Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“I don’t want him to be nervous about telling me anything. And why can you see that, anyway?” I arched a brow. I was feeling spicy, which wasn’t great when it was mixed with feeling hurt.
“Because of how you’re acting right now. Listen, I feel like we’re close enough that I can point things out to you. And right now, you’re being way too harsh.”
That made my eyebrows jerk halfway up my face. “I haven’t been too harsh, Madds. All I’ve done is leave him alone in our dorm while I think things through. That’s hardly harsh.”
Maddy pursed her lips. She wasn’t buying it. And frankly… neither was I.
Damn it. Leave it to a best friend to hold up a mirror directly in front of your face.
I massaged the nape of my neck. Where only a couple of hours ago, Ryan had his hand, supporting my head as I blew him. That had been literally the hottest thing to have ever happened to me. I hated how the night had a stain on it, now.
I dropped my head, feeling the weight stack on my shoulders. “Even if I were to pull a full one-eighty and say that it’s all fine, it’s still going to be an issue when people start finding out. Who’s going to go to our protest, then? We’ll probably get counterprotesters.”
“That is a bit of an issue,” Maddy admitted, giving me at least one win. “But you know what would draw people in and solve that problem?”
“A chance at an hour-long lap dance from Chris Hemsworth?” I offered.
Maddy laughed and gave a wave of her hand. “Oh, babes, I only need a couple minutes with that marvelous god. No, I was thinking more like getting the son of Redpine Global’s CEO involved in our protest. Openly. Now, that would draw attention.”
I cocked my head at that. It was like getting hit with a comet falling directly out of the clear blue sky. I hadn’t thought of that, but I also quickly saw a few issues with her idea. “I don’t want to put him in that position,” I said, already beginning to strike it off the list of possible solutions. “He was already upset he fought with his dad. If he drew massive attention because of attending a protest, then I think that relationship would be totally ruined. And I don’t think he wants that. And I wouldn’t want to be the catalyst for something like that, either.”
Maddy chewed her bottom lip. “Shit. You’re right. Should you maybe ask, at least?”
“I don’t know… I don’t know what to do, Madds. Everything was going great. So damn great. Way better than I ever thought. And now this.”
“It doesn’t have to be ruined,” Maddy said. She put a hand on my hand and squeezed. Her presence was definitely a comfort.
“Maybe you should call him.”
“I… you think so?”
“Babes, I think that if you don’t call him you’re going to feel the same kind of regret a drag queen feels when they forget to glue down their lace.”
I couldn’t fight back the laugh. I had a choice to make; that part was clear.
And I knew exactly which choice I wanted.
I pulled out my phone and called him.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ryan
I paced in a circle around our dorm like a caged lion. Anxiety built up inside me, my entire body buzzing as if my skin was covered in tiny, invisible ants. I looked at the bed, where only a few hours earlier, Jay and I were having the time of our lives. It had practically been a religious experience. I saw God the moment I’d gone inside him, and I didn’t ever want to stop worshipping at his altar.
And him at mine.
Now this.
I messed up.
Jay was hurt, and it was my fault. The fact that I was the one who hurt him only made things a thousand times worse. And for something that my father was behind in the first place.
I just hoped I would get a chance to make things right.
I paced myself back to the bed, where I flopped down face-first into the pillow. I considered going to the gym and getting a workout in to try and ease the anxiety coiling up in my muscles. Sure, it was late, but the gym was twenty-four hours.
My phone rang.
Jay’s smiling face filled my screen. It was a picture I snapped of him yesterday at Passions. A bright blue light lit him from behind as his eyes caught the rays of a nearby disco ball.
I snatched the phone off the nightstand and answered. “Jay, fuck, I’m sorry. Before you hang up or something, I need to say I’m sorry. I messed up by not telling you sooner.”
There was a small moment of silence that felt as if it stretched on into a decade’s worth. “Ry, it’s okay. Meet me at that one spot near the tennis courts? We’ll talk there.”