Trihn groaned. “Disgusting.”
Don’t these creeps know that celebrities are people, too?
No one should have access to personal information, let alone to very personal images meant for a significant other. Trihn clicked through the list of hacked celebrities’ phones, and she froze. It was a relatively long list, but two names popped out at her.
Chloe Avana.
Damon Stone.
Shit! She didn’t know what that meant, but she had a feeling it wasn’t good.
Trihn pulled into Posse’s parking lot and searched for their names, as related to the scandal. About a hundred different sites appeared at once.
She clicked on the first one.
CHLOE AVANA NUDE!
Anonymous hacker group strikes at celebrities once more. This time, Chloe Avana, former Disney star and platinum-recording artist, is revealed in a series of naked photographs. These photographs were allegedly extracted from her phone as well as from the phone of her current fling, DJ Damon Stone, whom she recently recorded with on her latest number one hit, “We Never Met.”
These photographs come on the wave of another breach of security for celebrities and bring up a call for increased…
Trihn stopped reading as she tried to process what the article was saying. It was obvious, of course. She knew what they were saying. But…she couldn’t comprehend the other part.
Why would Damon have those photographs on his phone?
She knew he had immediately texted her to let her know that it wasn’t true. So…it must not be true. That didn’t seem like Damon at all. It didn’t make sense.
She leaned her head against the steering wheel and tried to make all of the puzzle pieces fit together. The hacking group had no reason to lie about where the images had come from—or at least she didn’t think so. She really knew nothing about them.
But if Damon didn’t even ask for nude pictures from me, why would he want them from Chloe?
The only way it could be possible, in her mind, was if Chloe had sent them to Damon, unprompted.
Or Damon was a liar.
Trihn squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head at the ludicrous thoughts. It was a mistake. It wasn’t true. The press was manipulating her, and she needed to wait to hear from Damon before freaking out about this. She needed to trust him and believe in him, as he had done for her all those times. They were a team. That was all that mattered.
Taking a calming deep breath, she exited her car and entered Posse.
Her friends were hanging out at the bar. Maya was pouring drinks and laughing with Drayton and Pace. Eric planted a kiss on Bryna’s forehead while Stacia was dancing around in a too-short skirt. When they saw her, their faces fell, and they all looked stricken.
Great.
“Hey,” Trihn said. “We have to quit meeting like this.”
“Have you not heard?” Bryna asked.
“I saw. But it’s not true. Damon said it wasn’t true.”
Trihn realized how ridiculous she’d sounded when a bunch of them winced. Have I become that girl again? Am I making excuses for Damon when he could be doing whatever he wants behind my back?
God, insecurities on red alert.
She needed to pull herself back together. Damon was not cheating on her. He would never have flown her to Atlanta or texted her reassurances or totally fallen in love with her if he wanted someone else. She would not let this stress her out. There was an explanation for it all.
“Can I talk to you?” Bryna asked.
She looked nervous. That was not a good sign.
“Sure,” Trihn said hesitantly.
Trihn glanced over at Eric, and he looked worried. She didn’t know if it was about the stuff that had come out in the press or if it was about what Bryna was going to say. Either way, it was not good.
The girls walked across Posse and then went outside to the patio. They sank down onto a bench next to the empty pool. For the summer, the university had emptied out, aside from the football players. During the day, it would be busier out here, but right now, they basically had the place to themselves.
Bryna looked directly in Trihn’s eyes. “I’ve never told anyone this story before. I swore that I wouldn’t let it get out to the press, so I’ve held my tongue. And it’s been hard. I’ve wanted to say something for a long time, but it didn’t feel like my place or the right time.”
“You’re freaking me out.”
“I just need you to promise that you won’t say anything about this to anyone…even to Damon.”
Trihn chewed on her lip. “Does this have to do with Damon?”
“Not directly.”
“Okay…I won’t say anything.”
“When I was dating Gates our senior year, he was on the set of Broken Road with Chloe in Atlanta. I met Jude one night at a club and decided I wanted to sleep with him. So, I called Gates in the middle of the night and broke up with him.”