“But Robert—”

  “What I’m saying is that this incident has attracted attention. A lot of it. This cannot happen again, because if it does, there will be no more career with this organization to speak of.”

  Tessa clamped her mouth shut, focusing on the front of his desk in an effort to stave off tears. She nodded fiercely.

  “Let’s try to move on from this,” Robert added with a sigh. “But the attention of the Board of Trustees is on you now. You know Pastor Mitchell demands all our staff behave with the utmost propriety. If there’s another slip…I can’t promise you’ll get another chance.”

  “Absolutely. Thank you.” She stood and excused herself, keeping her eyes on the floor as she beelined for the bathroom to compose herself. After some cool water to the face and regulated deep breathing, she felt ready to return to her classroom. Once the door was shut behind her, heart pounding, she dropped her things at her desk and immediately fished out her phone. Mark hadn’t texted her since leaving that morning. Did he know what had happened?

  She fired off a link to one of the articles and then put her phone on silent. There was too much grief and embarrassment and confusion to process right now. She needed to push it all aside and get ready for her workday…or at the very least, postpone her unraveling until lunch, so she could run to the bathroom and weep in private.

  Students started trickling in before she had a chance to check her phone. Texting during class time was a big no-no, even though she was dying to see what Mark came back with. Luckily, the smiling faces of her third graders were a salve to her worries…for now.

  Despite their eager faces and witty quips, the first half of the day dragged. By the time an aide led them to lunch, Tessa felt exhausted and ready for bed. But she needed to face whatever awful next steps awaited her. She unveiled her phone to find a string of texts from Mark waiting for her.

  What the fuck is this? How did you find this? Babe…you gotta call me. I can’t figure this out. I have no idea how that picture was shared. I didn’t do it. But whatever happened, I’m gonna find out and fix this.

  She swallowed hard and called him, heart racing as she awaited his answer. She prayed the team was on lunch as well. He picked up on the third ring.

  “Babe. Are you okay?”

  “No.” She sighed, feeling instantly relieved at the sound of his voice—even if only slightly. “Yes. I don’t know. I’m just…shocked. I’m humiliated.”

  “I’m gonna figure out who the fuck did this. I must have been hacked. I’ve been talking to my teammates—they say this shit can happen sometimes. I just don’t know why they’d target me. Target us.”

  Tears began filling her eyes, and she looked up to the ceiling, trying to stave them off. “Well, it certainly couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

  “I promise you—I am going to find out who did this, and we will sue. I’m getting a lawyer. You don’t deserve any of this.”

  She pressed a finger to the center of her forehead, trying to swallow the sob that so desperately wanted to escape. “I need to see you. Will you come over tonight?”

  “I’ll be there the second I can. Promise. I gotta get back to my meeting now. Don’t let this ruin your day, okay? We’ll get through this.”

  Her chin trembled, and she nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. Even though it had already ruined her day, and her week, and possibly her year. “Okay. See you later.”

  Now, all she had to do was make it through the rest of the day so she could go home and grieve in private.

  Later that evening—after a long shower cry and a huge glass of white wine—Tessa opened the door to Mark, his hair still damp from his post-practice shower. Angus screamed with excitement and ran to him, and though Mark hoisted him onto his back with plenty of happy greetings, she could see the anxiety in his gaze.

  “How was school today, big guy?” Mark asked as he carried Angus into the kitchen. Angus started rattling off a hundred different things that he’d enjoyed from his kindergarten class that day. Mark headed for Tessa, where she leaned against the countertop, and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

  “Don’t need to ask you the same question,” he said softly.

  “Please don’t,” she said, mustering a small laugh.

  Mark slid Angus to the ground, ruffling his hair. “You ready for dinner?” He looked around the kitchen, then over at Tessa. “What do you say to pizza?”

  “Pizza, pizza,” Angus started chanting while he danced down the hallway, back toward his toys in the front room.

  “I say great, because I don’t think I can cook right now to save my life,” Tessa said. “And unfortunately—you have to call too.” She headed for the bottle of wine on the counter and poured a second glass. It wasn’t even 6 p.m. and she was heading toward half a bottle. Not good.

  Mark eyed her cautiously. “Babe. Don’t drink your sorrows away.”

  “I think I’ve earned it.” She took a sip of her freshly poured chardonnay. “After all, the entire Internet has seen me in my bra and panties.”

  “But the Internet forgets quickly. I bet half the people who’ve seen it have already forgotten.”

  She huffed, setting her glass down. “But my coworkers won’t forget. The Board of Trustees won’t forget. The parents of the children I teach won’t forget.”

  Mark grimaced, coming around to her. He wrapped her in a hug, and she melted into his embrace. The warmth and solidness of him brought more tears to the surface, and soon she was sobbing into his chest.

  “Babe, it’s gonna be okay…” he murmured.

  “I didn’t tell you about the meeting with the head of school,” she said, looking up at him. “Mark, I’m scared. He all but told me that my job is on the line.”

  “He doesn’t understand what happened. I was hacked—this isn’t your fault.”

  “But it looks bad for my career,” she said, blinking away some more tears. “Because I sent you the picture in the first place. It reflects poorly on my character.”

