Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“Nudes?” I asked, suddenly realizing why he was so mortified.
I could just imagine Nance, Keegan, and my buddies seeing naked photos of me spread all over the Internet. God, that would be embarrassing.
“No. They’re not quite as bad as they could have been in that department.”
He handed me his phone, and I glanced over the ones featured on his screen. We were stripped down at the drop-off, kissing, playing. The most anyone could see was a hint of Dax’s ass crack, which looked sexy as hell.
I wondered about everyone knowing I was messing around with a guy. I didn’t figure any of them would give many shits. We all had plenty of gay and bi friends.
“Well, guess I’m out now,” I acknowledged.
“I’m so fucking sorry.” I could hear the worry in the timbre of Dax’s voice. “At least with me, I’m out as fuck in my life, but you…you had a right to do this at your own pace.”
“I’m fine with people knowing. Hell, it’s kind of nice that I don’t have to run around town telling everyone that I like guys too.”
“That was a shitty thing they did. No one should out anyone who isn’t ready.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t shitty. Just no skin off my back.”
He stared at me, jaw dropped, eyes fixed on me like he couldn’t make sense of what I was saying. Although, I could tell it was only because he had so much to process.
“So that’s it?” I asked.
“That’s it?”
Based on how offended he sounded, I realized I shouldn’t have acted so dismissive with something he clearly had strong feelings about.
“No, Jace, that’s not it. This isn’t how I live my life. I wasn’t kidding when I told you I don’t want to be in the spotlight. I don’t want the focus on me. And I feel like a fucking moron, because I should have known better. I thought we could have a little fun…a tiny bit of fun before you blew up and became everything I know you’re going to become. I knew it would just be for a minute, because as soon as the lights got too hot, I would be off in LA and you would be running around the country and no one would know the fucking difference. But goddammit.” He bashed his hands against the steering wheel.
“Jesus, Dax, I’m sorry.”
“It’s not you, Jace. You haven’t done anything wrong. In fact, there are too many things right with you. That’s the problem. If you weren’t so amazing, they wouldn’t be interested.”
“You think I’m amazing?” Talk about an ego boost.
“Yes. Otherwise, they wouldn’t want to leech everything good and decent right out of you. But you are, and that’s why they’re all looking at you, and apparently looking even more than I realized if someone sent a fucking pap out to get shots of us in the woods.”
His face was bright red, the rage this had all stirred clearly bringing up way more than I could have possibly known. But one thing came to mind.
“Is this about…your mom? Your feelings about all this because of what happened with her?”
He scoffed. “Jace, check out the article with those pictures. It’ll tell you what you need to know.”
I scrolled to the top of the page and just had to skim the caption before my jaw dropped. “Holy fucking hell.”
Seeing the name at the top of the screen took me totally by surprise. Suddenly, I discovered that I had known Dax even before I’d seen him at the station, but not as Dax Munro. “You’re Lil’ Donnie Gibson?”
He cringed at the name, but I couldn’t figure out why he would have such a dramatic reaction to this. Lil’ Donnie Gibson was a beloved character in a prime-time series that was on when I was younger, in the early 2000s. He played the adorable and always quirky adopted kid in the family sitcom The Gibsons. Hell, the guy was as much of a household name as Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. I’d never known what had happened to him after the show. Crazy to think he grew up to be the first man I fucked.
“No. I’m not Lil’ Donnie Gibson,” Dax spit out. “Lil’ Donnie Gibson was a character on a canceled series from God knows how many years ago, a series that ruined my childhood and plagued me into my teens. I’m lucky I grew out of those chubby cheeks. Between that and the facial hair, I don’t get recognized much. Never would have had a reason to either, but now my face is being plastered all over the Net in association with one of the hottest up-and-coming Instagram celebrities to date. So I’m kind of having a shitty morning.” He sighed and relaxed back against his seat, his expression somber.
Clearly there was a lot more to Dax Munro than I’d realized, particularly what complicated his relationship with his job. Although it did put a lot of things we’d discussed into perspective, especially his feelings about fame and what it could do to a person. Between his mom and his own celebrity status, I could only imagine what he’d gone through, considering it had taken him from being such a fun-loving guy to being this train wreck sitting beside me.