The Decoy Girlfriend(87)
Taft must feel the same, because he quickly says, “Let’s hurry back. Moira’s texting me that we need to hop on a call ASAP.”
The second they get home, they both google the photos. They’re all over the Internet. The red-bubble notifications on Mandi’s Instagram and Twitter increase by the second as she’s tagged and DMed by people all over the world. Media outlets have run with the stories, each one more titillating than the last.
While the photos from Tiers of Joy are getting the most attention, the ones of her sans makeup at Books & Brambles have stirred plenty of controversy. Some people, mostly women who think she should know better and troll accounts without icons, are criticizing Mandi for keeping a cheater in her life, linking back to the viral photo from the club as Exhibit A.
The speculation doesn’t stop there, though. People with nothing better to do have started linking Taft to other women he’s been in the vicinity of during the last few weeks, making all kinds of vile accusations about whether he’s done anything with them on-and off-screen.
Bowen’s name is right at the top, along with unnamed “sources” claiming Mandi and Taft left Bowen’s premiere early because there were unresolved feelings between the former costars. From there, all it takes is a few clicks to lead Freya to more articles speculating about the real reasons the rest of the cast and Taft aren’t buddy-buddy—all boiling down to Taft’s apparent insatiable sexual appetite.
golden boy’s star loses his shine (and his halo), reads one particularly cruel headline.
“So,” Taft says finally. “I better make that call.”
Freya tears her gaze away from the damning evidence. “Okay.”
His expression softens at the quiver in her voice. “We’re going to figure this out.”
She exhales. “Yeah. What are we going to do?”
“You mean what are Mandi and I going to do?” asks Taft.
Freya blinks. No? That wasn’t what she meant.
“Moira’s last text said she’s drafting up a statement for me to post online denying all the rumors,” Taft says. “She’s advising me to stick to the story that the bookshop picture is taken out of context and deny an engagement. I better let Mandi know what’s going on, too. She needs to be prepared for this shitstorm.”
Freya attempts to find the bright, yet dim, side in all of this. “Okay, well, um, at least I’m not wearing the store name tag in the photo, so they can’t trace ‘Mystery Girl’ back to the real me.”
“Yeah, but when you move back home after the premiere and start being there more regularly, it’s going to be kind of obvious.”
“Right, but I thought—” I thought this was home. “What happened to moving in together?”
She feels foolish as soon as she asks the question. Selfish. More than a little nauseous.
“With these new rumors, it’s going to be harder for me and Mandi to ‘break up’ after the premiere like we planned. If you move in right now—officially, I mean—everyone’s going to figure out who Mystery Girl is. I know it sucks, but we need to push back our plans. We can’t risk the attention right now.”
Freya isn’t sure which we he’s talking about: Him and Mandi. Him and her. Both.
“We were caught ‘out of character,’ and now everything is so messed up,” he says with a groan. “People are calling me a cheater. Again. This is my career and Mandi’s on the line, and the Banshee premiere is tomorrow night. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. I don’t want this to be the way our relationship starts. I want to protect you from all of this shit.”
Freya bites her lip. “I feel so guilty. I love how romantic you are, but I shouldn’t have agreed to all those little dates that were just for us.”
“It’s not on you, sweetheart. I knew better, too, but not when it comes to you,” Taft admits. “I don’t think you know what I’d do just to keep you smiling at me the way you did on those days.” He takes a deep breath. “I love how you always have the right words to say to me, but I don’t think they’ll help this time.”
She blinks at him for what feels like forever. “Then what can I do?”
“Just . . . just sit tight and try not to worry.” He looks like he wants to say something, but in the end he gives her a tight hug, a forehead kiss, and mutters that he’ll call Moira from the bedroom.
The silence in Taft’s wake presses on Freya’s ears as loudly as Gareth’s grating voice had a few minutes ago.
So when the group chat erupts in a flurry of messages, she’s glad to have something else to focus on.
Mimi: Are you seeing what’s trending on Twitter?
Hero: Freya, are you okay?
Steph: The sanctuary’s teen volunteers are huge Banshee fans and they can’t stop talking about what happened. Should we video chat?
Ava: Wait, what did I miss?
Sir Henry looks up at her, and for once, Freya’s more scared of something else than she is of him and his teeth and the way she still can’t see his eyes. Hen butts his cold nose against Freya’s knee and makes a soft whuff.
Without thinking about it, she crouches to pet him. Hen rests his head on her shoulder for a moment, as though he knows she needs a hug.