She froze, then patted the pocket of her down vest. “Shit.” It had definitely slipped out. She headed back just as Sam came around the corner. For some reason the moment she saw him tears sprung to her eyes. She couldn’t explain it, but she didn’t want her worlds to collide. Not like this.

“What’s going on?” he asked, worry creasing his forehead.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. You’re crying.” Sure enough a few jerk-face tears slid down her cheeks. “Did something happen in there? Do I need to go back and fight a vegan?” His well-intended threat only made her cry harder. She wanted to tell him what had happened, but levels and levels of embarrassment kept her from disclosing the whole truth. Again.

“Some—one of my coworkers came in and they weren’t kind to the staff. I was trying to smooth things over so she doesn’t become the first person to ever be banned from a vegan breakfast spot.”

“Sounds like your coworker is an ass, but why are you crying?”

“Because my coworker is an ass.”

“Jesus. Right. Come here.” Amanda knew she could keep her distance, but she didn’t stop Sam from pulling her into his arms. It was a friendly hug, lacking the heat they’d shared before, which made things so much worse. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had someone really comfort her. She pulled away, suddenly, brushing the tears from her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“I just—this industry is a lot sometimes. You know?”

“I do. I definitely do.”

“I seriously do not know why I’m crying. This isn’t even about me,” Amanda said, and immediately she knew that was a lie. There had been a month where Dru refused to eat. Anything. Kaidence actually encouraged it. She was impressed with Dru’s drastic weight loss, and she was in between shows, so her complete lack of energy didn’t seem to matter. Silly Amanda was actually worried about her health. Every day she tried something different. A different restaurant, a different smoothie, a different designer protein bar endorsed by the most trustworthy of housewives.

Nothing worked until she’d tried Delightly. She’d finally gotten back to incorporating a few more places into Dru’s diet, but Delightly was her go-to. She didn’t want to think about what was going to happen now that she was literally banned from eating there. But none of that was Sam’s business and she wasn’t going to tell him.

“Delightly is just the only place our whole room agrees on. I’ve been coming here for years. I’m just upset that she was mean to PJ and his employees.”

“Hey, you busy this weekend?”

Amanda felt her eyebrow shoot up. What the hell did this weekend have to do with Dru’s tantrum. “No, why?”

“Come out to the ranch.”