Shelby went to the door to tell him that I didn’t want to see him and to leave. I heard them go back and forth before I stood up and went to the door.

“It’s fine, Shelby. He can come in.”

Oakley pushed past her and wrapped me up in a hug. I was surprised by the gesture. “I came over as soon as I could. Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

I turned away from him to stare at the cracked device on my floor. Okay, so maybe throwing it was a tad melodramatic, but I’m allowed to have my moments. “Fuck,” he cursed. “Dr. Haynes emailed me, and I saw the photos.”

I pulled fully out of his hold and looked up at him. I didn’t even want to know what I looked like. I was a sobbing, sweaty mess and hadn’t showered since last night. I just wanted a warm bubble bath to wash away the mistakes of the last day. “I told Dr. Haynes that I absolutely refuse to work with anyone else. I made Coach write a letter stating how well you’re doing. I also”—he paused to pull out his phone—“had every guy on the team reach out to accounts with the photos of us, and they offered signed merchandise to anyone willing to delete them. I think Dale has a date with a stage five clinger as a result of it.”

My mouth dropped open in shock. “Wh-what?” I couldn’t even process it all. “Why? How?”

“You cleaned up my image; I want to protect yours,” he said softly. He stepped closer, and I breathed in his scent. My heart was melting for this guy. I had him all wrong.

“I don’t even know what to say…”

“I’m sorry. I really like you, okay? Let someone else be the solver for once.”

I reached up, planning to kiss him, when something else crossed my mind. “Who was the girl hanging all over you last night?” I asked. The timing was bad, and I sounded like a jealous idiot, but considering I had a panic attack in the middle of a busy sidewalk, this was the least of my concerns.

“Uh, that would be you,” Oakley replied with a confused chuckle.

“No. There was a photo last night. Some girl was pressed all up against you.”

Oakley looked confused, so I instinctively went to whip out my phone with the evidence. My hands searched my pockets, then remembered that I had thrown it. Shit. That was stupid for so many reasons. I bent over to pick up my phone and found that it still worked, the screen was just cracked. At least something was going my way tonight.