Chapter 26: Soph

Sneaking around would be fun. Exciting. Sexy. Having Ed to myself again would recentre my priorities.

But first, we needed to lock down the logistics, and that started with a key card to my room. Only for a month, since that was all I had left here, but I wouldn't be able to get up to Ed's suite thanks to all the security measures in place, and I wasn't prepared to have zero physical contact.

If he had a key, he could slip in whenever the coast was clear, rather than trying to time it around me being in and the Residential Security Team being elsewhere.

I dialled down to the reception desk with renewed positivity. Tomorrow we'd be announcing our separation to the world. To nail this without questions, I had to do it today.

Reception assured me the card would be sent up, and I naively skipped over to my door when I heard the knock ten minutes later.

Mark stood on the other side, the plastic rectangle slotted between two fingers.

"You needed a new card?" he asked.

"Yes, sorry. Didn't realise they'd bother you with it."

But when I reached to take it from him, he lifted his hand away from me. Surprised, and equally unwilling to engage him in a physical battle for it, I lowered my hand.

"Who's it for?" The question was direct and as usual lacked emotion, but I wasn't an idiot, and naivety would only catch me out once today.

"A friend." I plastered on an easy smile and folded my arms, leaning a hip against my doorframe.

"Which friend?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes. I can't let you invite just anyone up here. This is a secure wing."

I could have reassured him that he didn't need to worry, but the only way I'd convince him of that was to admit the card was for Ed. And we'd agreed not to tell Mark since he'd then be obliged to tell Helen. It wasn't really secrecy if it was for his own good...

"It's for Gabby," I said.

His green eyes narrowed into furious slits. "Don't you dare fucking lie to me. This is not how you and I should be starting our relationship."

Shit. He was kind of scary when he turned it on. Was this how he'd kept Ed in line all these years?

"Don't put me in this position, then," I said quietly.

"What position would that be?"

"You clearly know who it's for. I don't appreciate being tricked into lying."

His jaw clenched. "I was giving you the chance to be honest. I don't ask for much. If you want my help, you need to communicate."

"I can't."

With a soft sigh that sounded heartbreakingly like disappointment, he slipped the key card into his back pocket.

"Fine."

Panic engulfed me as he turned to leave, and I leapt forward to grab his arm.

"Mark, please."

No sympathy could be found in the glare he levelled down at me. He wanted honesty, and that was the one thing I couldn't give him right now. My whereabouts, my activities, my plans—all of that he'd know. My relationship with Ed... That had to stay secret.

"Please." I peered up at him, hoping to convey that I was both sorry and sincere.

Nothing. Not even a hint of mercy.

"Your puppy dog eyes won't work on me. I'm a robot, remember?"

And as he walked away, that comment struck my heart. His meaning was clear: if I wanted him to act like a human, I had to treat him like one.

*

Ed's statement broke the next day. A post on Instagram and Twitter with a collage of photos that we'd not shared publicly. Some posed, with our arms around each other, others candid when we didn't know the shot was being taken. In all of them we looked happy and in love.

Captioning the post, he wrote:

Soph was my best friend before she was my girlfriend. She has stood by my side, supported me, and encouraged me. The very public nature of my life means our friendship, and subsequent relationship, has had its challenges from the start, but Soph fought through these for me. She accepted the tremendous amount of baggage I come with, and she pushed herself outside her comfort zone so I could continue living this privileged life.

I am so grateful and lucky to have fallen in love with my best friend. The last six months have been the best of my life. Despite my carefully curated image, I am not perfect, but for her I try to be.

So, when she expressed how much this recent backlash has affected her, I didn't do the selfish thing and beg her to ignore it. She's done enough of that. I accepted that her mental health should be her priority and, currently, being with me is not compatible with that.

Today I'm not just hurting because I've split from my girlfriend — I'm hurting because my best friend is in pain. Because she has been judged and vilified for something she did months before we got together. I don't judge her for that, and neither should you.

I love you, Soph. Thank you for all that you've done for me, and I hope one day I can find a way to make you as happy as you made me.

They were his words, but Helen and Zola had naturally approved it before release. Ed had been careful with his wording, deliberately leaving the door open for a future reconciliation. Equally, he'd wanted to be honest and raw with his feelings so his fanbase would hopefully realise how serious the relationship had become. How serious he felt about me. I wasn't convinced that would eliminate the hatred, but I let him take the reins on it.

Barely minutes after the post, it blew up. We became breaking news stories on gossip sites, with headlines that only reinforced we'd made the right decision:

TEDDY & SOPH SPLIT AFTER JUST 6 MONTHS TOGETHER

LUCKY ESCAPE? TEDDY & SOPH CALL IT QUITS

KISS AND TELL: SOPH'S BIG MISTAKE COMES BACK TO HAUNT HER

HOLLYWOOD HOOKUP ENDS OUR FAVOURITE FLING

The messages flew in almost immediately. Faye and Gabby tried calling me, but I waited for voicemail to kick in. When Ed and I had decided to turn this relationship secret, I'd agreed on the condition that I'd be honest with the two girls closest to me. I didn't want to lie to them. It was a conversation to have in person, though.

