Whatever It Takes (Bad Reputation Duet #1)(40)

I can’t look away from my palms.

A tense moment passes before I hear them set down the two cardboard boxes.

“Thanks,” I say softly, unsure of what I’m feeling exactly. It’s not every day that you grace the number one gossip site with your comfiest pair of panties and tampons strewn about. What a strange debut.

“Hey…Willow,” Lo says, attempting to soften the sharp edge to his voice. “What happened back there—that’ll be yesterday’s news in an hour.” He clears his throat when I don’t respond. “You can think of it like an initiation? Welcome to the family…”

I choke on a laugh that twists my face into a cringe. I finally look up, and both Ryke and Loren wear sympathetic expressions.

Ryke more than Lo, which reminds me of the conversation in the car…about Lo’s brother being overly caring.

I lick my dry lips, trying to form words when I usually keep everything in my head. It’s a hard task to master, and I know I’m still very green at it. “I just…kind of hoped I’d be known for something other than the-girl-who-dropped…” tampons. I can’t even say what they are. I wince at myself and glance at the scrap of worn jean material on top of a cardboard box. I can sew the bottom later.

“Like I said, it’ll be yesterday’s news,” Lo tells me. “You’ll be known for something else in a month’s time…” My mind tunes him out the minute Ryke unpockets a handful of tampons, setting them on my dresser.

I go pale again.

“Ryke,” Lo snaps, noticing where my attention lies. He whispers something to his brother, who’s frowning.

Ryke whispers back, “They’re just tampons. You’re acting like she dropped a fucking dildo.”

“Don’t,” Loren cringes.

Ryke rolls his eyes. “Lily, your fiancée, said she had a bad dream about her sex toys falling out of her luggage and paparazzi catching the incident at the airport—so I’m not the fucking weird one here.”

Lo groans. “Why are you talking to my girlfriend about dildos?”

I don’t know if I should find entertainment in this—if that makes me no better than Celebrity Crush—but I guiltily and eagerly listen along, wanting their back-and-forth to continue.

Ryke groans now. “We’re fucking friends.”

“Hey, can you at least watch how you say that? You’re not friends that fuck.”

“Why are you busting my balls?”

“You’re the one who brought up Lily and goddamn sex toys. What the hell did you expect out of me?”

Ryke sighs and runs another hand through his hair. He meets my gaze as soon as his hand drops. “I hate that you feel embarrassed about this.”

I shrug, unsure of what to say in reply. “You know…I’m a girl.” It’s difficult to say what I mean. I think I always sound more articulate in my head. “None of my friends talk about…periods or anything…”

Lo and Ryke exchange one look of knowing between each other. And then Lo dials a number on his phone and puts it on speaker.

Within the third ring, it clicks.

“Loren.” An icy, female voice frosts the room. “This better be quick. I’m getting my nails done for the first time in three months.” I think she even mutters, “I’m so sorry”—to her nails.

“God forbid I disturb you, your highness,” Loren says.

“Wait—aren’t you with your sister?” Rose Calloway, Lily’s older sister, is one of the few people aware of the truth. I can hear her shift in her chair, as though straightening up. “Is everything okay?”

I’ve met Rose a few times. She usually does all the talking and I nod a lot. I like people that don’t mind if I’m quiet, and since she’s so loud, I thought she’d pressure me to be like her, to speak up and attack with confidence. She actually lets me say as much as I want and fills the rest of the silence with her own voice. I even think she likes it that way.

It makes me like her even more.

Ryke talks loudly so his voice is heard through the speakerphone. “She’s upset. Her backpack tore while paparazzi were around us, and tampons fell out.”

Every time he says tampons, so casually, my heart nosedives all over again.

“Willow,” Rose says sternly. “Can you hear me?”

“It wasn’t just one,” I say under my breath. “It was an entire box…”

Lo puts his phone closer to his lips. “Did you get that?”

“Yes,” Rose says. “Willow, most women have a period. We buy tampons or pads or other products. I personally like to be overprepared too. And if anyone—a cameraman, a peer, a stranger—makes you feel strange or uncomfortable for having seen you with them, then just know that they’re boys, not men. They’re infantile, little human beings that can’t appreciate or respect a woman’s body. And in no way should they even touch one.” I begin to smile and she adds, “I have to go—no not yellow polish. I’m not a sunflower—”

She hangs up or maybe Lo does, either way—my shoulders have unconsciously lifted, my hands flat on my legs. I feel a little less numb, a little more awake.

I’ve never been given a motivational, encouraging speech in my life. The best part: knowing someone cares about me enough to give one. I realize that Ryke and Loren must’ve understood what Rose’s response would be in this situation.