Reckless (Thoughtless, #3)(50)

“Of course.” Dread started filling my stomach. “Why? Did something happen?” My thoughts immediately went to my sister and my unborn nephew. “Is Anna okay? Is the baby?” Fear seeped into my stomach, and I tried to squelch it. Surely Anna, Kate, or Jenny would have called me if something had happened to the baby.

Denny immediately sputtered, “No, no, they’re fine. It’s nothing like that. It’s just . . . have you seen the tabloids recently? Been on any gossip sites?”

Relief immediately flooded me. I shook my head at Kellan’s concerned face, letting him know that everything was fine with Anna. Focusing on the first part of his reply, I told Denny, “Oh good, you freaked me out.” I frowned as I puzzled his question. Tabloids? “No, I’ve been way too busy for that. Why would I care about tabloids and gossip sites?”

Denny sighed. “Crap. I would’ve called you sooner, but I just noticed today. It’s still pretty quiet around here, and I don’t think anyone’s put two and two together yet, but I thought you should know what’s out there, so you could be prepared.”

More confused than before, I tentatively asked, “Prepared for what?”

Denny paused again, and my anxiety started resurfacing. “You mentioned earlier in the month that the guys were doing a collaboration with Sienna Sexton.”

His voice held a trace of awe and wonder in it, a feeling I completely understood; it sort of blew me away too. But I didn’t understand why he was changing the subject, and my voice came out agitated. “Yeah, what does that have to do with tabloids, though?”

As I watched Kellan swerving his way through traffic, a slight frown on his lips as he listened, Denny said, “Does Kellan . . . hang out with her?”

My frown deepened. “No. She’s not even here. She went back to London after recording her part of the song.” Pulling my gaze from Kellan, I bluntly asked my ex, “What’s going on, Denny?”

He sighed. “There’s a picture of Sienna and Kellan that’s circulating the Internet. It’s all over the magazines too. No one seems to know who Kellan is yet. It’s mainly his back in the photo, but there is some serious buzz about Sienna and her new mysterious . . . boyfriend.”

My jaw dropped so far I thought it might have to be surgically reattached. “Boyfriend? Wait, what picture?”

Denny’s exhale was sympathetic. “I don’t know. Looks like they’re walking into a restaurant together. She’s holding onto his arm. He’s smiling and looking down at her. It’s all very . . . convincing. Are you okay?”

My mind blanked, then I remembered the photographers outside of the place we had gone with Sienna for dinner. They’d been snapping pictures of all three of us as we’d been walking into the restaurant. Sienna had invaded Kellan’s personal space a bit before we’d walked through the doors, but I’d been in the picture too; Kellan was holding my hand the entire time. But of course they wouldn’t show that. I was a nobody. Sienna was a celebrity. And Kellan was now her new mysterious boyfriend. They were already linked . . . and no one knew about the single yet. What would happen when they did know? My stomach dropped as the car pulled to a stop.

“It’s not what it looks like. I was there, you just can’t see me.” As I whispered that to Denny, I felt irony wrapping around my throat, sealing it shut. Hadn’t I wanted to be invisible, to not let Kellan’s spotlight shine on me? Be careful what you wish for. I was now invisible. “I have to go, Denny. Bye,” I mumbled into the phone.

“Kiera, wait, are you okay?”

I disconnected the line without answering him. No, I didn’t think I was okay. As Kellan shut the car off, I stared in shocked silence at my phone. What the hell just happened? In the public eye, Sienna and Kellan were dating? Did this change anything for me? No, not really. It didn’t matter what the public thought was real; I knew what was going on. It still churned my stomach, though.

“Kiera, are you okay?”

Kellan’s concerned words matched Denny’s. Feeling light-headed, I looked up at him. “I’m fine,” I whispered.

He frowned. “Honestly, you’re fine?”

I groaned internally, really hating our honesty-at-all-cost pact at the moment. “I don’t know what I am.”

Kellan nodded. “Okay, can you tell me what that was about? Maybe we can figure out what you feel together.”

I bit my lip and held up a finger, so he knew I would speak when I could. Kellan grabbed my hand and patiently waited. As he rubbed his thumb over my wedding ring, the shock of Denny’s revelation passed through me, and I truly did feel okay. Not great, but okay.

As I turned to face him, his brow furrowed even deeper. He’d taken off his sunglasses, and the worry emanating from behind his midnight blue eyes was nearly palpable. “Talk to me,” he whispered.

Feeling a little silly, since I knew where his heart was firmly planted, I smiled and shook my head. “Denny was just concerned about me because there’s a photo of you and Sienna running rampant on the Internet. Everyone on the planet thinks you’re her new ‘unknown’ boyfriend. Apparently, the photo is convincing. Denny didn’t directly say so, but I think he thought you were stepping out on me.” I started to laugh, until the thought of Kellan actually cheating on me with her strangled the sound. I had to swallow three times to ease my throat.