Chapter 18
Kelly groaned as her phone chimed on the bedside table. "Make it stop."
Austin reached over her and snagged the phone, tapping out her passcode and pulling up whichever alert was chiming. She smiled into the pillow. She'd never realized how amazing it would be to wake up with Austin Tucker.
"Oh shit," Austin breathed. Kelly frowned, sitting up and tucking the sheet under her arms. Austin handed her the phone, his eyes blazing. Kelly almost didn't want to look at the screen. She didn't want anything to shatter what had started as such a pleasant morning after.
TMZ report: Rock Rumors True
Payson Keeler and Sasha Belov have been dodging rumors of an affair for a while now, ever since a kiss caught on video was leaked a year ago. They and their representatives have always said that kiss was innocent and taken out of context, but now we all know the TRUTH!
Payson and Sasha were caught red handed after a party celebrating Payson's national title.
"I heard Payson talking about sneaking away to meet someone," our source said. This amateur sleuth followed Payson to get the scoop, and boy are we glad she did! As you can see, she managed several pictures of the clandestine couple before the door shut.
Kelly felt lightheaded as she scrolled down to find the pictures. One showed Payson just outside a hotel room, caressing the stomach of a nearly shirtless Sasha. A second showed a grinning Sasha pulling Payson into the room. And the most damning of all, the third picture showed Payson wrapped in Sasha's arms, kissing him like her life depended on it.
"Oh my God. Oh my God," Kelly gasped. "This is so bad!"
"There's no fixing it this time," Austin said, sounding resigned.
"No, there is! You can't really see Payson's face in any of these! Only a little bit in profile. It could be some other blonde woman!"
"Wearing the same dress as Payson? Come on, Kelly, no one is going to buy it. We should go warn them."
"I…." Kelly couldn't make herself get out of the bed. She knew that Payson and Sasha needed to know, and she didn't want them to find out from strangers or, heaven forbid, Lauren, but she didn't want to be the one to tell them. She couldn't stand to ruin their happiness.
"Come on, KP. I know it sucks, but it will suck less coming from us."
They dressed quickly and slipped from Austin's hotel room. The room Payson and Sasha were in was only a floor above his, and in no time at all they stood before it. Kelly knocked softly, not wanting to draw attention from other rooms. A moment later, Kelly could hear the security chain rattle as someone released it, and then Payson opened the door. She looked radiant, happy in her fluffy robe. Sasha stood before the mirror, buttoning the same shirt he'd worn the night before.
"Hey!" Payson said, happy to see her friends, but also confused by their presence. Kelly took a deep breath, chewing on the corner of her lip. She didn't want to say it.
"Secret's out," Austin said for her, brushing his fingers over the small of Kelly's back. She watched the color drain from Payson's face. There couldn't be any mistaking what secret he meant.
"I need you to spell this out for me, Austin. I need you to say it," Payson whispered. Sasha came to stand behind her, his brow furrowed.
"Someone followed you last night. There are pictures, the kind you can't deny," Austin said. Tears welled in Payson's eyes. At the same moment, her cell phone started to ring from somewhere in the room. Payson turned towards the sound and then back to Austin and Kelly, her mouth working silently.
"Thanks for the warning," Sasha said quietly. "We'll see you downstairs later."
His arms slipped around Payson's waist, pulling her back into the room and shutting the door. Kelly turned to Austin. "What's going to happen?"
Austin pulled her into a hug and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I have no idea, KP. No idea."
#
Payson sank onto the bed, shaking. Sasha crouched before her, his hands covering her knees, grounding her, giving her strength.
"Payson," he said quietly, in the commanding tone he used at the Rock. "Payson, breathe. We always knew this might happen. We've had too many close calls before."
"But…"
"Shhh. No buts. We can handle this. MJ can handle this."
Payson came to life then, scrambling for a grip on Sasha's shoulders. Her nails bit into his skin. "You can't leave! Whatever happens, you can't leave me!"
Sasha's heart broke, watching the woman he loved fall apart. He'd known that his leaving before affected her, but apparently he had no idea just how deeply her fear that he would leave again ran. He pried her hands from his shoulders and held them in his as he looked her in the eyes.
"I'm not leaving, Payson. I promised you when we started this that I would stay, and I will. Wild horses couldn't drag me away now. I love you."
"Oh my God, I love you," Payson sobbed. She leaned forward to kiss him, a sloppy, frantic meeting of their lips. Sasha tried his best to reassure her with his touch, but she couldn't be calmed.
"Payson, Pay," he said, pulling away from her. "It will be okay. We're in this together, yeah?"
"Together," she repeated. He cupped the back of her neck and pressed a firm kiss to her forehead.
"We need to call MJ, now, love. Okay?"
Payson nodded, and Sasha looked around for his phone, spotting it across the room. He didn't want to leave Payson's reach, they both needed the contact, so he grabbed hers instead and dialed MJ. It rang only once before MJ answered.
