Chapter 31

“He what?” Jane’s face had gone pale as King grimly told them what had happened. Sam put his arm around her, afraid she was going to faint. They were in Tom’s bedroom, a hastily convened damage-control meeting with a few of the players and Melody Ann.

“It’s okay,” Sam said, his chest tight with worry he was trying not to show. “He couldn’t see anything. King was blocking his view.”

“I don’t know, Sammy,” King said. The worry plainly written on his face had alarm bells going off for Sam. “I wasn’t paying much attention to the rest of the room. I honestly didn’t think there’d be anyone here who would do something like that. I’m an idiot.” King turned suddenly and punched the bedroom wall. No one even commented on the dent he left behind.

“I’m sorry, Jane,” Tom said, looking miserable. “It’s my fault. People showed up and I just assumed they were people I knew, that I’d given my address to, even if I didn’t remember them. I didn’t think any strangers would be here.” He looked at King and Sam. “I swear, I’ll make it up to you.”

Carmina stepped over and put her arm around Jane, offering comfort. Jane pulled away from Sam and hugged Carmina. Sam felt her desertion like a bucket of ice water.

“We’ve got to find out who it was and where he sent the photos,” Danny said. He looked over at Melody Ann.

“I’m on it,” she said crisply. “I’ve got a few contacts. But I don’t know if there’s much I can do, guys. Some places might call for a comment before running any pictures. But there are hundreds of low-rent gossip sites that would upload it right away, before we could do anything about it. And once they do, it’s fair game for the bigger sites.” She looked over at Jane. “I’m sorry.” Without warning she punched Tom in the arm. “I wish you guys would learn to keep it in your pants. Half my job is running interference on your sexcapades.”

“Yeah, nice job with that,” Danny commented drily. “You were like ten feet away.”

“I have to go,” Jane said, pushing away from Carmina. She walked stiffly toward the bedroom door. Sam caught her arm and she yanked it away. The look she gave him was hurt and accusing. “You said it would be fine.” She sniffed and wiped her fingers under her eye. She turned her gaze to King. “You said no one would care.”

“The fact is, you’re dating a couple of Rebels,” Melody Ann said. Her expression and her voice were sympathetic but firm. “Unfortunately, their personal lives get as much attention as their professional lives. It’s not their fault, but they make good copy. And now that they’re winning, against everyone’s predictions, they’re even bigger news. You have to be prepared for that.”

“I’m not,” Jane said flatly. “I never was.” She turned and started to walk out again.

“Jane,” King pleaded. “Listen to me.”

“No,” she said, cutting him off. She looked over her shoulder. “You’re like the damn Pied Piper, leading us all into this mess. I don’t know how I let you talk me into things, but I’m not listening to you anymore. I can’t handle any of this right now. You were wrong. We did jump into a volcano, and I’m the one who’s going to get burned. Just…believe me when I tell you I’m madder at myself than I am at you. I knew better.”

Sam followed her. She turned in the hallway and glared at him. “What are you doing?” she demanded. “This is the part where I tell you I need some space.”

“And this is the part where I tell you I’m walking you to your car, whether you like it or not,” Sam said, standing his ground. “I don’t know if this guy is still out there, or if other people have showed up. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

“Oh,” she said, laughing a little hysterically. “Now you want to protect me?”

“I’m not the bad guy,” Sam said quietly. “I just wanted to love you.”

“I guess I’m the bad guy, then,” she said, turning away. “Because I can’t handle all the craziness that comes with that. I can’t handle what I’ve become and the mess this is going to make of my life.”

She might as well have shot him through the heart. He had trouble breathing as he watched her walk away, pushing people out of her way.

“Everything all right, mate?” Nigel asked, stopping beside him as he, too, watched Jane walk away.

“Could you make sure she gets to her car okay?” Sam asked him. “I don’t think she wants to see me right now.”

“What the hell?” Nigel asked. “You seemed pretty chummy on the dance floor.” Sam looked at him, but saw only concern.

“The shit is about to hit the fan,” Sam said, shaking his head. “Hurry, before she gets too far ahead. There was a guy here who might give her some trouble.”

“Got it,” Nigel said, hurrying after her.

He couldn’t believe how fucked-up tonight had become. Sam turned back to the war council in the bedroom. First he had to mitigate the damage from the stupid decisions they’d all made tonight. Then he’d go to Jane and do whatever it took to get her to give them another chance.

Jane sat there in bed, still in her pajamas, staring at her phone as if it were a live snake. She was leaning against the headboard for support. She’d avoided going online since she’d left Sam and King last night. She didn’t want to see the photos. It was only a matter of time until someone identified her. For now her phone was quiet—no messages or calls.

Not even from Sam or King.