As for Mac, I hadn't decided how to play that, but at least he'd taken me seriously when I'd asked him not to change his behaviour.

Logan McIntosh: How are things, Palmer? I guess you can tick breaking the internet off your bucket list now 👍

Me: Kim K has nothing on me

Logan: Jokes aside, I'm here for you. So is my spare bedroom if you need somewhere to stay

I tapped my finger against the side of my phone as I stared down at the screen. An offer. Asking him outright would have been uncomfortable as fuck, but if he was putting the offer out there... I'd be stupid—and ungrateful—to turn it down.

I hit dial and pressed the phone to my ear.

"Hey." His voice was gruff, almost hoarse, like he was the one going through a rough patch.

"Just wanted to say thank you for that offer. It's very generous of you."

"Not that generous. You'd pay rent."

I closed my eyes and smiled, his reliable sense of humour grounding me among the chaos that swirled outside.

"I know. But it's your private space. I don't want to cock block you."

"Nah, it'll be fun having you around. And I have no intention of letting you cock block me. As long as you don't mind hearing women scream my name in the middle of the night, I've got no issue with it."

"I'll invest in some earplugs."

"Is that a yes, then?"

I chewed the inside of my mouth and fought against the pride trying to dictate my words.

"Why don't you work out how much rent you'd like me to contribute, then I'll make sure I can afford it."

Silence. The longer it dragged on, the more my heart thumped. Because I could guess his next move. And once he made it, I'd know this was another pity offer—just like Ed's.

"Sure," he said eventually, surprising me. "I get that it's weird asking a boyfriend to contribute towards rent, but you don't need to be weird about that with me. We're friends. I'm paying the full rent currently and would have continued doing so if..."

He trailed off, clearing his throat. Tension tightened my shoulders as I gripped the phone harder.

"If what?"

"If you weren't currently looking for somewhere else to live."

He recovered smoothly, but something seemed off. I'd never told him I was actively looking, but maybe that was easily assumed given that I'd just broken up with my boyfriend. It was his sudden freeze in the middle of the sentence, like he was saying something he shouldn't. And then his comment about asking a boyfriend to contribute... surely not?

"Please tell me he hasn't spoken to you."

A pause. Then, "Yesterday."

"Fucking... Fucker." Rage stormed through me, setting my blood on fire and propelling heat around my body.

"Shit, Palmer. I'm sorry. My offer is just as genuine regardless of his involvement. You know I'd never do something just because he'd asked me. I don't respect him enough for that."

"No but you respect me." I couldn't keep the ice out of my voice, even though this wasn't Mac's fault. "You'd do it for me."

"Yeah, of course, but that still doesn't make the offer less genuine. And honestly, I wasn't trying to throw him under the bus."

"Right. So you wouldn't have told me?"

"Um..."

I sighed and scraped my hair out of my face. "Sorry. I'm not mad at you. He had no right to talk to you behind my back. It's pissed me off."

"Yeah, I get it. Don't let that influence your decision, though. Look out for yourself."

How dare he go behind my back on this? And to Mac, of all people?

"I appreciate the offer, Mac. Let me do some budgeting and come back to you."

"Sure. No rush. Just let me know."

As soon as we'd ended the call, I yanked open my bedroom door and stormed through the hallways, checking each room I passed. No acting needed for this. I was fucking pissed.

"Where is he?" I stopped in front of Jeremy, but my heart continued to race.

"Who?"

I planted my hands on my hips, not in the mood for games. "Ed."

"Don't know."

Fuck this.

"Don't bullshit me, Jer. You're his PPO, so if you're in the building, so is he."

"And you're pissed, so as his PPO, I'm not going to tell you where he is."

My heart dropped to my stomach. Six months we'd dated. Over a year we'd known each other. One day since our break-up, and I was relegated to a security hazard?

"Don't take it personally, Soph—"

"Don't take it personally?" I didn't think it possible for my anger to reach new heights, but somehow it did. "I invited you to dinner every week for a month. I treated you like a friend. And now you're telling me not to take it personally that you're cutting me off?"

"Yes." He raised a slow eyebrow, looking every bit the replica of Mark. "Because this is business. Not personal."

Scoffing, I turned my back on him and pulled out my phone. Calling his boss was a cheap shot, but I wasn't beneath cheap shots.

As I pressed dial, though, a loud ring echoed from further up the corridor. I chased it until I reached an unused room, then pushed open the door.

Two pairs of eyes swivelled towards me, but when Jeremy caught up and grabbed my wrist, Ed's set immediately dropped and darkened.