  “Your character? Babe, they can’t hold a candle to you when it comes to your character. These people have no clue how hard you worked and what you’ve overcome to get where you are,” he said. “You’re an amazing teacher. They hired you for a reason, and it would be crazy to let you go over some stupid picture.”

  Tessa was silent, mulling over his words. She wanted so badly for his take to be final. To integrate it as truth into her body. But it was so hard.

  “He’s being a bully, if you ask me,” Mark went on. “Just pushing you around to show you who’s in charge. After all, you’re the real talent. He needs you. He’s not going to fire you.”

  Her tears were drying now. She dabbed at the corners of her eyes. It was nice to hear him say all this, but part of her was railing against him too. Whispering that he wasn’t taking her concerns seriously enough. It wasn’t—couldn’t—be that cut-and-dried. Parents were the final decision in a teacher’s career in this day and age, especially in the private school system. This was practically a scarlet letter she’d have to bear, and at the outset of her career, no less.

  But digging into all that right now seemed pointless. Besides, Mark was supporting her. Wasn’t that enough?

  “Are the press always such vultures?” she finally asked, once she’d recovered her voice.

  “Well, they are. But when they’re all over you, it means your career is going well,” he said. “Worse would be for them to forget about you.”

  Tessa frowned, and Mark hastened to add, “But don’t worry. I’ll make sure they know you’re off limits, just like Angus.”

  Plenty of retorts came to mind—But what about when they don’t obey the limits? Hackers don’t care. And what about when Angus is next?—but she was too tired to keep rehashing this subject. She’d been going over it approximately eight million times already throughout her day. Now, she just needed to eat dinner and get to bed.

  One thing was for certain. She and Mark didn’t live in the same world anymore. It wasn’t just about the celebrity exposure. It was about the fact that he was living in a money fantasy, one that she couldn’t entirely count on. And yet again, she needed to be able to rely on herself. If she got fired, that affected not only her and Angus’s daily life, but also his schooling. He’d lose his tuition. There was so much more at stake here than he realized.

  And even though they’d been inseparable growing up, and now shared a beautiful son…she wondered if his career was worth the price.

  She already knew he planned to follow it—and she’d never ask him not to.

  But that didn’t mean she had to follow him.

  15

  Mark didn’t stay the night—she didn’t ask him to. And though he protested, she insisted that it was best for him, since he needed to be up early to get ready for his away game over the weekend.

  Inside, though, she knew she still needed the space. The scandal had opened up an rift in her chest, and she was struggling to find the tools to fix or fill it. The damage was done, as far as she was concerned. So all she could do in the meantime was scrape together the willpower to keep moving forward. But how to prevent it from happening again?

  There only seemed to be one clear answer to that: stay away from the limelight.

  She had planned on a productive Saturday, but by noon, she started to feel strange. Dizziness plagued her, and after a surprise trip to the bathroom to puke, she realized she also had a fever. So not only was she emotionally devastated, she was now coming down with the flu. Excellent.

  She managed to crawl to her bed, letting Angus know that she didn’t feel well. But she knew she couldn’t stay here forever—Angus would need snacks, and then dinner, and then what? Surely this wasn’t going to be a three-hour flu.

  Between bouts of drowsiness and nausea, Tessa contemplated what to do. Mark was her go-to, but he was already en route to Miami. Besides, NFL players didn’t get time off because of a sick baby mama. She struggled to call her father, relieved when he picked up.

  “Hey, Dad,” she croaked. “Can you come over today to hang with Angus? I’ve come down with something and I can barely stand up.”

  “Sure, sure…I think I’ll make it.”

  His response didn’t inspire confidence. “Let me know if you won’t be able to. I’ve already puked, and I need to sleep.”

  When they hung up, Tessa wasn’t entirely sure whether he’d be showing up or not, but she fell asleep before she could think about it much further. When she awoke, she heard pots and pans clanking downstairs, along with the deeper tones of her father’s voice. Relief flooded her. Thank God. She’d never gotten this sick this fast, and it only piled onto the ways in which she felt like a complete failure this week.

  She drifted off to sleep again, and when she woke up, she could tell it was dusk outside. Her father was in the room, dropping off some things at her bedstand.

  “Hey there, sleepy. How are you feeling?”

  “Not sure,” she mumbled, trying to sit up. She saw a package of cough drops, along with a pile of paperbacks. “What’s all this?”

  “Oh, just some things I brought, thinking it might help.” He sat on the edge of her bed. “Wasn’t really sure what you liked to read, so I just grabbed a bunch.”

  Her eyes fluttered shut. “Thank you.” Reading was the last thing she wanted to do right now. But she tried to recognize it as his attempt to help.

  “They’re from the ninety-nine cent bin,” he went on. “I don’t know. Shit. I guess I don’t know you too well, do I?”

  Her chest tightened, but she kept her eyes closed. “Mysteries.”

  “What now?”

  “I said mysteries. I like those.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” He stood, heading for the door. Tessa was ready to drift back to sleep, but he paused, turning back to face her. “Does Mark make you happy?”

