Only This

by Hadley Quinn

  “When it hits one of us, it hits us all. Surely this has been explained to you. You know when you came to town it didn’t take long before the rumors started. We did what we could to keep your face out of it, and I indulged the media a little bit so there would be truth to work with. But there was still a lot of garbage from tabloids.”

  Tyse sighed. Yes, he understood. But maybe he really was just being naïve to the entire situation. He didn’t want to cause any headlines—especially for Kellie, Teague, and Jay—but he also wasn’t willing to give up on Sarah just because he was told to.

  “Maybe you should fill me in a little about the situation with Max and Olivia Douglas five years ago,” Tyse finally said. “Don’t you think I deserve to know?”

  Neil met his gaze for several seconds, which caused Tyse to only stand there and wait. His grandfather would either tell him or not tell him, but Tyse kind of assumed he’d feed him what he wanted him to know and nothing more.

  “Liv worked on Eighty-Eight Weeks with Max,” Neil said. “She had a pretty big crush on him but I didn’t think it would be much of a problem. They went out a few times and it was a big ordeal for the media at that time, her father being a big deal in the music industry and Max being a McCallan… It was a huge story.”

  “And?” Tyse asked impatiently. “Obviously something happened between them after the movie was done, right?

  “They broke up sometime after the movie hype died down, and when they did, she felt it was necessary to threaten Max’s reputation.”

  “In what way? And why? What happened between them?”

  Neil sighed. “You’re really getting into someone else’s private matter. This was Max’s issue and we’ve done the best we can to keep it a closed subject. You don’t bother poking a lover’s quarrel. The he said/she said should stay out of the media.”

  “Well that’s not going to convince me of anything,” Tyse shook his head with frustration. “Whatever happened with Sarah’s sister five years ago is for some reason still affecting her now. If you can’t tell me why, then I have no reason to treat her any differently than any other person I come across.”

  “You’re treading on thin ice,” Neil said in a low voice as he stood. “If you start turning up with Sarah Douglas in tabloids, there are going to be some serious repercussions on this family. I’m warning you right now that it will be in your best interest to leave it in the past.”

  Neil exited the office with a neutral expression, but Tyse knew his grandpa was furious with him.

  ***

  “Oh Jesus,” Jay shook his head as he took a drink of his beer. Tyse had just finished sharing the conversation he’d had with their grandfather as they sat inconspicuously at the back of a sports bar. “I can only imagine,” he added, shaking his head.

  Tyse didn’t respond right away as he finished off his burger. Then he took a drink and asked, “Can you give me some advice?”

  Jay brought his eyes back from the game on the big screen and leaned back against the booth. “Advice on what? How to tell Grandpa to suck it, how to best maneuver your way through the family when you go against their wishes, how to handle cleaning up the shit when it hits the fan? Can you be more specific,” he chuckled.

  “So you think I should disregard his warning?”

  “Look,” Jay sighed. “I don’t know what it’s like for you because you’re new to all this, but I honestly don’t give a fuck what the family thinks. It doesn’t matter what we do or don’t do, it’s still gonna be gossiped about no matter what. I just don’t even bother with keeping up on any of it since it’s a waste of time. Because seriously like I said, you’re fucked either way so just do what you want to do and if you’re happy with it, that’s all that matters.”

  “I don’t want you guys to be affected by any of it, though. I think there is way more to this story than anyone is telling me.”

  “Probably so,” Jay shrugged. “And if it’s something bad on the McCallan end of it, you can bet your ass that they will do what they can to cover theirs. And don’t worry about us, pal. We’re used to this shit and just roll with it. I’m happy with my life, Teague is happy with his life, Kellie is sometimes caught in the middle kinda like you are…but she comes to us when she needs to talk about it. She’s kind of like you in the ‘forgive and forget’ department. But bottom line, don’t feel like you have to put us before your own life.”

  “I’m just trying to figure all of this shit out.”