She’d been such a bitch to Sam last night. King, too. No wonder they hadn’t tried to contact her. She was a horrible person. What happened wasn’t their fault and she knew it. They hadn’t talked her into doing anything she hadn’t wanted to do. She had no one to blame but herself for this situation. Well, maybe slutty Jane. Slutty Jane had wanted everything they’d done and more. She loved it. Loved being their dirty girl and fucking like minks on tables and in the back of cars and on dance floors. Loved that two guys were so hot for her, and that something about being with her—ordinary little Jane Foster, girl next door and Nurse Nice—made two of the hottest guys she’d ever known so horny they were ready to fuck each other, too. Yep, Slutty Jane loved it.

The problem was, Slutty Jane was pretty much just Jane. Jane loved it. And it was going to ruin the rest of her life.

She needed to be proactive. She needed to find out if they could fire her for this. Was there some sort of decency clause in her job description that she’d violated? Even if they didn’t fire her, she’d be on night shift permanently. That way she couldn’t contaminate the hospital’s image with her thoroughly unacceptable behavior. One of the ER night-shift doctors had been arrested for DUI two years ago. His wife had left him and he’d been on the night shift ever since. He still rode a moped to work. He was a broken man.

Jane was scared of mopeds. They went too slow and were a target for bigger, faster cars. She couldn’t ride a moped. She’d have to get a bus pass.

“Um, Jane?” Margo knocked on her bedroom door. “You in there? I thought you were staying at Sam’s last night.”

Jane groaned and fell over on the bed. She grabbed a pillow and covered her head with it. She still heard Margo open the door.

“Are you sick? It’s ten o’clock. You never sleep this late.” She snickered. “What’s the matter? Your two big guys wear you out?”

Jane began to cry. She’d been crying half the night and had tried to keep it quiet, but now her body switched to autopilot and started the waterworks in earnest.

“Oh my God,” Margo said, rushing over. “Are you okay?” She ripped the pillow away and began inspecting Jane. “Did they hurt you? Should I call the police?”

“No,” Jane managed to croak. “It’s over. Everything is ruined. I’m ruined.” She tried to grab the pillow again, but Margo tossed it away.

“What are you talking about? Did you get dumped? Oh, baby.” She sat down beside Jane and tried to smooth her hair, but it was a tangled mess of knots. “It will be okay. They were jerks, anyway.”

“They are not,” Jane said miserably. “They’re wonderful and I can never see them again.” She cried harder, hiccupping.

“If they’re so wonderful, why did they dump you?”

“They didn’t,” Jane said. “I dumped them. But too late!”

“Oh, God, you’re really pregnant this time, aren’t you? I gave you a huge box of condoms!”

Jane sat up and glared at Margo. “Would you get over the pregnant thing? I am not pregnant. Okay?” She wiped her nose with the bedsheet.

“Okay, but you are disgusting.” Margo got up and walked into Jane’s bathroom, returning with a box of tissues. She handed it to Jane. “Blow and then tell me what’s going on. I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”

Jane grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. Then another and another. Finally she sniffed and told Margo, “No one can help. I’m doomed.”

“Why?” Margo asked, being much more patient than Jane could ever remember her being.

“The Internet,” Jane spat out. “I hate it.”

“Ooookay,” Margo said. “I’m really trying to keep up, honest, but what does the Internet have to do with your doom and why you can’t see two wonderful, gorgeous guys again?”

“Someone took pictures last night,” Jane whispered.

“You mean Sam or King?” Margo asked, frowning. “I don’t like this trend of sex pictures on your phone. The last guy I went out with wanted me to sign a release. Seriously,” she said in answer to Jane’s horrified look. “Did they record it, too?”

“No, Sam and King didn’t take pictures,” Jane explained, her voice rising hysterically. “Some slimy stranger did at Tom and Danny’s party, and he posted them. Or sold them to a website. Something like that.” She blew her nose, the tears starting to flow again.

“You were doing it at Tom and Danny’s?” Margo asked, eyes wide. “Holy shit. You have really gotten into this whole bad-girl thing, haven’t you? Was it, like, an orgy or something? Did you do other guys?” Margo sounded pretty excited by the whole prospect.

“Ewww! No,” Jane said, shoving Margo. “We were just dancing and, you know, fooling around on the dance floor, like you do. That’s all.”

“Then what’s the big deal?” Margo asked, clearly disappointed.

“All three of us,” Jane clarified.

“And?” Margo asked, a little sarcastically, in Jane’s opinion. “So what? So it was a Jane sandwich on the dance floor. Big deal.”

“It was a Sam sandwich on the dance floor,” Jane corrected her. “A shirtless Sam pressed very closely between me and King. Very intimately, if you know what I mean.”

“I don’t,” Margo said, avid interest back on her face. “Tell me.”

“We were making out,” Jane yelled. “Okay? King had his hands down Sam’s pants and Sam had his hands down mine, and we were all kissing each other.”

“Holy shit, I think I just came,” Margo said. “Are you serious?” She laughed in delight. “That is so hot. Except that you’re my cousin, so eww. But still. Holy shit.”

“Don’t you get it?” Jane said, hysteria pulling her off the bed to pace the room. “Somebody is going to figure out who I am. And I’m going to become that slut who was doing it with King Ulupoka and Sam Taylor at a party in front of everyone.”

