news channel now thought celebrity gossip was acceptable news. It put a pressure on me I hadn’t been expecting. How the hell were Gage and I supposed to keep things casual if the whole world already knew about us? That made it damn near impossible.

But the worst thing was the comments when I clicked on the photo, and it took me to a celebrity spotter website.

What the fuck is he doing with her? She’s so plain! He’s a freaking god.

She better not be the reason Gaged canceled their tour! I will lose my shit.

Is this for real? Who is this nobody. I liked him way better with Ellie from that movie.

Eww, gross. Why would he be with her when he should be with me? We did sleep together after one of his shows, you know…

Who is she? She better not ruin Gaged. They’re my fav band ever!

Every single person who commented thought that he didn’t suit me, or worse.

They were right. Our lives didn’t match at all anymore.

I shook my head and slapped the phone down on the table.

I didn’t need this. If people worked out my identity, then I was in for a whole load of trolling.

So much for a minute of fun.