Page 86 of Riverbend Gap (Riverbend 1)

“Katiedidn’t tell me anything—the photo pretty much said it all!”

His blood froze. “What photo?”

“Oh, the one someone plastered to the wall of yourcampaign page.”

“What?”

“Little piece of advice, Coop. Next time you make out with your brother’s girlfriend, you might want to find someplace more private than theDairy Barn.”

“Who posted that? Take it down.”

“I did, genius. But not before it was noticed—andsharedto the tune oftwenty-eight times.”

This was out there now.Gavin.Cooper closed his eyes, his breath escaping in one long, defeated sigh. This was bad. So bad.

But wait a minute. Avery managed his campaign page. “How can someone even post things on my page without your approval?”

“Are you really trying to blame this on me right now?” The clipped words cut right through him.

He ran a hand over his face. “I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault obviously. Was it a clear picture? Could you tell who it was?”

“Oh yeah. You can see for yourself. I’ll send it to you now.”

She went quiet, presumably doing as she said.

Cooper’s mind spun at the possible implications. Was it possible Avery only recognized Kate because she’d already had suspicions about the two of them? He whispered a desperate prayer. Crossed his fingers. Wished on a star. Where was a dandelion when you needed one?

“Who took that photo? No one was around.”

“I don’t know. The profile that posted it seemed fake so I reported it. There, I sent the picture.”

A moment later his phone buzzed. He opened the text and tapped on the photo. It had been taken from the side, perhaps from the sidewalk, though the photographer had zoomed in. Cooper’s hand was on the wall beside Katelyn as he leaned in. Their identities were obvious, and the kiss appeared every bit as passionate as it had been.

His last flicker of hope was snuffed out in an instant. “This isn’t good.”

“You think?”

He gritted his teeth. He could really do without her sarcasm right now.

“And I have to say, the caption didn’t help matters much either. Let me read it for you so I don’t misquote. ‘Could this be Deputy Robinson’s mysterious baby mama?’”

He reared back. “What?”

“Yes, Cooper. The general public is now wondering if Katie’s the pregnant woman whose baby you’re denying.”

No. This could not be happening. He paced his living room. “Does Kate know?”

“I don’t know. Haven’t been able to reach her—I assumed she was still busy making out with you.”

“It may seem unlikely,” he said in a biting tone, “but that was actually our first and only kiss. I’ve been out riding around trying to sort out this mess.”

“Well, fortunately, the guy who posted the photo didn’t mention Katie by name. But people around here will recognize her, and everyone knows she’s Gavin’s girlfriend.”

She was right. In one fell swoop Cooper had somehow managed to publicly humiliate all three of them. The list of people he owed an apology to was growing by the minute. And it started with his brother.

“You’ve got some massive damage control ahead of you, starting with Gavin. I recommend you go see him before he gets wind of this. He deserves to hear it from you.”

Cooper checked the time. It had only been two hours since the kiss. Gavin wasn’t on social media. Still, Cooper should get over there. His stomach knotted at the thought of hurting his brother. What was he even going to say? “I’ll go now.”