"I specifically asked you if you were going to meet Sasha last night, Payson!" MJ shouted. Sasha winced.
"MJ, it's me."
"Put Payson on the phone."
"Not a good idea. She won't hear a word, she's nearly catatonic. How can we fix this, MJ?" Sasha asked. There was no love lost between them, but MJ was spectacular at her job and Sasha trusted her to do her best for Payson.
"Fix this? There is no fixing this, Belov. All we can do is try to minimize the damage," MJ snapped.
"Okay, fine. How do we do that?"
"I'm going to ask you one question, Alexander, and I need you to be honest with me. Did you sleep with her while she was under age?"
Sasha felt his blood begin to boil. It was a valid question, but he didn't care. He didn't want to cheapen his relationship with Payson by giving other people details about their sex life. That was theirs.
"Your hesitation to answer is not making me feel good, Belov."
"No," Sasha said. "That part of our relationship is…very new."
"How long have the two of you been sneaking around? Since the kiss in the video?" MJ asked. Sasha squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked up when he felt Payson's hand on his shoulder. She still looked shell shocked, but at least he knew she was listening.
"I thought you said one question?"
"Damn it, Sasha!"
"Sorry. Fine. No, not that long. It's been off and on since we came back from Rio."
"Off and on? Sasha, we need to sell the public the love story of the bloody century if we have any hope of saving both your reputations. That won't work if you two are constantly breaking up!"
"No, that's not why it was off and on. We were trying to do the right thing, MJ. We were trying to stay away from each other."
"Who else knows about the two of you?"
Sasha took a deep breath, running through the list of people in his head. "Kelly and Austin. Possibly Kaylie Cruz. No one else that I know of."
"Will they support the two of you publicly? This will go a lot better if your gymnasts stand up for you."
"Austin and Kelly will. I don't even know for sure if Kaylie knows, so I have no idea how she feels about it."
"And Payson's parents?"
Payson's hand slipped from his shoulder and he saw her face go white again. He reached for her, threading their fingers together.
"They don't know."
"Christ, Belov. Okay, can I assume you're still in the hotel room?"
"We are."
"Don't leave until I say."
"We have to be in the lobby in an hour to make it to the airport."
"Oh, you are not flying back with the team. We are controlling every bit of this from now on, and that does not include the two of you being held captive on a plane full of people asking questions. I'll charter you a private flight," MJ said with a derisive snort.
"Won't it look worse if we're the only two missing?"
"Kelly and Austin can fly back with you if you like."
"I'll call them. Anything else we should do?"
"Are her parents in town?"
"No, they stayed in Boulder."
"Call them. Don't have the whole discussion on the phone, just call them and tell them you'll come straight to their house when you land to explain everything. They probably haven't heard yet, it's too early in Boulder." Sasha felt nauseous at the thought of telling Kim, a woman who had been his friend when few others were. She would likely hate him for the rest of his life. Which might be quite short if Mark reacted badly.
"Okay."
Sasha hung up without saying goodbye and turned again to Payson. Tears were swimming in her eyes, but they were no longer falling. He wished they could run away, leave the whole mess behind them and just be happy, but he'd learned the hard way that running didn't solve anything.
"We need to call your parents, Iubito. They need to hear this from us."
"Okay."
"Do you need me to talk to them, or would you like to?" He offered her the phone in his palm and held his breath, waiting to see if she would take it.
Her fingers slowly closed over the phone. Sasha pressed a kiss to her temple and pulled her into his chest, reclining against the headboard as she dialed her parents. He felt her shaking in his arms and hoped that Kim and Mark would keep a level head.
The phone rang several times before Kim answered, her voice panicked. "Payson, what's wrong?"
Payson didn't say anything. Sasha nudged her, poised to take the phone from her if need be, but she finally took a shuddering breath and started talking.
"I'm fine. Well, safe. I'm safe. But there's…Mom, there's something on the news and you're going to see it when you wake up and I didn't want you to hear it from anyone but me." It was the most Sasha had heard her say since Austin and Kelly knocked on the door.
"What's going on, Payson? You're scaring me," Kim said forcefully.
"Um," Payson tried to take a breath as she started to cry. "I haven't been totally honest with you about Sasha."
"What are you talking about, Pay?"
"We…we're seeing each other. We have been, off and on, since Rio. There are…pictures. I'm so sorry Mommy."
Sasha had never heard Payson sound so small, not even when she broke her back. He strained to hear what Kim might be saying, but there was only silence for a long moment. Finally he heard Kim suck in a breath.
"We'll discuss it when you get home."
A/N: A bunch of you guessed that something was going to happen, and here it is! The shit has hit the fan. These two have had entirely too many close calls to make it all the way through the Olympics without the whole world finding out. How do you think Mark and Kim are going to react? And how will this affect the Olympics (which are coming up fast!)?
Thanks for all the reviews on Chapters 16 & 17! Y'all know how to make a girl feel special :)