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  Then they interviewed his mom, and Lily just wanted to cry. Obviously Hyde’s mom hated her. She’d said horrible things about how Hyde had been misled, and how dare Lily cheat on her boy with Ike. She’d even gone so far as to call Lily a gold-digging tramp, and she hadn’t backtracked like she had when she’d said similar things about Hyde’s past girlfriends. Suddenly, Lily commiserated far too much.

  Past girlfriends. Was that what she was now? She sank onto the couch, scrolling through all the posts about her and Hyde on her phone. More crap about her deception. They even had quotes from Josh and Caleb to back up her poor and desperate status. Her brothers would never deliberately hurt her or Hyde. It was a mess. It felt orchestrated. Why did it all explode in one day? Who had gotten all this information together, then spread it to every news outlet that would run it?

  What a liar Ike was. It made her fume to think he’d claim they were dating and working together to trick Hyde. She tried to remember where they would’ve gotten a picture of her and Ike hugging. Then it clicked. A few days ago, she’d been rushing out the front door of the gym after work to go meet Hyde. She’d crashed into Ike. He’d caught her to keep her from falling and held her close until she’d squirmed free with a quick thank-you. This pic made it look like they were in a full-blown make-out session.

  She sighed. Oh, Hyde. Would he believe any of it? This was a nightmare.

  Her doorbell rang. She sniffed and wiped underneath her eyes, hoping it wasn’t a reporter. She struggled to her feet and slowly opened the door.

  Hyde stood there in a navy-blue suit with a white shirt and striped blue-and-white tie. His hair was styled and he looked good. Her mouth went dry at the sight of him, until he opened his mouth. “Who’s this Ike guy?”

  Her spine stiffened. “He’s just another trainer. You’ve seen him at the gym.”

  “What are you doing hugging him?”

  “Really, Hyde? Really?” Her breath burst from her lungs and she jabbed a finger at him. “All this crap explodes that makes me look like a pathetic tramp, and a picture of me and Ike is what you choose to worry about? I didn’t hug him; I fell into him when I came out of the front door, rushing to see you!”

  His eyes narrowed. “That’s not what the picture looks like, and I saw a text come in from him yesterday. Ike the Incredible Hottie?”

  “What?” She thought about the text from Ike referencing some training that he was doing Monday at the gym for the staff. Then she remembered why she had that nickname for him in her phone. He rarely texted her, and the last time he’d done so she’d been busy with a client, so she hadn’t thought to change it. “Wynette thinks he’s hot, so she programmed that into my phone when he texted me once.”

  “You think I believe that?” Hyde asked, laughing incredulously. “You and Ike put this all together to scam me. How long have you been dating him?”

  “I’m not!” Her throat was dry and achy. How could Hyde think so low of her? “I would never do that, Hyde. I don’t even like Ike.”

  “It sure looks like you like him in those pictures.”

  “Well, forget those pictures. They make me look like a conniving witch who only wants you for your money—at least, that’s obviously what your mom thinks.”

  Hyde straightened up, looking suddenly threatening. Lily had always admired how big and tough he was. Right now, it bothered her, a lot. “Leave my mom out of this. She’s sick, and she doesn’t need you picking on her.”

  “I’m picking on her?” Lily wasn’t backing down to him, no matter how intimidating he looked. She knew Hyde would never hurt her. Well, the Hyde she thought she knew would never hurt anyone. “Yeah, she’s the one who’s got her picture splashed all over the internet, the television, magazines, and who knows where else, saying how I tricked you into dating me and I just want your money. Oh yeah, your poor Mom.” Some part of her felt immensely guilty for saying anything about Hyde’s mom. The woman had Alzheimer’s, and he was right that Lily shouldn’t be picking on her. Yet she’d seen a lot of intelligence in Teresa’s eyes, and it made her wonder if the woman wasn’t more calculating than Hyde could understand.

  Hyde’s muscles bunched in his neck. “I should’ve known. This always happens when I start liking somebody.”

  “Yeah, because your mom bus-rolls them. Maybe you should be talking to her, not me.”