  “I thought you said Sarah was willing to sit down and talk to you about it?”

  “She did at the bowling alley last week,” Tyse sighed. “But I haven’t seen her since, and to be honest…”

  “You’ve been avoiding it?”

  “Kind of,” Tyse answered with a shrug. “Not because I don’t want to see her, but because I don’t want to make things worse.”

  Jay was silent for several seconds as he took another drink. “Well…I don’t know what to say about that, to be honest. You’re hung up on this girl, but only you can decide if it’s worth your name and/or reputation being smeared all over the place. I don’t know what it’s all about, and I honestly have no damn clue how Grandpa is going to deal with it all.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s really no way to avoid stories being written, but for the big stuff, the family has really spent a shit ton of money to handle things. If you start creating negative headlines for some reason, he’s probably gonna do the same. Grandpa has left me and Teague alone for the most part, but he really had no choice because of our aversion to it all. But you’re new to the family,” Jay shrugged. “He’s taken a special interest in you and you need to decide how involved in it you’re going to be. I mean I thought you kind of already had but…you know, whatever. I understand.”

  Tyse looked his brother over carefully. “You understand what?”

  “Just that you’re getting pulled by both sides. You might have come here without the intent of getting involved in family drama, but you’re already in it now. You need to figure out how much you’re going to let people control your life because trust me…certain people will if you let them.”

  “So you’re telling me to go against his wishes?”

  “I’m not telling you jack shit,” Jay laughed. “I’m just telling you I support whatever you do as long as I’m not fucked in the process. I really don’t want to go through something like Teague has gone through with Max.”

  “You think I’m going to turn out to be an over pampered douchebag of a brother?” Tyse smiled, even though he was serious.

  Jay leaned forward on the table with the same smile. “I sure as hell hope not.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Sarah Douglas, is it true that you’re dating a McCallan?”

  A figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the sidewalk and it caught Sarah by surprise. It was the moment she’d been dreading, the moment her quiet life was no longer private anymore.

  “Mind your own business, asshole,” Kellie spoke up, pulling Sarah past the guy who now had another guy with him holding a video camera. Rayne caught up to them and they continued walking down the sidewalk toward the café they were headed to that afternoon.

  “What really happened with your sister and Max McCallan?” the guy asked, following behind them. “Are you seriously hooking up with another one of them too?”

  Sarah was completely appalled by this guy’s audacity. She was about to stop, even though she had nothing planned to say, but Kellie kept her arm looped through hers and made her keep walking.

  “You just have to ignore them,” Kellie told her. “He’s a tabloid reporter. They want a reaction—any kind of comment—something that they can use to start a story.”

  “I know what he’s doing and I want to punch him in the face,” Sarah scoffed.

  “Trust me, it doesn’t get you anywhere,” Kellie chuckled knowingly.

  Sarah gave her a curious glance.

  “Yeah, if you’ve
heard that story about me, it’s actually true,” Kellie smirked proudly. “The fucker asked if I lost my virginity to Aidan Sanderson.”

  “The rock star?” Rayne asked, totally intrigued.

  “Yup,” Kellie nodded. “Okay, so it might have been true, but still… That bastard reporter was a total dickhead. He got what he deserved.”

  Sarah actually knew Aidan Sanderson through her father. It was strange to have that much of a mutual association with the McCallans.

  They were almost to the café when the same reporter was obviously still behind them and said, “Come on, Sarah, is this another publicity stunt with the McCallans? Why else would you want to be around any of them? Did you really have something to expose about them five years ago? You can’t trust any of them, so why else would you waste any time on them. They don’t care who they step on—”

  “Why don’t you back the fuck off,” Kellie said, turning around abruptly.

  The guy would have slammed into her if she hadn’t put her hand up to stop his movement. He looked down at his chest, even though she wasn’t touching him anymore, and said, “Why’d you hit me?”

  Kellie scoffed. “I didn’t hit you, idiot. You almost ran into me. Now be on your way and leave us the hell alone.”

