I was sweeping up dust and bits of debris from around the log basket in the living room when my phone rang. With Louise Hoffman still on my tail, I was always careful to check who was calling before I answered it, but even if it had been Louise, she couldn't have brought me down today.

I was happy.

Really, genuinely happy.

After literally rendering me speechless with blissful orgasms last night, Finn and I had gone back to his room, where we'd curled up together, hair still wet from the pool, which should have been uncomfortable but somehow wasn't.

Now, Finn was in his music room, while I did some cleaning and tidying in the living room, and maybe that wouldn't have made some people happy, but the quiet domesticity of it thrilled me.

Until we started sleeping together, I'm not sure I'd fully grasped the impact of Finn and me living together. Yes, I was still here because I literally had no choice, but things were so different now than they had been at the start. It almost felt like we were living together because we wanted to.

My phone continued to ring, Camden's name showing on the screen.

I answered it. "Good morning. Wait, is it still morning? I've lost track of time."

"It's still morning." Camden's voice was unusually serious, and my sunny mood dimmed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Have you heard the rumours?"

I frowned. "What rumours? What are you talking about?"

"Finn Donovan's secret girlfriend. The one he's living with," Camden said.

The floor disappeared beneath my feet. All the warmth rushed out of the room.

"W-what?" I managed to say.

Camden sighed. "I guess you haven't heard then."

"Hold on."

Frantically I scrolled through my socials, wishing now that I hadn't turned those notifications off. Maybe I would have been inundated with gossipy bullshit but at least I'd have been forewarned.

The last time I'd seen talk of Finn's 'girlfriend', it had been a handful of rumours from small accounts that no one gave a shit about. It hadn't gone further than that so I'd stopped worrying about it. I realised now that that had been the calm before the storm.

Suddenly this was everywhere.

"What the hell?" I whispered.

"I was getting tagged loads by people asking where Jude was going in those photos I sent you, and that's hardly new because people are always tagging me in some bullshit or other. But then I noticed that people weren't just tagging me to ask about Jude. They were asking if I knew anything about the Finn rumours," Camden explained.

I couldn't find words. I could only stare numbly at the screen, my thumb scrolling through discussion after discussion about the woman that Finn Donovan was allegedly living with.

"Tash," Camden said, her voice heavy. "You said nothing was going on with you and Finn."

"I don't understand where this has come from, but I'm not Finn's girlfriend," I said.

It wasn't exactly a lie – Finn and I were fucking, but we'd made no commitment beyond that, and we'd sure as hell never addressed things like 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend'. In some ways, what we had felt like so much more than that.

"So what the hell is all this?" Camden asked.

"I don't know!"

It should have been impossible.

Who the hell would throw us under the bus like this –

An icy feeling spread through my chest, making my hands tingle and ache.

Izzy fucking Rollins.

She was the only one who knew that Amy Smith, the aspiring journalist and rival for the Clash internship was really me, and if she'd managed to unearth that, then she could have found out that I'd travelled to Finn's house for the interview. And if she'd found out that, then she could have found out that I was still living here, weeks later.

All it would take was Louise Hoffman sharing at least some of that info with other staffers at the magazine, and then Izzy spreading her legs for one such staffer.

"Camden, I'll call you back," I said, and hung up before she could protest.

I stabbed at the screen with a shaking finger, pulling up Izzy's number, still stored in my phone from the last time she'd called.

"What the hell, Izzy?" I said as soon as she answered.

"Hello to you too," she said.

"You did this, didn't you?"

"I'm going to need a bit more information." She sounded amused and it made me grind my teeth together.

"The Finn Donovan rumours," I snapped.

"You mean that secret girlfriend stuff?" Izzy laughed.

I wanted to reach through the screen and punch her.

"Why would you think I had anything to do with – wait," Izzy said.

A pause followed, and the anger pounding at my temples gave way to a cold jolt of fear.

"You're the secret girlfriend?" Izzy said.

Fuck.

Oh fuckity fucking shitballs.

"Are you kidding me?" Izzy's voice was caught somewhere between impressed and horrified.

My mouth was too dry to speak.

"Oh my fucking God." Izzy's words took on a nasty edge. "And you accused me of sleeping around to get what I want."

"I did not sleep with Finn for an interview," I snapped.

"But you're sleeping with him now?"

"No!" I had no qualms about lying to her.

"Then what are you still doing there?" Izzy challenged.

"Look out of the fucking window. You've seen the weather, what choice did I have?"

Izzy snorted.

I eyed the basket by the stove and contemplated beating myself over the head with one of the logs. How could I have been so stupid?

