Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Aunt Elle gives me a knowing smile and heads for the door, coffee in hand. “I’ll leave you to it.”
“Hey,” I answer on a smile. “I haven’t changed my mind about us, if that’s what you’re calling to check on.”
There’s a brief pause.
Then, he says, “I’m outside. Can you come to the door?”
“My door?” I say stupidly.
“Yeah. I…need to talk to you.”
Well, if that doesn’t make me nervous, nothing will.
“Okay. I’m coming.”
I hang up my cell, slipping it into the pocket of my pajamas. I walk quickly and quietly to the front door, my stomach churning with nerves. A hundred scenarios as to why he’s here at this time in the morning are flashing through my mind. The main thought being that he’s here to tell me he’s leaving, which is stupid. I know he loves me and is here to stay.
He said that before, remember? the scared voice in my head reminds me.
I unlock the door and open it.
Zeus is standing on the porch, close to the steps. He’s wearing running shorts and a tank. His skin is covered in a fine sheen of sweat.
He doesn’t make a move to come over, and that has me even more worried.
“You want to come in?” I ask.
He shakes his head.
He doesn’t want to come in. That’s not a good sign.
I step out onto the porch and shut the door behind me. The wood is cold beneath my bare feet. I wrap my arms around myself, warding off the chill I feel.
“You ran here?” I ask, referring to his clothes.
“Yeah. I needed to burn off some energy.”
His eyes quickly move off me. Like he’s afraid to look at me. That means he’s keeping something from me. And he’s restlessly moving his hands, clenching his fists in and out, which means he’s agitated. Those have always been his tells. In this moment, I hate that I know him so well.
“What’s going on?” I curse the tremor in my voice.
The sound of me speaking brings his eyes back to mine. I expect them to be closed off, like they always are when he doesn’t want me to know what’s going on with him.
But, instead of shuttered eyes, I see them shimmering with unease.
Dropping my arms to my sides, I take a step closer to him. “Zeus, what’s going on?” I say more forcefully. “You’re starting to scare me.”
“Shit. Sorry.” He steps forward and then stops before reaching me. He pushes his fingers through his hair and blows out a breath. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Oh God. Here we go.
“It’s not about me and you,” he’s quick to say. “Well, it is about me and you. But not in the way you think.”
“I don’t know what to think right now because you’re not making much sense.” I pull my pajama top sleeves over my hands, holding on to the fabric with my fingers.
“Sorry. I just…fuck.” He fixes his eyes on me. “My publicist called me last night while you and I were together. But I had my phone turned off. After I dropped you home, I turned it back on and saw that I had a bunch of missed calls and messages from him.”
“What did he want? And what does this have to do with me?”
“Before I tell you, you need to know that I was up all night, trying to fix this. To stop it from happening, but…it was too late.”
“Fix what, Zeus?” My voice is firmer now because I want to know what the hell is going on. My heart hasn’t pounded this hard with fear since the night he broke up with me over the phone.
“A story went out last night on Pharos.”
It’s one of those trashy news sites, which I’m ashamed to admit that I peruse from time to time.
“About…well, you.”
“Me?” My hand goes to my chest in shock. “Why would there be a story about me on there?”
“The pictures of us together in Disney World. I guess they piqued some piece-of-trash journalist’s interest. It makes sense because, as far as anyone knows, I’m a single guy. And then I’m there at Disney with you and Gigi. I should have considered this before I took you both there, but I don’t pay much attention to the press, except for when I have to for fights.”
“What are they saying? You said the story is about me, right? So, what’s been said? That we have a child together? You and I are together? What?”
His eyes do a tour of everything but me, and my stomach drops through the floor because I know I’m not going to like what he’s about to say.
His eyes meet mine again. “They’re saying you got pregnant and didn’t tell me. That you kept Gigi from me. That you work at a police station during the day, and at night, you…”