Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Cliff clearly wasn’t okay with that response and started going off on him again, Sebastian watching me the whole time, his face turning sad…for me. I could see it in the way he watched me, knew this had to do with me, that whatever it was happened because of me.
“I don’t give a fuck about that, Cliff. It’s not true. We’ll do damage control.”
Buzz! My phone started to go off now.
“They’re outside?” Sebastian asked, tugging on underwear before walking to the window. “Fuck.”
Seemed the media had caught up with us and smelled a story, but why it was this big a deal, I didn’t know. Who gave a shit if he was dating someone? Why the fuck would people be outside his house just because Sebastian had a boyfriend? I doubted they spent their time camped out there when he was with Neil.
My phone buzzed again. I grabbed it, sat on the edge of the bed, and answered Parker’s call.
“Have you seen?” Parker asked.
“Yeah. They must have found out we’re dating. The paparazzi are outside. Sebastian is talking to his agent.”
“Okay…shit, just…I’m on my way. Marcus called me first and then worked his magic to find out where Sebastian lives because he wasn’t answering my texts. He’ll be there before me or Corbin. Just…don’t freak out. We’ll be right there.”
The worry in his voice dropped an anchor in my gut. Parker had left Beach Buns. Marcus had figured out where Sebastian lives. They were coming here. “What’s going on, Park?”
“It doesn’t matter. We’re on our way. Are we going to be able to get into Sebastian’s place? You said the paparazzi are out there?”
I shoved to my feet, tugged on my underwear, then a pair of jeans. “What the fuck is going on?” I repeated.
“Babe,” he said softly, just as my eyes found Sebastian. He was looking at his cell, his call having ended, and then his gaze tilted up and met mine. If I thought he’d looked at me with pity before, it was nothing compared to how he looked at me now.
“Tell me,” I demanded to both of them, either one of them; I just wanted someone to clue me in on what the fuck was happening. When neither spoke, I said, “I’ll just look myself.” I ended the call and went straight to Google.
“Dec,” Sebastian said, walking over to me.
One search of our names, and the headline after headline popping up was all I needed to know. I collapsed to the edge of the bed again, scrolling, reading them all, anger and pain burning my chest. My gut cramped, bile threatening to climb up my esophagus.
“Dec,” Sebastian said again, kneeling between my legs. “It’s okay. I’m sorry. We’ll deal with it.”
My dad had given an interview with the press. I clicked on one, reading, then another and another, my body shaking until I thought I would vibrate out of my skin. Sebastian was there, with his arm around me, telling me it would be okay, but it wouldn’t be. Not after this.
Apparently, my dad hadn’t recognized Sebastian at first, just knew he looked familiar. Then when a movie came on, he realized who’d been at his house. He’d spilled it all—us going over, and had accused Sebastian of being verbally abusive toward him. The media worked quickly, and they already knew everything about me. They were talking about my childhood, my time in foster care, stories about me as a kid, how I’d rarely spoken and how people who’d gone to school with me talked about having been afraid of me and that I was strange.
There were people posting photos from the Getty, like once it was unleashed, they all had to chime in if they had seen us together.
On and on and on they went…the loner and the movie star, the kid who’d been fucked up and how he grew up to steal Sebastian from Neil.
Because that was another part of it. They thought Sebastian had cheated on Neil with me, crazy stories about how I’d broken them up and been the other man, too much shit to focus on.
I pulled my arm back, threw my phone, watched as it hit the wall and shattered. “He hates me.” I was surprised those were the first words out of my mouth, but it was clear to me right then. “I’m his son, and he hates me. He has to, to have done this. I knew he hadn’t wanted me, that he didn’t care, but this…”
“I’m so sorry, Declan. We can do an interview and set the record straight. Fuck, I should have made an announcement about me and Neil breaking up, but I worried that would only draw attention to me.”
“Christ, they think you cheated on that motherfucker when he’s the one who did it to you!” All because my dad had gone public—for money, I assumed.