Sophie widens her eyes at her friend as if to say back off before facing me. “We’re not here to judge. We just want to help. Both of you.”
What do they know? Did they somehow find out the truth? I push a smile onto my face. Until I know the facts, I’ll continue to play my part. “We’re fine.”
Letting go of my hand, Sophie sighs, then tugs her phone out of her brown bag. “I really didn’t want to do this.”
She moves deft fingers over her screen and then flips it around, showing me an image of a couple standing in a hallway by a hotel room door. I recognize Payton right away. Takes me a moment longer to realize the blonde is Del in one of her wigs. It’s all very incriminating, which explains why Sophie and Mia areacting so oddly.
My first reaction is to brush it off because I trust Del. She wouldn’t risk breaking cover unless it was important. But seeing her with Payton like that, combined with her not mentioning it to me AT ALL brings up something I never expected to feel.
Jealousy.
Heat rises up my neck, and the one hushpuppy I ate threatens to make a reappearance. There must be a simple explanation, but at the moment, I can’t think of a reason why Del would have kept this from me. For her to initiate contact like that with the principal isn’t our normal MO.
“Luke took it the night before the last away game.” She puts the phone face down on the table and takes my hand again. “He wanted to talk to Payton about it on the bus ride home, but I told him to wait until I talked to you first.”
I’m scrambling for what to say, how to react, or what to do. And then it hits me, I don’t have to act in this situation. What I’m feeling is very real and accurate.
Even the burning behind my eyes. I clear my throat. “I didn’t know about this.”
As much as it pains me to admit it, it also feels good to tell the truth to these two women who mean more and more to me on a daily basis.
Sophie throws her arms around me. “I’m so sorry! This is just awful. I never took Payton to bethatguy.” She leans back to stare at me with watery eyes. “Maybe it’s not what it looks like. Do you want Luke to talk to him first and find out what’s going on?” She grabs her phone. “I can text him right now, and he’ll do it. Trust me, you don’t mess with Luke when he’s dead serious. He’ll get the truth out of Payton.”
Mia nods in agreement with Sophie’s borderline frantic diatribe. Both look fiercer than half the soldiers I did duty with. And it’s all for me, for my benefit. They want to defendme.
The realization makes my head feel like it’s floating insome surreal alternate reality. I can’t ever recall a time when someone wanted to stand up for me. In the past, I was the one looking out for the younger kids in the group homes or in foster situations that were less than ideal, to put it mildly. And because of my height, sometimes, the ones I wound up protecting were older than me.
As much as I love that they want to fight this battle for me, that would just open the bigger can of worms that’s hiding Payton’s true identity and mine. And I can’t stand the thought of how Sophie and Mia would react when they found out this whole thing has been a sham. I need to get to the bottom of whatever is going on in that picture so I can do damage control.
I press my hand down on her phone. “Thank you, but I think Payton and I should have this discussion first.”
Now, even Mia looks teary-eyed. “You’re so strong. I’d be a puddle on the floor if it were me.”
A wan smile is all I can manage. “I probably would be if it weren’t for you two.” And I mean this too because I know I’ll mourn the loss of their friendships when I return to England almost as much as not being with Payton anymore.
But first, I need to find out what’s behind that picture. Like Mia said, I can’t imagine Payton doing something like flirting with me while he’s making moves on Del. She’s smarter than that, and so am I.
At least, I used to believe I was. But now, my emotions are so wrapped up in all this that I’m not sure what to think.
After copious amounts of iced tea, hush puppies, and hugs from Sophie and Mia, I leave the restaurant, intending to send a text to Del from the car, saying we need to talk. But I know exactly where she is, and this needs to be a face-to-faceconversation.
Del’s rental sits by a curb near the arena, so she can keep eyes on the area from a discreet distance. I park a few cars down on the street and walk up to her rental.
She jumps when I tap on the passenger side window, then hits the button to open it. “Bloody hell, you startled me. Are you trying to break our cover?”
I reach in and unlock the door, then get in. “We need to talk.”
“What’s happened? You alright?” She shifts in her seat to face me.
In one swift movement, I open my phone and show her the picture I had Sophie send to me.
Del’s expression turns guarded as if she’s hiding something. “Dash it. I thought I did better staying in the shadows.”
“What’s going on, Del?”
She titters. “It’s not what you think, luv. I promise.”
“Then what was it?” I demand.
