Page 46 of Try Hard

Eve

I was lying on my temporary bed at my mum’s place, thinking about Ophelia—her touch, her lips, the way she kissed, her smile, the way she spoke when we were alone, how ridiculously thoughtful and intelligent she was—when Soph burst through the door without warning.

“Have you given up knocking?” I asked, watching her as she sat herself on the bed beside me looking all prim and proper. After spending the whole weekend with Ophelia, that side of the bed already felt like hers.

“Knocking would have given you time to hide things,” Soph said imperiously.

“What, like you’ve been doing, you mean?” I wasn’t annoyed with her for keeping her relationship a secret, but I was frustrated with her continued flirting with Ophelia and her barging into the room like she was hoping to catch the woman undressed. Not that she was here. But still.

Soph scowled, eyes narrowed dangerously. “I’m not hiding things.”

“Oh, no? What would you call it? Obscuring the truth?”

“I told your girlfriend, didn’t I? Obviously, it would get back to you.”

I tried to bite down on my smile, I really did. Unfortunately, being called Ophelia’s girlfriend and not really being able to deny it made that impossible. “You could have told me yourself.”

“Where’s the fun in that? Got to keep you on your toes.”

“So I can keep worrying that you’re trying to woo Ophelia?”

Soph snorted, shooting me an unimpressed look. “Woo? Who even are you?”

I held a hand out in her general direction. “Eve Archer. Nice to meet you.”

“It’s a fucking travesty she’s choosing someone like you. Though at least I can rest safe in the knowledge I’m not such a huge nerd.”

“Cheers, sis. Love you too.”

She rolled her eyes. “You know I love you. It’s just… she’s cool, and you’re… you.”

I laughed. “Plenty of people seem to think I’m cool.”

“Most of them don’t know you. Given that she does, she knows all these… dorky bits of you. She knows they’re not cool.”

“I hate to break it to you,” I said, my insides warming with the direction of my thoughts, “but I get the sense she likes my dorky bits.”

Soph watched me ruefully, but I could see the smile threatening to break through. “I get the feeling she does too. And I’m happy for you both. Seriously.”

“Even if you’re wildly jealous?”

“I’m not wildly jealous. Questioning Fia’s sense of taste, sure, but, as I said, if you’re her taste, I’m glad I’m not.”

I tossed a pillow at her. “Anyone would think you hate me.”

“Oh, no. When you actually hate your family, you’re painfully polite to their faces, pretending all that disdain isn’t swirling underneath it all.”

“Dark. You doing well?”

“I’m good.” She hesitated, picking at the hem of her skirt. “The person I’ve been seeing has a kind of… shitty family.”

“Ah. I’m sorry. Are they okay?”

She nodded slowly. “Now, yes.”

“Well, now you’re talking about them, you could bring them around, you know? Initiate them into this family. It’s wild, but it’s loving and solid.”

“And give up tormenting you by flirting with Fia?”

I scowled. “I thought they were okay with that whole thing?”

She shrugged in a way that suggested that might be something the two of them were still figuring out. “Seems rude to do it in front of them.”

“Good point. I mean, Fia wouldn’t have to be there if you wanted to bring them around.”

“Oh? Do you two spend time apart these days?”

I spread my arms wide to gesture around the room. “She’s not here now.”

Soph winced in a way I didn’t fully understand. “Yeah. How’s she doing?”

“What? Why? She’s fine?”

“Is she?” Soph looked so confused and wary that it set my heart pounding unpleasantly. Something wasn’t right. “She’s not fond of attention, so I kind of assumed…”

“Attention?”

“Oh.” Soph blew out the word and that was worse than anything else she could have done.

Soph was loud and bold. She unapologetically and sarcastically expressed herself, shot snarky comments at you as a way of showing that she loved you. When she got quiet, things were bad. It had always been that way.

The room seemed to blur as I watched her pull her phone out and tap away until she handed it to me.

Social media. Of course.

Leaked pictures from the hen and stag party.

Me, all over Ophelia.

And the commentary… Shit.

I wasn’t a big enough celebrity for this to still be a thing.

Sure, there’d been interest in my personal life, especially at the peak of my fame and career, and, yes, I kept up something of a public persona, still had fans and such, but it hadn’t occurred to me that I needed to worry about keeping Ophelia safe at a private party.