  She felt way too crappy to get into her personal life with her dad. There was too much to get into in general, much less in this state. “He does.”

  “You know, I always thought he was a good kid,” he said. “Y’all are lucky. Both of you getting to live out your dreams. That’s what stood in the way of me and your mama. Once you came along, she felt trapped, I think. And then she was off like a shot. But now, look at what you’ve got here. You the teacher, Mark the NFL player. Yeah, you’re both lucky.”

  Her throat clamped shut, and she burrowed into her blankets. “Dad, I’m falling asleep.” But that wasn’t true. This was just one more layer of emotion to suffocate her when she was at her weakest, most frail. She didn’t feel lucky—not like he thought she was. Instead, she felt like all she’d done was struggle to get here, struggle through a set of circumstances that felt profoundly unfair, only to have all of her hard work stripped away by one stupid photo. Her entire livelihood hung in the balance. And she was lucky?

  “I’ll let you sleep,” he said, and she listened to his footsteps clunk down the stairs.

  She listened for a moment to the noises from below. She could tell Angus was making a royal mess. She looked at her phone—no new messages from Mark yet—and tapped out a quick message.

  Do you think we’re lucky?

  She tried to stay awake as long as possible to see if he responded, but she fell asleep before she got an answer.

  16

  The Sharks won the season opener in Miami, a strong win after a shaky preseason. But by this time, Mark knew not to let it go to his head. He couldn’t count on wins any more than he could count on shooting stars. He had to earn every last win—every last bit of progress. Or maybe that was just Coach Scooter’s endless advice finally sticking to the inside of his skull.

  Whatever it was, his ears were ringing by the time the team got back to Savannah on Monday morning. They all reported to the facility for some review and meetings. Mark was eager to get to Tessa’s, but she’d been quiet all weekend due to being sick.

  Hey babe. I’m back in town. Can I come over tonight?

  Her response didn’t come for a long time, and the longer it took, the worse he felt. Their three days apart had felt like an eternity.

  Tonight’s not good. Still sick.

  He frowned, tapping out a response. Need me to take Angus?

  My dad is here, been helping out. We’re good. Don’t want you to get sick too.

  He tapped his phone, re-reading her message a few times. Something was off, but he couldn’t tell what. James elbowed him as he settled into a seat next to him in the meeting room. Empty chairs sprawled all around them facing a big projector screen, where they’d begin reviewing tapes soon.

  “Whatcha reading?” he asked.

  Mark frowned, pocketing his phone. “I was talking to Tessa. She’s been sick, but…”

  “But?”

  “Something is wrong. Ever since the picture leaked, and now she’s sick…” He shook his head. He hadn’t talked about the photo leak with anyone except James and Maxwell, though he was sure his other teammates had seen or found out. It felt like the salacious news had circulated on the Internet in record time. “She sent me a weird text the day we traveled too, one I’ve been thinking about. I dunno.”

  “Sounds like she’s probably had a lot to deal with,” James said, shrugging. “It ain’t easy to get used to the negative press, that’s for sure.”

  Maxwell joined them a moment later, pinching the tops of their shoulders extra hard. “Hey guys. What’s going on?”

  “Just stressing,” Mark said with a sigh.

  Maxwell snorted. “Yeah. Speaking of … I heard a little something you might want to know.”

  Mark perked up. There was only one thing he truly wanted to know, and it was who the fuck leaked my picture? He’d only repeated the sentiment five hundred times during their away game weekend in the privacy of their shared hotel room.

  “Tell me,” Mark demanded, an acid knot forming in his gut.

  Maxwell glanced toward the main doors. The rest of the team wasn’t in here yet, still transiting between other meeting rooms or the cafeteria. “I think I found out who leaked Tessa’s picture.”

  A sheet of ice and rage crashed through his body. He leaned forward. “Tell me.”

  “Okay,” Maxwell said, “but you gotta stay calm. From one teammate to another—if you let this affect your performance or the team, then you’re gonna be in hot water.”

  “So it was someone on the team,” Mark said.

  Maxwell glanced toward James, who looked just as intensely eager as Mark felt. “Yes. But before I give you a name—do you promise me?”

  “I promise,” Mark spat, not meaning it, not even a little bit.

  “Pete,” Maxwell said, crumpling back into his chair like it was a weight off his shoulders.

  Mark’s mouth went dry, staring at Maxwell as he struggled to absorb the information. Pete, the kicker…had hacked his phone? No—not hacked. He remembered the night of the gala, when he’d willingly handed Pete his phone to snap those pictures of them in their fancy duds. He’d trusted him. He thought they’d smoothed things over. He thought they were fucking teammates.

  “Why did he do it?” Mark forced out.

  “Probably the money,” Maxwell said. “I don’t fucking know. I overheard him and a couple other guys talking about it.”

  “I’m gonna go talk to him right now,” Mark said, and started to stand. But Maxwell leapt up to stop him.

  “Hang on. You look a little crazy right now. And what did you just promise me?”

  Mark could barely even hear him past the noise of his temper flaring. “I just want to talk to him. See if he has some sort of explanation.”

  “Dude, you should wait,” James piped up. “I know you’re hot, I know what he did was shitty, but—”