  He only smiled and said, “Does Sarah have a bodyguard today? I sense an even bigger story.”

  “I’m Kellie McCallan, smart one. Now shove that up your ass and see what story comes out of it.”

  She turned for the café and all three of them went inside. Sarah glanced back to make sure the brazen reporter didn’t follow them inside, and was glad that he wasn’t in sight.

  “I’m so sorry about that,” Sarah said quietly as the waitress seated them in the back at Kellie’s request.

  “What are you sorry for?” Kellie smiled at her as they all sat in a booth. “I’m just glad he wasn’t up my ass for a story. Just kidding,” she held up her hand quickly. “I’m always glad when people don’t recognize me. But I’m sorry that it happened to you. I really, truly am.”

  Sarah actually didn’t know if Tyse talked to Kellie about much when it came to her issues with him. Maybe she was just being overly sensitive, but spending the day with his sister hadn’t been in Sarah’s plans in the first place. When Rayne mentioned that Kellie would be coming along for lunch, she had almost canceled on them.

  There was one thing the reporter had right: she was still reluctant to be around any of the McCallans.

  Right now Kellie seemed to be studying her a bit too intently. Then she kind of smiled and said, “Don’t let it get to you. And if you need to re-familiarize yourself with ways to handle this kind of shit again, just let me know and we’ll talk.”

  Sarah caught the key word instantly—“re-familiarize”—and realized that Kellie definitely knew who Sarah’s family was. But she only nodded and was glad that the conversation shifted to business at the flower shop instead, and then Kellie told some funny stories about her clients at the spa she worked at. Listening to her talk was like listening to a female version of Jay—which in and of its self was funny—but Kellie was super friendly and social, like a girl would naturally be with her kind of upbeat personality.

  When Sarah returned to the shop later that afternoon, she was happy that Ali had actually followed through on her promise to help Jenny after school. She went straight to work on an order that had been called in, but after Jenny left, Ali was quick to delve into a conversation that she’d obviously been looking forward to.

  “Have you talked to Tyse?” Ali asked.

  Things between the two had been a little awkward lately. The only time Alison seemed to talk to Sarah was when she wanted to ask about the McCallans.

  “Nah, I haven’t seen him,” Sarah answered.

  “I really don’t understand,” Ali said as she discarded a mix of clipped stems into the garbage. “He totally likes you and you act like talking to him is the last thing on earth you want to do.”

  Sarah hadn’t exactly explained much to her about Tyse, just that she wasn’t interested in having a relationship with anyone right now. Ali definitely didn’t know about her past experiences with his family, either.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to talk to him,” Sarah told her. “I’m just…busy.”

  “Are you a lesbian?” Alison asked outright. “I mean it’s totally okay with me, I’m not judging, but just tell me yes or no because I’d like to know.”

  “No I’m not a lesbian,” Sarah answered, realizing she was being totally serious.

  “Really?” Ali asked. “Because seriously, there is totally nothing wrong with that but I’m really beginning to wonder with you.”

  “Because you think I should be dropping my panties for Tyse? Since I’m not, that makes me into women instead?”

  Ali actually grinned. “Well Tyse is uber hotness, so yeah, I kinda wonder why you don’t think so too. He turned me down for you, so…”

  Ali was smiling playfully, which really made Sarah happy. There weren’t very many lighthearted moments between them these days.

  “You’re nine years younger than him, that’s why,” Sarah explained. “And I never said I wasn’t attracted to him. I was the first time I even saw him.”

  “And you didn’t know who he was, either,” Ali stated. “I feel like such a dumbass,” she laughed, shaking her head. “Oh my God, I’ve seen his face on the news before. But I guess it was just once.” She shrugged, as if to justify her lack of knowledge.

  “What news have you seen him on?” Sarah asked out of curiosity.

  “TMZ. They were filming him coming out of somewhere, asking him questions.”

