Page 88 of Cross Ice

Nico

How much time?

Evan

I don’t know.

I put the phone down and went back to watching my life disintegrate in the comments.

Danny arrived around two in the afternoon. He came in with takeout and took one look at me—unwashed, still in yesterday’s clothes, phone back in my hand—and sat down beside me.

“How bad is it?” he asked.

“Bad.”

He took the phone out of my hand and turned it off.

“Hey—”

“No. You’re done.” He guided me to the kitchen table. “Eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I don’t care.”

We sat in silence while I forced down a few bites.

“They found me,” I said finally. “They know who I am. They found Ryan. They’re saying I have a pattern of dating famous men for money.”

Danny’s jaw tightened. “Strangers on the internet who don’t know you.”

“But everyone else will see it. My clients are already⁠—”

“What does Nico think?”

I stared at my plate. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him.”

“Evan…”

“He’s been texting. I don’t know what to say.”

Danny was quiet for a moment. “Are you going to run again?”

The question hit like a physical blow, and I sucked in a breath.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you love him?”

I thought about the way he’d said, “I did this,” blaming himself before I could. How even now, in the worst moment of his life, his text had been to ask if I was okay.

“I don’t know,” I whispered. But that was a lie.

Danny saw right through it. “Yes you do. You’re just scared.”

“Of course I’m scared. This is my worst nightmare happening in real time.”

“I know. But you have to decide if he’s worth it. Because it’s not going away. The photos are out there. People know who you are now.” He held my gaze. “You can only go forward.”