I hadn’t once thought pictures would be taken—or sold. Why did they even have value?

Of course, I knew the answer to that—years of media training covered it—but my blood felt like it was boiling. It was a private party. I was with a private citizen.

And I’d failed to keep Ophelia safe. Failed to even consider the need to in that situation.

For a moment, my mind threw up Sammy. She’d been angry with me—angrier at Ophelia. But the angles were wrong on most of them. She could have taken a couple of them, but most of them were from somewhere else.

“I don’t think you’re going to like the comments,” Soph said, reaching towards the phone.

I shook my head. “I need to know what we’re dealing with.”

She sighed heavily but nodded. Not our first time navigating something like this. It was just the first time someone I loved was being put through it too.

I hadn’t thought Soph was wrong in her assessment, but the more comments I read, the more they felt like bile burning my stomach.

There were the objectifying ones, the disgusting comments about wanting to take both of us.

There were the ones attacking Ophelia for having the audacity to be with me.

How could she steal me from them? How couldn’t I realise she wasn’t good enough for me—hot enough for me?

Disgusting.

There were those fighting our corner too, pointing out that I was never going to date the people behind the keyboards, that they didn’t know me so what difference did it make who I was with?

The ones who pointed out how happy we looked together, how well we seemed to suit each other.

But I hated that it was necessary. I appreciated the sentiment, but they didn’t know me either.

Strangers were having to defend my relationship from people trying to tear it down.

All because someone at a party couldn’t help invading our privacy.

And it had to be someone who’d known us back at school. Too much information about Ophelia had gotten out too quickly.

“Tell me what you need,” Soph said, her hand on my back as I gripped her phone too hard.

What did I need? To go back and prevent this from ever happening? Impossible.

I sucked in a breath. This was happening. Damage control needed to happen too.

“My phone,” I said, handing Soph’s back and lunging into action.

Three messages from my agent, Andra, already. I’d been so wrapped up in thinking about Ophelia—in being with her—that I’d been off the grid since yesterday.

I hit dial, putting it on speaker as I texted Ophelia. I could handle the rest of it, I just needed to know she was okay.

Andra answered quickly. “Eve, good to hear from you, even if the conditions are less than ideal.” Her New York accent was strong and steady, comforting. She was who I called in a crisis. She was reliable.

“So, no chance this is just my sister playing pranks on me then?” I asked lightly, watching the scowl Soph shot my way.

“I’m afraid not. It’s out. News has hit socials. We’re probably just going to have to ride the cycle out. It shouldn’t linger too long, hopefully. It’s not like—”

“I’m in the public eye in the same way, yeah, I know.” Still no reply from Ophelia. I didn’t like it. “I have no interest in sharing this part of my life, but I can’t let this go without making a statement, Andra.”

She paused. “We don’t usually dignify these things with a response.”

“I’m aware. This is different.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re attacking Ophelia, and I won’t stand for that. She hasn’t done anything wrong. She didn’t ask for this.”

“I’m not trying to suggest what happened is okay, but being with you does come with risks like this. Surely, she was aware?”

“Being aware doesn’t make comments like she’s receiving acceptable, and I’m not going to stay quiet on that.”

Andra hummed. “You realise any statement will be taken as confirmation of your relationship?”

I gritted my teeth. It wasn’t Andra I was annoyed with. This type of thing was what I paid her for. “I’m aware. I’ll be checking with Ophelia first for what she’s comfortable with, but whether I’m putting out a statement that confirms our relationship or denies it, I’m putting one out.”

“Understood. I’ll draft a press release to send out to—”

“No. This was an invasion of my private life. I’ll be putting it out myself. On my socials. It can hit the news cycles or not. The pictures were sold to an online gossip column, they’re doing the rounds online. That’s where I’m going to address it.”

“You’re sure that’s how you want to do it?”

“Yes.”

Andra was quiet for a moment before she replied, a smile audible in her words. “I know this isn’t the way you’d been planning to do this, but she’s good for you. I’m happy for you both.”

I froze in the middle of checking again for a reply from Ophelia still that wasn’t coming. “What?”

“You’ve had people say all kinds of things about you in the past. You put out a press release if you have to. Otherwise, you address things indirectly. This is the first time you’re just telling me what we’re doing—and calling out the betrayal directly.”

I laughed in surprise. “Shouldn’t you be telling me to do what’s best for my career?”