Delaney James seemed to have it all-a Manhattan townhouse, a thriving career as a fashion journalist, and a handsome, high-powered husband, but when he announces he's leaving her, Delaney's picture-perfect life unravels. Heartbroken and in need of a...
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"You're in a magazine!" Jo exclaims, holding up the latest issue of People.
The sun is brutal today. It's blazing hot and Hannah is with Jo's parents for the day, so we've been lounging by the pool, clad in bikinis and SPF 50 since noon, and this is the third time she's shoved this magazine in my face.
"This is nuts!" Her eyes are wide with excitement. "My friends are in a tabloid!"
I lift my sunglasses off my face and place them on top of my head, grabbing the magazine from her hands as she dances it in front of me. "Yeah, it's cool. I guess."
"Cool? It's cool?" She scoffs. "There's a picture of you next to the King and Queen of England. The freaking King!
There are two pictures of Greyson and I on page three. One is of us at Disney Land, his arms wrapped around my waist and his face buried in my neck, and a big smile on my face. The other is of us on the red carpet, hand in hand and him looking down at me, adoringly.
And surprisingly, I don't look as uncomfortable as I thought I would. I actually like the pictures I've seen of us from the ESPYS.
Jo's right. This is pretty cool.
"You guys look amazing," Jo says. She slides her square, tortoise shell sunglasses down her nose so she can see our pictures more clearly. "I don't know what I want to talk about first, your dress or the way your boobs look in it, which..." She spreads her fingers and holds her hands up to her chest as if to say, they look huge. "Your make-up, or your shoes. The whole thing would be a Best Look on Fashion Police. If that show were still on, that is. And Greyson looks so handsome." She closes the magazine and playfully throws it at me. "If you're not careful people are going to start hating you for no reason. Strangers will make nasty comments about you online."
"In this world, that's how you know you've made it. Sadly." I pull my glasses over my eyes and rest my head against the padded headrest on the pool chair. "And people already hate me for no reason. The name Ripley Payne ring any bells?"
"Ripley hates everyone. She's a mean girl."
"She was telling the truth about her and Greyson. They slept together."
She slides her sunglasses back up her nose and looks down, pulling at the knot of her white sarong. "Greyson did a lot of stupid things when he got back. We all do when we feel like the world is falling down around us."
"He swears it didn't mean anything. That he barely remembers it even happened."
"Do you believe him?"
"I do. I think. I mean, I want to. It's just..." I trail off, not really sure how to explain myself. I grab my water bottle and take a sip as the events of the last two months run through my mind. Greyson has said over and over again that I'm all he wants, and that he can't imagine his life without me, and that if we get back together, there'd be no going back – it would be for life. He said he's all in, but Will said that too once upon a time.
