Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 132892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
He stared at me, obviously stunned. Shit, this was a huge mistake. He’s judging me and—
Then Cooper burst out laughing. Not hateful, mean laughter, but genuine amusement.
“Stop it!”
He laughed harder, holding up a hand.
“Calm down,” he finally said.
“I can’t believe I told you that,” I moaned, wondering if I could make a break for the door. I mean, the situation was so awkward already—was it even possible to make it worse?
Cooper shook his head, grinning at me. “So you fucked a stripper—they’re people, too, you know. There are uglier crimes.”
I groaned, rubbing my temples again. You started it, now finish it.
“It gets worse,” I admitted. “Maybe half an hour later, the room door bursts open and everyone comes trooping in looking for more booze. Carrie and I had hit a liquor store that afternoon, and the backup stash was in the bedroom, you know? Anyway, here I am buck naked on top of the guy and they’re all staring at me. Next thing I know, Heather whips out her phone and starts filming.”
Cooper’s eyes widened. “You have a sex tape floating around out there?”
“Yesss . . .” I admitted very quietly. “And that’s not all.”
“Jesus, and I thought it was funny before,” he said, shoulders shaking. I glared at him, but there wasn’t any judgment in his eyes, just honest laughter. “Hey, I don’t care that you have a sex tape. Human beings fuck, despite what some of these gossipy prudes around here want to admit. Why should you be ashamed of it?”
I just shook my head, because obviously Cooper and I had very different definitions of the word “shame.”
“Anyway, they’re all laughing at me and I’m humiliated and all that. The guy jumps up and tells them to leave. Then all of sudden I hear Maisy’s voice, and she is pissed—her aunt owns the Hungry Chicken downtown, it’s not far from my store. She starts screaming at me and I’m all confused and still drunk and then it suddenly falls together. The guy I slept with? He was her cousin, Jamie. He grew up in Hallies Falls until his folks got divorced and he moved to Spokane to live with his dad. I used to babysit him! Now he’s stripping to pay his way through college. I hadn’t seen him in years, and let me tell you—he’d grown up a lot during that time. None of us even recognized him! Not only that, Heather texted the damned video to half the town. I still don’t know how many people watched it or who has copies. Guess who isn’t welcome at the Hungry Chicken anymore?”
Cooper leaned back in his chair, raising a brow.
“You fucked up.”
“Yeah, I fucked up,” I agreed, seriously considering crawling under the table. “I had no idea, Cooper. None. I was drunk as hell and he kept coming on to me. Turns out he’s had a crush on me since he was just a kid or something. When he saw me at the party he decided to go for it. Maisy wasn’t there when he first showed up—she was drunk and puking back in her own room—and the rest of us didn’t recognize him. The rest is history. I’m the town whore who seduced the innocent kid I used to babysit. The only good thing is that the Braeburns managed to shut it down fast—I mean, people around here know everything, but so far as I can tell nobody uploaded it online or anything, so I guess I have that going for me. Oh, and Maisy was so pissed at Heather that she still won’t talk to her. The whole thing was beyond crazy.”
“What a fucking cunt,” Cooper said, shaking his head. “Who does that?”
“Apparently Heather Brinks,” I told him, my face on fire. “She’s hated me for years. Heather’s high school boyfriend dumped her and then asked me to the prom. I thought Carrie was going to kill her that night in Olympia. Even now she practically hisses and spits at her every time they run into each other. My dad was shocked, although I have to give him credit—he never judged me. We decided to ride it out, but now half of Hallies Falls thinks I’m the Whore of Satan. Can you see why I might not want to live here anymore?”
“Yeah, I can see it,” Cooper admitted. “But Tinker, if you think about it, you didn’t actually do anything wrong. I mean, you probably should’ve locked the door, but other than that, the kid’s a legal adult, right?”
“Of course,” I said. “And it wasn’t like I hired him to sleep with me. Things just happened . . .”
“And you were drunk,” he added. “Was the guy drunk, too?”
“Maybe a little buzzed,” I admitted. “But nowhere near as drunk as me.”
“So he saw his chance and went for it,” he continued, still smiling. “Can’t blame him—you’ve got a bangin’ body, Tinker. He knew what he wanted and took it. Not his fault his mom’s a bitch. You know, if a guy fucks a stripper for free, everyone thinks he’s a stud—why should this be any different? And why do you care what a bunch of small-minded cunts think anyway? Not like you lost any friendships that matter. You can’t tell me that Carrie and Darren give a flying fuck about any of this.”