“Okay, first of all, hands down pants is third base, not doing it. And wouldn’t this be more damaging for Sam and King than for you? After all, they’ve just been outed as gay.”

“Not gay,” Jane said, deflating. “Bi. They like men and women. Each other and me, in particular.”

“There must be something in the water at the Gulf Coast Arena,” Margo said. “Although I heard that Diamonte Weber of the Clippers just came out as bi, too, citing the Rebels as his inspiration to come clean and live his life honestly and without shame.”

“What?” Jane asked. “What are you talking about?”

Margo shrugged. “I’m just saying that the Rebels and their openness about their sexuality has inspired a lot of people to live their life openly, that’s all. Sam and King have joined a pretty exclusive club. And Sam is ex-military, too, a vet. That’s going to make a splash.”

“But they’re sports figures,” Jane said. “They can handle the backlash. Like you said, they’re not the first. People won’t like it, but it won’t ruin their careers.”

“It won’t ruin yours, either,” Margo said firmly. “You’re an ER nurse. If somebody comes in bleeding or having a heart attack they’re not going to care who you’re sleeping with, or how many.”

“I’ll be on night shift for the rest of my life,” Jane moaned. “I’ll never get another job around here.”

“Bull,” Margo said, crossing her arms. “You’re overreacting.”

“Margo, what are people going to say?” Jane asked, sitting down next to her and taking both of Margo’s hands in hers. “I’ve never done anything like this in my life. I’m a rule-book follower, Margo. I’m reliable. Dependable. Good old Jane. Suddenly I’m this wild woman who fucks two guys on a dance floor.”

“I thought you said you didn’t do it?” Margo asked.

“Technically, no, but you know the Internet. Pretty soon it will be double penetration with a cheering crowd gathered around.”

Margo blushed. “Were there other Rebels there? You know, watching?”

“Margo!”

“What?” she asked defensively. “That’s hot. I’m just saying. An NFL team watching you have sex, like you’re the main porn attraction? That’s hot.”

“That is not hot,” Jane said. “It’s…it’s…abnormal.”

“Now who’s judging?” Margo asked stiffly, trying to pull her hands away from Jane.

“Okay, okay, you’re right,” Jane said quickly, ashamed she’d said something so mean to Margo. “You say potato, I say patahto.” She bit her lip. “Sam says that his therapist told him there is no normal. Do you believe that?”

“What do you mean?” Margo had settled back beside her.

“That what’s normal for me isn’t necessarily normal for you or for the next person, and so on,” Jane explained, grabbing a tissue to wipe her runny nose. Crying really sucked.

“Oh, sure, totally,” Margo said. “I mean, look at Fifty Shades. That shit was outrageous, but all sorts of people are into it now. It’s normal.” She shrugged. “As long as everyone involved is an adult and no one gets hurt who isn’t asking to be hurt, no harm, no foul.”

“That’s what everyone keeps saying,” Jane said miserably, turning away from Margo. “But it doesn’t feel normal. It feels like everyone is staring and pointing fingers because I’m a freakish slut who’s with two guys at the same time.”

“No one is doing that,” Margo said softly.

“I know,” Jane admitted. “But even though I know it, I still feel dirty.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t be in this relationship,” Margo said sympathetically. “I know you like both guys, but it seems like it’s making you miserable.”

“But I’m miserable at the thought of giving them up, too. Having two amazing guys taking care of you, worrying about you, laughing at your jokes, and in general being crazy about you, that’s pretty heady stuff. Not just that, but they get me.” Jane thumped a fist against her breaking heart. “They get that…” She glanced uncomfortably at Margo, but decided it was time to come clean. “They get who I really am. That maybe I’m not the good girl I’ve always tried to be, you know? They don’t judge me for what I like. In bed.” She bit her lip. “The sex was wild and hot and uncontrollable,” she confessed in a rush. “Like we couldn’t wait to fuck each other. I’ve never had that before. Never been with someone who was ready to try anything, do anything I wanted, and who asked me to do some pretty outrageous, delicious things, too. And afterwards, they were so sweet, like what we did just made them like me more, not less. Like they respected me for being so…open. You know?”

“I don’t,” Margo said longingly, “and now I am completely jealous.”

Jane spun around to face her. “But it was a lie! While I was with them, when it was happening, yeah, I was wild and into it. But I’m not that person. I’m repressed Jane, who just wants people to like her and approve of her. Not the sexy, confident woman they think I am.”

“Wrong.” Margo took Jane’s face in her hands and stared into her eyes. “You are that sexy, confident woman. You said it yourself: you repress her. They bring her out. When are you happiest? That’s really the question you should be asking.”

“Is it?” Jane asked, confused. “Or is that just a selfish way to rationalize what I want, whether it’s right or wrong?”

“It’s not wrong,” Margo said, exasperated. “Look, you haven’t even seen the pictures online, or the public reaction. Maybe you’re making mountains out of molehills.”

Jane looked at her hopefully. “You think so?”

“Sure,” Margo said. “Let’s take a look and you’ll see it’s no big deal.”