Austin wraps a protective arm around my waist. “You okay, baby girl?”
I nod curtly, still frozen in shock and confusion. I’m used to reporters trying to get information out of me. This was...different.
“What the hell did he mean by tokens?” Teagan asks.
April’s gaze locks with mine.Tokens. Digital currency. The kind you used to purchase things you can only buy online.
She pulls her purse into her lap and fishes out her phone. Her face blanches.
“You’re trending on Twitter,” April says. “Oh God...”
“What is it?” I ask.
Jonathan rubs her arm. She offers me her phone. My hands tremble as I reach out and take it from her.
Hollywood leans into Cal’s embrace. “Kenzie, what is it?”
At first, my mind can’t process what it’s seeing: a girl on her back in a motel room, fucking herself with a purple dildo. I know it’s a motel room because it looks just like the one Hollywood and I used to live in. Same wood paneling, same chipped headboard. Same, same, same...
Bile splashes the back of my throat. I choke it down.
“It looks like someone leaked one of McKenzie’s cam sessions,” April says for me.
Austin’s arm tightens around me. He gently pries the phone from my hand, angling the screen so I can’t see it. I rest my elbows on the table and my face in my hands, as tension curls around my body like ivy growing over stone.
“We’re getting out of here.”
“I’ll get the check from Rudy,” Teagan says.
Guilt twists in my belly. I shake my head. I don’t want to see the looks on strangers’ faces. Hell, I don’t even want to see the looks on my friends’ faces. Not because I think they’ll judge me, but because seeing their sympathy makes it real.
“No,” I say. “You guys should stay. It’s your birthday—”
“Um, absolutely not, and do not argue with me. I’m the birthday girl, I decide when the party’s over.”
I let Austin guide me off my chair and into a hug. I remain there, in his arms, until the check is paid and we’re able to leave. Keeping my head down, I let my friends lead me past the tables and out the door—
And straight into a crowd of reporters.
“McKenzie Sommers, do you have a comment about the leaked footage—”
“Holly Larkin, can we have a word...”
Someone shoves a microphone in my face. I blink against the camera flashes.
“Back the hell off,” Austin shouts.
“How the hell did they know we were here?” Teagan asks.
“McKenzie, look over here!”
“Caleb Larkin, what do you have to say about—”
Jonathan and April walk ahead of us, clearing a path to Austin’s truck. He opens the door for me, and I jump inside, my ears ringing in the sudden quiet.
Austin shouts something to Cal and then rounds the truck and climbs into the driver’s seat.
“We’re gonna rendezvous at Cal and Holly’s. Jonathan and April are taking Teagan home.” He reaches across to buckle my seatbelt, pausing to stroke my cheek. “It’s gonna be okay.”