  Sarah refrained from offering an opinion. It was really the only “news” that Ali paid attention to. “So what were they saying?” she asked.

  With a shrug Ali replied, “Just asking him about living somewhere else or something. I don’t know. I kinda—”

  The bell jingled at the front door and both girls looked up.

  “Were your ears burning?” Ali asked with a huge smile.

  Tyse returned the smile as he entered the shop. “If you’re talking about me, I hope it’s only good stuff.”

  “Mm, well we really only established that Sarah isn’t a lesbian,” she answered.

  Tyse raised both of his eyebrows as he looked at Sarah, and she felt her face turn ten degrees warmer almost instantly.

  “Oh?” he asked, trying to hide a smile. “Well that works in my favor, at least.”

  Alison laughed but Sarah had to busy herself with tiny cleanup tasks to avoid his penetrating eyes. They definitely did a number on her, and this time was no different.

  “I was wondering if you’d have dinner with me later,” Tyse asked. Sarah stopped what she was doing to find that he was looking directly at her. “Nothing elaborate or planned out, just…somewhere casual where we can talk.”

  Her heart was still racing from the moment she first saw him walk in. Ali was grinning at her and Tyse was waiting for an answer, but all she could think about was how to keep him from seeing how nervous he made her feel.

  “I think that would be okay,” she answered while returning a spool of ribbon to its drawer.

  If he were surprised by her answer, she wouldn’t have known at the time because she still wasn’t looking at him. But she did glance at Ali, who continued to smile at the two of them.

  “What time can I pick you up?” Tyse asked.

  Sarah finally turned his way and answered, “Um, just tell me where to meet you and—”

  “Seven,” Ali cut in. “And here’s her address,” she added as she scribbled on a piece of paper. She handed it over before Sarah’s shock could form any words of protest.

  “Sounds good,” Tyse said with a smile. “And I’m going to leave now before you change your mind.”

  He lightly laughed, but Sarah knew he was serious as he disappeared out the door.

  “You can thank me any second now,” Ali told her. She raised he
r eyebrows, waiting for Sarah’s gratitude, but got nothing. “Oh come on, don’t be so freaked out! You’re the one that said they are just normal people like us. There’s nothing to be insecure about.”

  “You think I’m insecure because he’s a from a celebrity family?” Sarah asked. Shaking her head she added, “I’m not that social with guys and I don’t date much, that’s what this is about. His last name has nothing to do with it.”

  Okay, so that last sentence needed to be pounded into her brain a few hundred times. She didn’t feel like she lied to Ali since she’d been inquiring more about dating someone with a famous name, but the fame had nothing to do with it. It was only a matter of Tyse being of the same family that had changed her life five years ago.

  “Well you seem really intimidated by him, that’s all I’m saying,” Alison told her. “I don’t know if you’re just trying to play it off like you’re not, but that’s how I read it.”

  Sarah didn’t respond. It was better not to. She’d still never told Ali that her own father was someone of importance.

  With a sigh Sarah rubbed her face with her hands. “Gah, I can’t believe I said yes to him.”

  “Aww, you’re becoming a social butterfly right before my very eyes. I’m so proud of you!” Ali grinned, pretending to act like an overbearing grownup. “You’re turning into such a big girl!”

  Sarah lifted an eyebrow but smiled. “I’d rather be a child, thank you.”

  “Let’s trade places, then. You can be miserable in high school, and I’ll date one of the sexiest men alive. Teague is the sexiest but he’s married, so I’ll go for his cousin.”

  Sarah looked her over for a moment while Ali grabbed her purse from under the counter. “How is high school miserable?” Sarah asked. “I thought you liked school.”

  Alison glanced at her briefly but forced what appeared to be an unsure smile. “I tolerate it, that’s all. Too much drama and bullshit happens.” She paused, most likely waiting for Sarah to correct her language, but when she didn’t, Ali added, “It’s totally fine. I just mean that school is school, you know? Who likes school,” she laughed.