"Let go of her, Jer. She's fine."

"What's going on?" Mark asked, standing and cancelling my call. "Is everything okay?"

Ed looked me up and down, slowly rising from his own seat. When I took a stride towards him, this time it was Mark who stepped in my way.

What the fuck? He was supposed to be my protection officer. I had a fucking contract. Angry tears burned my eyes.

"What's wrong, Soph?" Ed laid a hand on Mark's forearm and stepped around him.

"What's wrong? We've been broken up five fucking minutes and instead of it freeing me, I feel more fucking trapped than ever. I can't speak to you without your PPO gate keeping—"

"Because you're clearly angry about something," Jeremy cut in. "I'm not letting you near him when you look like you want to slit his throat."

"My own PPO has just proven that, again, you're the priority to protect. And the whole reason I'm angry is because you went to Mac behind my back because apparently I need charity to survive without you."

Ed closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. When he opened them again, he directed his words at the two security men.

"Can you give us the room please?"

Mark stopped Jeremy's protests with a raised hand. Apparently my threat level had been downgraded.

As soon as we were alone, Ed held out his arms.

"What do you need to do? Hit me? I'll give you one free shot then I'm fighting back."

I ground my teeth, not impressed with his playful attitude.

"We both know that if I hit you, I'll be escorted out of the building and not let back in."

"Maybe." His eyes twinkled. "But I'd still like to see you try."

My fists clenched at my sides. I wasn't going to hit him, but it sure was tempting.

"I don't think you understand how genuinely enraged I am right now. Joking around isn't calming me down. And guess what? You can't fuck it out of me anymore either."

The humour drained from his face, as if finally realising I was serious.

"Look, I'm sorry about Mac. I shouldn't have done it. I was trying to make it easier for you, but I understand why you feel it took the power away from you instead."

"Don't give me that bullshit."

"Bullshit?" One eyebrow arched.

"The prepared answer. The one you planned in advance to help you talk your way out of this if I ever found out."

"Hm." He folded his arms, drawing my gaze down to his broad shoulders. "What do you want me to say, then?"

I huffed and turned my back on him, because even now, with angry blood storming through my veins, my love for this infuriating boy still overpowered everything. I hated we were even arguing about this. We shouldn't be in this position in the first place.

"I really am sorry, Soph."

To the side of me, a wall clock ticked away the passing seconds. It told the wrong time, an hour out, presumably because nobody had bothered to adjust it for daylight saving given that this room was hardly used.

Which reminded me...

"What were you talking to Mark about?" I swivelled to face him again.

"He was checking in on me. As a friend."

"And yet he still protected you like a personal protection officer when he thought I posed a threat."

Ed sighed. "It's an instinctive reaction, Soph. He's been protecting me for nine years. Besides, by protecting me, he's protecting you. You don't want to end up in court for assaulting Teddy Stone, trust me."

His lips quirked, a familiar sparkle returning to his eyes. Like a magnetic pull, my own mouth stretched into a smile.

"I'll make you regret pushing me towards Mac."

"Oh, yeah?" His grin widened. "You going to try to make me jealous?"

I shrugged. "The whole world thinks I'm single, so..."

"I know he doesn't have much class, but I'd like to think he'd see straight through you."

Releasing a dramatic sigh, I settled my hands on my hips. "If only you'd made more of an effort with him. That way, he might have enforced bro code. But now... guess I'm fair game to him."

With a dark chuckle, Ed's eyes swept lazily over my body. Then one arm darted out, curved around my back, and yanked me closer. My chest collided with his, and a bolt of heat zapped straight between my legs.

"Guess I'm fair game to all those girls who want a shot with me, too."

"I think those girls have always seen you as fair game. You'll need to try harder to make me jealous."

"Sounds like a challenge."

"Mm, shame you've just promised the world that you love me and you'll be fighting to win me back one day."

Rather than laugh and agree, an expression of contemplation drifted over his face.

"Right..." he said, "...Because I'm a good guy."

"The perfect guy."

"Hm. What if I wasn't?" He cupped my cheeks and tilted my face up to look into his beautiful blue eyes. "What if they realised you were the good one in the relationship? And I was all talk?"

My heart thumped against his chest, a steady drumbeat of excitement. This was what he wanted, but I sensed an ulterior motive.

"It's not going to make them love me again, Ed."

"But if we can trick the world into thinking we've moved on, maybe they'll lose interest sooner. Or maybe they'll realise they liked us together after all."

"Maybe," I said. "Let's just take it step by step for now, though. We've got all the time in the world."

***

Thank you for reading :) xx

***

No, this isn't the end! We're just over halfway through... Are you enjoying book 3 so far?

This book is nearly finished on Ream, just the epilogue to go which will be uploaded next week. So if you want to read ahead, you have got plenty of chapters to enjoy ☺️