  Hyde stared at her for far too long. “I thought it was too good to be true that you were this cool, fun, beautiful girl who also got football and got me, but it was all a ploy, wasn’t it? You get me to believe you don’t want my money. That was your game, right? You were probably going to keep it up until I forced the money on you, but Ike ruined it before you could capitalize.”

  “You came to me! If Ike wanted your money, he wouldn’t have told our sneaky plan to the world, now, would he?”

  “It’s all out there, Lily. He wanted the money, but he wants you more. He decided he needed to tell the truth so he didn’t lose his girlfriend.”

  “That’s the lamest story I’ve ever heard, and you believe it!” She shook her head and waited for him to say he didn’t believe it.

  He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at her. “Of course I believe it. I saw the text from him. ‘Love your body.’ Pretty strong evidence, Lily.”

  “Why didn’t you say something yesterday?”

  “Because I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

  “But that’s all over now. I’m the scummy cheater, huh? And your mom spreads around the world how this impoverished girl is trying to snag her son to help her dirt-poor family? Well, that’s bull. I don’t need you, and my family doesn’t need you.”

  Hyde flinched but didn’t respond.

  Lily should stop, but she was ticked at him. Believing Ike was her boyfriend and they’d tried to trick Hyde? That was pure stupidity only the rag tags would print. “And you might think your mom is sick, but I think she knows exactly what she’s saying.”

  “Don’t act like your family’s innocent.” Hyde took a step closer. “Obviously you didn’t see the quotes from Josh.”

  She had, but they were nothing compared to the mean things his mom had said. Josh had been bragging about how rocking cool Hyde had been to him and his big brother, giving them team gear and taking them to the stadium.

  “Your brother took advantage of me so he could get a little fame,” Hyde said.

  “He’s an eight-year-old boy who idolizes you!” How dare he say anything against sweet, innocent Josh. “You acted like you cared about him, about all of us. You never told him not to say anything to his friends. You don’t care about anybody but yourself and your stupid reputation.” Was he really placing all this blame on her and her family and believing she would be with Ike? Yuck. He couldn’t see past his mother’s scheming. Early-onset Alzheimer’s or not, Teresa had been perfectly lucid to tell all these media people how horrible Lily was.

  “I thought you were something special,” he said, hissing it through gritted teeth. “Apparently, I was wrong.”

  “I know the feeling. I was way off assuming that you were a decent guy.”

  Hyde’s expression was grim, but there was no compassion for Lily there. He was a superstar and she was the one who looked like a gold-digging tramp, but did he care? No. “I guess we should consider our training agreement and your ten-thousand-dollar bonus off.”

  “I wouldn’t take your money if I was starving to death.”

  Hyde stepped back, and a muscle worked furiously in his jaw. Lily thought it was the perfect moment to slam the door in his face, so she did, then twisted the deadbolt and ran for her room. Crying was the only solution at a time like this.

  Chapter 16

  It rained on Monday, and Lily was convinced it was just to torture her even more, as if she wasn’t miserable enough. She’d lost her bonus, but now that it had all imploded, she knew losing Hyde was much, much worse. She missed the way he’d tease her about cheating at lunges, the way he’d
toss her a cocky grin as she forced him to do ten more burpees. No! She was not thinking about Hyde.

  Yet it was impossible not to ache for him. She could still save up and help Sariah through school, but she could never get Hyde back. It had been awful of her to say those things about his mother, but it had been horrid of his mother to say those things about her, and of him to assume she was with Ike. She felt justified and angry and completely miserable without him.

  She hadn’t responded to any texts, emails, or phone calls from friends, family, or anyone else on Sunday. On Monday she had to go to work because she had training appointments, minus her usual seven to nine a.m. slot with Hyde. Those hours dragged by. The other trainers and patrons at the gym got the message pretty quickly that she didn’t want to talk to anyone.

  Except for Ike. When she saw him strut in, she marched toward him and poked him in the chest. “Why don’t we talk in the training office?”

  She heard some oohs from people nearby, but she ignored them, stomped to the office, and slammed the door behind them once he sauntered in. She turned to face him.

