Delaney James was wearing Chanel the night her husband told her he didn't love her anymore.
In an instant, her picture-perfect Manhattan life-complete with a brownstone on the Upper East Side, a blossoming career as a fashion journalist, and a devas...
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Jo thrusts the glossy magazine toward me for what has to be the third time today, her tortoise-shell sunglasses sliding down her nose.
"You're in a magazine," she says again, like repetition might somehow make this feel normal. "People magazine. As in actual famous-people People magazine."
The sun is relentless today, baking the pool deck beneath us. Hannah's with Jo's parents for the afternoon, which means we've spent the better part of three hours stretched across the lounge chairs in bikinis and SPF fifty pretending North Carolina humidity isn't trying to kill us.
I slide my sunglasses onto my head and take the magazine from her.
"Yeah," I say timidly. "It's cool."
"Cool?" She practically chokes on the words. "You're on the same page as JLo and the future King of England. JLo!"
My attention drops back to the spread.
Two pictures. The first is Disneyland.
Greyson's arms locked around my waist, his face buried against my neck while I smiled so openly it almost doesn't look like me. I can't even remember what he said to make me laugh like that, but seeing it frozen on paper somehow feels stranger than standing there while someone took it.
The second is the carpet.
His hand in mine.
His eyes on me instead of the cameras.
Looking at it now, I realize something I hadn't expected to – I don't look uncomfortable. I don't look like someone trying to disappear.
I look happy.
Which somehow feels more exposing than the pictures themselves.
Jo leans closer, peering over the rim of her sunglasses.
"You guys look insane. I don't even know what I want to talk about first. The dress, the shoes, or your boobs." She gestures dramatically toward her own chest. "Seriously. You looked hot."
"Thank you."
"And Greyson..." She lets out a dramatic sigh. "If you're not careful, strangers are gonna start hating you online for no reason." "Unfortunately, that's how you know you've made it these days."
"True." She reaches for her water bottle. "Speaking of, your karaoke video crossed a million views."
My entire body tightens. "Jo."
"What?"
"You know I hate when you tell me numbers."
"Babe." She pushes her sunglasses farther up her nose. "You dated a professional athlete. You're dating a former professional athlete and Calvin Klein underwear model. You walked a red carpet with a professional athlete." One shoulders lifts. "This comes with him."
