Page 62 of Your Play to Call
“Tripp, let’s go,” Willow says. She’s tugging on the hand she’s still holding.
“Did you hear me?” I ask the man who shrinks in front of me.
He doesn’t say anything, but he nods in understanding. He backs himself out of the crowd of people. I know the entire interaction was documented and I don’t care.
Willow and I get back to my car.
“Sorry, I know that’s a lot to handle and—”
“Why are you apologizing? Are you okay?”
“It’s not the worst thing I’ve heard, to be honest…” Her voice fades away and she stares at her hands restingon her knees.
“That’s not okay.” I place one of my hands on top of hers. She doesn’t look at me.
“You don’t have to do that. Try to get them to stop. It’s not worth it.”
“If I can get one of these losers to realize this is not how you treat fucking humans, I’m going to do it. Every time. I don’t have to, but I want to.”
“Tripp.”
“Don’t tell me it’s not worth it. It is,” I say, softer than before.
“I appreciate you. Really I do.” She takes a deep breath. “I don’t need you to call out the press though. You will never win. There are too many of them. Things like what just happened, they make me uncomfortable. I worry someone’s going to lose it. I don’t trust anyone to keep their cool.”
Immediately, I feel bad. I want her to feel safe when she’s with me. Not sure I accomplished that this morning.
“I’ve been doing this a long time. They’ve said everything there is to say. I’d prefer to not feed into it.” Her voice cracks. She looks up with her eyes a tiny bit glassy. “I don’t mean to get emotional. It just surprised me. The yelling about Dexter. I typically have thicker skin than this.”
“That was. A lot. Don’t apologize for having a reaction.” I want her to hear me.
I take the hand from her leg, and reach for her with my other, each on her cheeks. I pull her in for a kiss. Sweet and tame compared to this morning.
“Thanks for taking me out to breakfast.” I can tell she’s trying to bounce back.
I kiss her hand.
“I hope there are many more breakfasts in our future, Lo.”
Chapter 34
Willow
It’s only a fewhours later before my publicist calls, giving me a heads-up about the headlines. None of them are from reputable sources, but it doesn’t mean people won’t see them.
And She’s on to the Next: Willow Picks Up Her Next Boytoy
Will a Player Get Played? Willow Dating NFL Player Tripp Owens
Willow’s Career Might Be Stalled but Not Her Love Life
Tripp Owens Uses Force with Paparazzi
It’s the last one that stings. Tripp did not use force. Everyone could tell how much he was holding back. No one was violent. That’s the thing about the press, no one cares what really happened, they only care about clicks.
I text Tripp to give him a heads-up, including the link to the last headline.
What a shift.