  Ike smiled infuriatingly at her. “Hey, love, saw some great pics of us online.”

  Lily cuffed him upside the head just like she would one of her brothers who needed a smackdown.

  “Ouch! What was that for?”

  “Being a pathetic loser and lying that we have a relationship.”

  “Come on. You know you’ve always wanted a piece of this.” Ike gestured up and down his muscular frame.

  Lily gritted her teeth and clenched her fists so she didn’t hit him again. “Since repeatedly telling you no every single time you asked me out wasn’t a clear enough message, I’ve got one for you. Never try to talk to me again, and never claim that we are dating. I wouldn’t be interested in any of this—” She pointed at him. “—even if you were the last man left on earth. Is that clear enough?”

  “Sheesh. When did the raunchy witch take over your body?”

  “When you lied to national media to get a little attention. You set it all up, didn’t you? The text you sent when I was with Hyde, the pictures of you and me, everything exploding yesterday. Did you send reporters to my parents’ house?”

  He folded his bulky arms across his chest and smirked, neither denying nor confirming.

  Lily shook her head, but then she gasped. “Did you set everything up with Teresa?”

  “Who’s Teresa?”

  “Hyde’s mom.”

  He shook his head slightly.

  Lily prayed Hyde’s mom wasn’t in league with this loser, but she didn’t trust anyone but her family at the moment. She skirted around him, not wanting to be in a confined space with this idiot ever again.

  Ike grabbed her arm. She stared down at his fingers, then icily back up to his face. “Let go of me.”

  “Lily. I know you’re upset, but I did this for you. Hyde Metcalf isn’t the right guy for you. I am. I think you should reconsider and give me another chance.”

  Lily slugged him as hard as she could in the abdomen. He gasped and released her arm. She never knew she had such a violent side, but it felt pretty good. “Stay away from me.”

  She slammed the office door on the way out. He was still talking, but she was done listening.

  The rest of the day didn’t get any better, and when her phone rang repeatedly as she drove home, she knew she couldn’t handle talking to anybody. She pushed the button to silence her ringer and rubbed at the headache forming between her eyes.

  She pulled into her apartment parking lot and found Wynette waving crazily at her. Lily climbed out and slammed the door. “What?” she almost screamed at Wynette.

  Some clicks came from behind her and she whirled around. There was a cameraman taking pictures. “Excuse me, Miss Udy? Can you comment on …” His voice droned on.

  She ignored him and stomped away.

  Wynette grabbed Lily’s arm. “Why haven’t you answered your phone? You need to call your mom.”

  “Not here.” She jerked her head toward the reporter and hurried up the stairs and into the apartment.

  “Why haven’t you called your mom?” Wynette demanded.

  Lily put up a hand. “Stop. I can’t deal with my mom right now. Please understand these have been the worst two days of my life.”

  “Oh, sweetie, you have no idea what bad is.” Wynette pulled Lily into a fierce hug before she could protest. “Caleb and Josh have been in an accident. They were Life Flighted to the University of Colorado Hospital.”

  The air sucked out of Lily’s lungs. She sank to her knees, Wynette still holding on to her and falling to the floor with her. Caleb. Josh. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she couldn’t catch a full breath. No, no, no. “Are they … alive?” she squeaked out of her throat, even though it was clogged with tears.

  “Yes. Caleb is doing okay. Josh is … in a coma.” Wynette was crying too, and she wouldn’t let Lily out of her embrace, even though Lily was squirming to be free.

  “I’ve got to go.” Lily didn’t know how she pushed to her feet and pulled free of Wynette’s arms, but she managed it.

  Wynette ripped the keys from her limp fingers. “I’m driving you. There’s no way you’d make it.” Wynette directed her back out the door and down the stairs.

  The reporter was still there. “Miss Udy? Can you comment on your relationship with Hyde Metcalf?”

  Lily stared at him. Did he not realize her world had just collapsed? Who cared about anything but Josh right now?

