CHAPTER61
TANNER
Iwoke up to my phone ringing. My immediate thought was that it was my mother and that the pain was back. I reached for the device blindly, answering before I’d even opened my eyes and while still in the process of sitting bolt upright.
“Mom? Are you okay?”
“Mom?” Jeremiah’s voice came through the receiver. “Why would your mother be calling you from my phone and why wouldn’t she be okay?”
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief and rubbed my eyes with my free hand. My heartrate returned to normal. “Sorry. I was still sleeping. I thought it might be my mom calling, though. She’s fine, but she had a bit of pain yesterday and I had to take her to the doctor. What’s up?”
“You’re sure she’s okay?” he asked worriedly. “What kind of pain?”
I explained the situation, then caught a glimpse of the time and frowned. “Shit. Is it really ten?”
“Yeah, man,” he said. “It’s really ten. Rough night last night?”
“No.” I chuckled, collapsing back in my bed. “I probably just slept late after all the stress of yesterday. I forgot to set an alarm before I crashed, and now I guess I know why I should remember to do it.”
“If you didn’t have a rough night and you only slept in because of the stress of taking your mother to the doctor, then what the hell happened to Larisa?”
For the second time in about as many minutes, I bolted upright in bed and my heart started racing. “What are you talking about? What happened to her?”
“I’m talking about you being with another girl last night,” he replied, sounding exasperated. “What did you think I was talking about?”
“I have no idea, but I wasn’t with another girl,” I said, frowning. “The only other woman I was with yesterday was my mom. Can you please explain what the fuck you’re talking about?”
There was a brief pause before he answered. “I just sent you the link to an article that was published about you this morning. What the hell is going on with you? There’s a date and time stamp on the picture, bro. It’s from last night. Unless the reporter changed the stamp, you were clearly with a woman who wasn’t your mother.”
“I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about,” I muttered. “Hang on a sec. Maybe if I see the picture I’ll be able to tell you what’s going on.”
I didn’t wait for him to reply before pulling my phone away from my ear and clicking on the link. As soon as it opened, realization dawned and I cursed loudly. “For fuck’s sake. It’s not what it looks like. I swear. Let me call you back to explain, but I need to speak to Larisa first before she sees it. If you thought that was what I was doing last night, then I’m willing to bet she’s going to think the same thing. I’ll call you as soon as I hang up with her, but it’s really not what you’re thinking.”
“I believe you,” he said. “Good luck with Larisa, though. It might not be so easy to convince her if she has already seen it.”
I winced. “Yeah, I know. I’ll talk to you soon.”
As I ended the call, I clung to the hope that I could get in touch with Larisa before she saw it, but then I realized she’d already sent me a message. Two fucking hours ago.
Groaning, I covered my face with the hand that wasn’t already hitting dial on her number. All it had been was a selfie with a damn fan. I hadn’t spoken to that woman for longer than a minute, but our interaction now had the potential to be a complete fucking disaster.
If Larisa didn’t believe me, we were over. I didn’t have a single doubt about it. Hoping that I hadn’t messed up too badly and that she’d at least hear me out, I didn’t waste time on any pleasantries when she picked up.
“I can explain,” I blurted as soon as the call connected. “It’s not what it looks like. You asked me to call you as soon as I woke up because of that picture, right?”
“Right,” she said cautiously. “Go on.”
I didn’t make her wait any longer. “While I was in that meeting with my financial advisor yesterday that I told you about, my mom called and told me she’d been having chest pain and that I needed to drive her to the doctor. I canceled dinner because after we got to the hospital, I realized it wasn’t going to be a very quick trip. They needed to run a bunch of tests and stuff, but I didn’t want you to worry, so I didn’t mention it.”
“Okay, but that woman doesn’t look old enough to be your mother,” she said flatly, but at least she was still listening.
“You’re right. She’s not my mother, but I also didn’t go out with her. She’s a fan who ambushed me when I got takeout after I finally dropped my mom back off at home. I swear to you that I don’t even know her name. I’ve never seen her before and I had no idea she was going to do anything with that photo other than brag to her friends that she’d met me.”
My heart hammered in my chest while I waited for her response. It took a minute, but then I heard her laughing softly and everything in me relaxed. “I won’t lie to you. When I first saw that picture, I was hurt. Heartbroken. I thought I was an idiot for trusting you and that you’d gone back to your old ways, but the more I thought about it, the more I started realizing that there had to be another explanation.”
“So you believe me?” I asked. “If it helps, I’m pissed that she went to the media to make a quick buck and that they spun it as me finding true love with her. It probably goes without saying, but it’s not true. Please believe me. She asked if she could take a selfie and I didn’t think anything about it. That’s why I didn’t let you know that I’d taken a picture with her. It was just a funny story that I thought I’d tell you today.”
There was another brief pause. “It’s all right, Tanner. I believe you. Like I said, I was worried at first. I won’t pretend that I wasn’t, but stuff like this happening is part and parcel of dating someone like you.”