Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 61897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
“Okay, you two,” she said, “signing is in two hours. Will you be ready?”
“Signing?” Nash grunted.
“Yes. You have a book signing at the campus bookstore at seven.”
“Shit,” he said. “No rest for the wicked.”
“Nope. There’s also a special dinner and cocktail hour for Department of Defense donors afterward.”
I raised an eyebrow. “We’re going to that?” I asked.
“Nash is the face of the department these days,” Liv said.
“I have to shake hands and pretend like I give a fuck what some old people say,” he grunted, annoyed.
“Go get ready,” Livy said. “I want you both there.”
She turned and walked off. I looked at Nash. “How did she beat us here?” I asked him.
He grinned at me. “I have no clue. I think she can fly.”
“Maybe she owns a jetpack.”
“Teleportation.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Has to be.”
We laughed and walked into the hotel together.
A couple hours and a nice, hot shower later and I was sitting at a table in the campus bookstore next to Nash.
The line stretched out the door, just like the line I had stood in only a few days ago. That was a strange thought. Only a few days ago I had been just another faceless undergrad in a line, and now I was somehow married to Nash Bell, my face plastered all over gossip magazines.
Lying to America wasn’t so hard. All I needed to do was pretend like I was in love with the biggest asshole I knew. He could be charming sometimes, especially when we were doing a publicity event, which made it a lot easier. Still, day-to-day, he was just a crude, arrogant jerk.
“Okay,” Nash said. “Unleash the hordes.”
Livy nodded to the security guard, who opened up the small rope gate and started to let people through.
“Oh my god,” the first girl in line said. “Nash, I’m such a big fan. I love your book. And I love your interviews.”
“Thanks, darlin’,” he said. “Who do I make it out to?”
“Tracy. Oh my god. I love you.”
“Love you too, girl.” He signed the book as she squealed with delight.
He glanced back at me and I made a face at him. “Are they all like that?” I asked as the girl left.
“Pretty much,” he said, grinning.
Young, attractive girl after girl came up to Nash asking for signatures. There were a few men mixed into the crowd, but just like back at my school, you could tell exactly what the target audience was.
Nash was a freaking sex symbol. I didn’t know how or why that had happened, since he wrote a memoir about the military, but it had happened. Probably because he was very charming during interviews, and since he was so damn attractive.
Ten minutes slipped by that way. Person after endless person came up to him, smiling stupidly, some saying inappropriate things, some just staring at him.
“Nash, can I just, can I touch your arm?” one girl asked.
He laughed. “Sorry, can’t do that. Guards will flip shit.”
“Oh my god. I can’t believe I asked.” She paused as he signed his book. “Please?”
He laughed again and flexed. The girl practically screamed as she touched his flexed muscle and didn’t even spare a glance for me.
“You love this,” I said to him.
He rolled his eyes at me and turned to the next willing and eager young girl.
Girl after girl approached him. Some wanted pictures, some wanted to touch him, and one girl even offered him a blowjob in no uncertain terms.
It was like I was invisible.
Some strange feeling was growing in my chest the whole time. I didn’t really understand it, but I was getting jealous. No, maybe that wasn’t the right word. Nash was free to do whatever he wanted since he wasn’t my real husband. No, I felt disrespected.
Didn’t those girls know he was married? He kept telling them that, over and over again, whenever they suggested something that crossed a line. Not to mention I was sitting right there next to him, smiling at these girls like I cared about them, like they weren’t hitting on my husband right in front of me.
It was completely bizarre. To his credit, Nash never broke character. He wasn’t a jerk to his fans, but he gently reminded each girl that he was married and couldn’t follow her back to her dorm to pile drive her all night long.
It was totally gross, but I was starting to understand why Nash had been sleeping around and drinking so much before we got married. These girls were literally throwing themselves at him, and I bet it was probably pretty hard to say no after a while.
Not that any of it excused his behavior. He was still a player and an asshole; there was no changing that. But at least I understood where it all came from and how he could let it get so bad.