  “Leave her alone!” Wynette yelled at the guy. She tugged Lily toward the car and pushed her inside. Lily’s body didn’t seem to be able to function properly. She tugged the seat belt over her chest, but her hands trembled so violently she couldn’t get it to click. Wynette pushed it in.

  Lily stared vacantly out the window as Wynette drove to the hospital in Aurora. The normally fifty-minute drive took much longer than that because of traffic. Lily was too numb to process much as tears kept running down her cheeks. She mostly just closed her eyes and prayed over and over again that Josh would be okay. Wynette tried to talk to her a few times, but eventually gave up when she didn’t even respond.

  They pulled into the hospital emergency room entrance. “Go,” Wynette said. “I’ll park the car.”

  “Thanks,” Lily mumbled. Pushing the car door open, she was grateful her weak legs supported her as she ran through the sliding glass doors and into the emergency room entrance. Sariah, Brandon, Mary, and Trudy all huddled together in the far corner of the room.

  “Sariah,” Lily managed to get out.

  Her sister’s head popped up, and then her four siblings ran to her. She was hugged from all sides, and they started talking at the same time. She could hardly make out what they were telling her, picking up on certain names and phrases—Josh, Caleb, Hyde, trying to apologize, car accident.

  She finally pulled back and focused on Sariah. “Okay, let Sariah tell me what happened.”

  The door into the emergency room slid open and Caleb walked out. They all started screaming, and the nurse had to tell them to calm down. Caleb was now the one surrounded with hugs. He had a few stitches in his forehead and his arm was in a sling, but he looked pretty good.

  “You’re okay?” Lily asked, holding his face between her hands and turning it side to side gently.

  “Yes, but Josh …”

  “Will they let me see him?”

  Caleb shook his head. “They just kicked me out. They’re moving him up to the neuro-intensive care unit; then they said we could each go visit him for a few minutes. Mom and Dad wouldn’t leave his side, no matter what the nurses say. He looks bad, sis.”

  Oh, Josh. If her little brother didn’t make it … Lily couldn’t even stand the thought. She loved him so desperately.

  “What happened?” she asked Caleb.

  “Today was a really hard day at school.”

  Lily’s heart about broke again as all of her siblings nodded. That article was as h
ard on them as it was on her, probably harder. They were teenagers and already struggled to fit in because of their lack of money, fashionable clothes, and ability to play on elite teams. Even though they hadn’t been falling in love with Hyde romantically, they’d all loved him too. Yet sharing the pain didn’t make it any better.

  “Josh came home so sad. It killed me. I guess some of his friends at school teased him about that article and how they knew all along our family was just trying to get money from Hyde. He got in a fight, had to see the principal and apologize to the kids.” Caleb grunted. “The punks. When he got home, he begged me to take him to see Hyde. He said he had to make it better and make sure Hyde wasn’t mad at you.”

  Lily tried to smile but failed. It was so like Josh to be worried about her and Hyde, even though he’d had a hard day.

  “We finally talked Mom into letting us take the van, and I drove him to Hyde’s house. I was worried Hyde would be mad about the things those articles said, but it was Hyde’s mom who answered the door. She acted all nice, but she told Josh how we’d really hurt Hyde and it was probably better if we didn’t come by again.” He blew out a long breath.

  Lily’s stomach clenched. That woman was a manipulative terror. How dare she turn Caleb and Josh away like that? Would Hyde have turned them away? Maybe. That would’ve been worse for Josh.

  “I decided to get Josh a shake at Bob’s Atomic Burger to try to make him feel better. Food always makes him happier.”

  All the siblings nodded, some smiling, but the happy thought of Josh’s food obsession fled quickly. Would Josh eat a shake again? Mary sniffled, and Sariah pulled her against her side. Tears pricked at Lily’s eyes, and she blinked furiously.

  “On the way there, he looked at me and asked if he could please try to call Hyde or stop by his house again. He just wanted to make things right. I wasn’t paying attention, and a car blew the red light on Tenth and Main. It hit us hard, and Josh … Oh, man! Why did I let him sit in the front seat? They said when the airbag exploded it hit him right in the head, and that’s why he’s in a coma. It’s all my fault!”