Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 85157 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85157 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Have you been hiding him your whole career?”
“Does this have anything to do with why you left football?”
“What about the purchase of the field?”
“Get the fuck out of his face!” Beau growled as we pushed our way through the crowd.
We ran to his truck, were silent the whole drive. My stomach clenched, was so damn tight, I knew I could lose it any second. My head throbbed, my heart too. They knew…everyone knew. It would be all over the news in no time.
“Shit, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Ash,” Beau said when we pulled up at my house.
Before I could reply, my phone started to ring. It was my agent. “I can’t…I can’t do this right now.”
The call ended, and then the phone began ringing again immediately.
“Yeah, whatever you need.” Beau reached for me, but I shoved the door open and got out of the truck.
My phone didn’t stop, and suddenly it was all I could hear—my phone, my agent, the questions, twisting in a powerful cyclone in my brain.
“Ash?” Beau asked.
“I just… I need some space. I need to figure this out.”
Without another word, I walked away. I hardly made it to the toilet before I emptied my stomach, vomiting until there was nothing left.
I fell against the bathroom wall just as my phone started ringing again.
I didn’t get a chance to say anything before I heard, “What the fuck were you thinking?”
I was thinking that for once I could be me, that maybe, just maybe, that would be enough…and now it was all over.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Beau
Beau says I can accomplish anything. He makes me believe it. ~ Love, Kenny
ASHTON CARMICHAEL’S SECRET GAY LOVER!
DOES ASHTON CARMICHAEL PLAY FOR THE OTHER TEAM?
FOOTBALL’S EX-BAD-BOY SWITCHING TO GAY ORGIES?
PLAY-ACTION ASS—I MEAN PASS
I slammed my laptop closed, tired of all the headlines. Sharp pains stabbed my chest when I breathed, and it took everything in me not to throw the computer across the room.
It had been five days since we’d gotten caught at the bar. Five days of my phone ringing like crazy, reporters camped out at my house, at Mom’s house.
Five days since I’d heard from Ash.
Fucking Ashton Carmichael. That was the worst. I could deal with the other shit. I didn’t give a fuck what people said about me. I did care what they said about my family, or the harassment they’d been subjected to, and I cared about the fact that Ash had run away. Not just from the situation, but from me.
“Fuck.” I leaned forward, elbows on my desk, my hands fisted in my hair. My stomach had been in knots for five days. They’d even had to give me time off because my personal shit was bleeding into the job.
It wasn’t every day shit like this happened in Fever Falls.
My phone buzzed beside me, making my pulse kick into high speed. My hand jerked forward, fumbling the damn thing, a silent, quite infuriating prayer bouncing around in my head—please be Ash, please be Ash.
Kenny: There’s no one with cameras at the school today.
Me: Good. Still wait for me to pick you up. I don’t want you walking.
Kenny: I’m an adult, Beau. I can take care of myself.
I sighed. Yeah, yeah, he was. Kenny could probably take care of himself better than I could. I didn’t see him getting himself into situations like this. Still, I couldn’t help but reply with: Please?
Kenny: Okay.
Kenny: Have you heard from Ash yet?
My gut clenched tighter, like there was a giant fist around me, squeezing the life out of me.
Me: I’ll see you soon.
As I set the phone on the desk, the slide of a key in the lock came from behind me. I didn’t turn as it twisted, as the door opened, as someone stepped inside and then closed and locked it again.
“I guess they’re starting to see how boring you are. It’s clear out there. Not a camera in sight,” Linc said as he crossed the room.
“If I’m so boring, why do you always want to be around me? I can’t seem to shake you.”
“Pity,” he replied. “I feel sorry for you, plain and simple.” He leaned against my desk, crossed his arms and sighed. “And I might sort of love you. You’re my best friend.”
“Thanks, Linc. I love you too.”
He stepped forward, wrapped his arm around me, and kissed my head. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Men suck.”
“I feel like shit…like it’s my fault. I just…” I guessed part of me didn’t really see that it would be a big deal. So he was gay…who cared? Not that I didn’t respect him and understand he hadn’t been ready to come out, but the cameras? The headlines? I hadn’t seen that coming, and it reminded me that Ash was part of a completely different world than I was.
No one gave a shit in Fever Falls. Outside of here, people cared.