Izzy might have had the motive and the means but that didn't excuse me blundering in like a bull in a china shop. If Izzy had done this, there was no reason for her to lie about it now, so I had to assume that she was telling the truth. She wasn't responsible for the rumours.

And now I'd confirmed that the rumours were at least partly true. Izzy didn't believe that Finn and I were living together platonically, and she probably wouldn't be alone in that belief. All the rumour-mongers would need was to hear that Finn really did have a woman living with him, and they'd make up their own version of events, just like people always did.

Worst of all, Izzy was now the only person who knew the identity of Finn's alleged girlfriend. I'd just handed her the juiciest of juicy stories because I'd been too pissed off to keep my mouth shut before I knew more.

"Izzy, you can't tell anyone I'm here," I said.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not Finn's girlfriend, and I really don't want to be the centre of this bullshit."

"That sounds like a you problem," Izzy said.

Oh, the bitch was enjoying this.

"Izzy, please," I said, and I didn't hide the desperation in my voice, much as I hated showing her this vulnerability. "I know we've had our differences and I don't owe you anything, but I'm seriously begging you. Don't do this to me."

Izzy was quiet for a long moment. My heart pounded like a drum in my ears.

"I'll think about it," she said and hung up before I could say anything else.

I stared dumbly at my phone. My stomach felt like it was full of rocks.

"What the fuck have you done?" I whispered.

Against my better judgement, I returned to social media. How had the rumours spread this fast? How were people this invested in something that had nothing to do with them and hadn't even been confirmed as true?

Although it would be confirmed pretty fucking soon, wouldn't it?

Izzy was probably phoning every contact she had right the fuck now.

I buried my face in my hands and groaned.

My phone, still clutched in my hand, was right by my ear and I just about leaped out of my skin when it rang.

"Shit," I breathed when I saw who was calling.

Louise Hoffman.

Was it better to take the call or ignore it? I dithered while my phone rang and rang and rang, and then I answered before I could talk myself out of it. It was better to get this over with.

"Amy," Louise chirped, and I felt a rush of unease. Why did she sound so happy?

It occurred to me that Louise herself might be behind the rumours, but I quickly dismissed that. Even if Louise had learned who I really was, she wouldn't risk her reputation on a rumour that had no evidence. Unless she did have evidence and she just hadn't released it yet?

"I'm assuming you've heard these rumours about Finn Donovan's girlfriend?" Louise didn't give me a chance to answer. "I'm also assuming that the girlfriend in question is you."

"I'm not his girlfriend," I said. My head was starting to hurt.

"I'm intrigued by this new angle," Louise said as if I hadn't even spoken. "Is there something going on with you and Finn?"

"I just told you, no," I said, trying to keep my temper in check.

"No, you told me that you weren't his girlfriend. That doesn't mean your relationship with him is entirely platonic."

Goddamn her for catching that.

"Now," Louise continued, "Finn has been a confirmed bachelor for years, despite much speculation about his romantic life and many attempts to link him to various famous faces. A lot of people would be very interested in a story about one of the world's most famous rockstars falling for an everyday woman."

"But there's no story here," I protested, ignoring the fact that she'd hit the nail on the head.

"You and Finn have been forced to live together for several weeks now. Are you sure that this hasn't spawned any form of romantic or sexual interest? Think very carefully."

I gaped at my phone. "Are you suggesting that I lie? That I invent some bullshit romance between me and Finn for clicks?"

"I'm suggesting that this is a story of real public interest, and it would benefit us all to take advantage of that," Louise said.

I swallowed a thick lump of disappointment. I'd admired Louise for so long, had even aspired to be her. I'd thought that she had integrity, that she was interested in real journalism, not grubbing around in the dirt with the people who hounded celebrities relentlessly and would gleefully destroy their lives if it generated just a few more clicks. But it turned out she was no better than any of them. I'd been looking up to a version of her that didn't really exist.

"You want me to use Finn," I said, my voice flat.

"I want you to make the sensible choice for your journalistic career," Louise told me.

"I don't think the sensible choice is lying about people."

Louise sighed, as if I was a difficult child, and my temper sparked again.

"Anyone who wants to succeed in this field needs to have a ruthless streak," said Louise crisply. "If you can't find yours, then you should consider whether this is really the career for you."

Tears stung my eyes. Fuck, she was right. For so long I'd thought I'd wanted this, but what if I really wasn't cut out for it? Where the hell did that leave me?

"Louise, I –" My voice cracked. I didn't know what to say.

I heard a noise behind me and I turned.

Finn was standing behind me.