Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
That made my stomach crawl. What would Mom say? Oh, God… what would Dad say?
“I’ll come, too,” Jaxson tried, pushing off the wall.
“You,” Vince growled, spinning and pressing his finger into Jaxson’s chest. “Will stay the fuck away from her, and from me, and from my entire family.”
“Vince, stop. You’re overreacting,” I said to my brother. “It’ll all blow over, we’ll—”
“Sorry, sis, but I’m pretty sure a video of my fucking teammate telling you how good you were at sucking his cock isn’t going to blow over.”
Shame and horror washed over me as I remembered the exact video he was referring to — the one we’d taken at Wilson State Park. That moment had meant so much to me. It was the first time I’d cried in… I couldn’t even remember how long. It was me baring my soul to Jaxson and him listening, holding space for every feeling I had.
He’d said that last part as a joke to make me smile, to lighten the mood. It wasn’t crude. It was… beautiful.
But now, everyone would judge it, judge us.
Suddenly, my brother was shoved hard from behind, and Jaxson cornered him, absolutely seething.
“Watch your mouth when you’re talking to my girl.”
“Your girl?” Vince laughed, shoving him back. “That’s my fucking sister, you punk!”
He wound up to hit him, and I screamed, running until I could step between them. Jaxson hauled me up out of the way and put himself as a barrier between me and my brother, which made Vince even more pissed.
He was shaking, face redder than I’d ever seen it as he looked at where I was hiding behind Jaxson. I knew, even in the heat of the moment, that he wasn’t just angry. He was hurt. He was upset we’d lied to him. He was likely devastated about what the news was saying about me, because he cared about me.
But right now, all he could reach for was rage. And I didn’t know how to get through to him.
His eyes flicked between us, and then he forced one long, calm breath, smoothing his hands over his shirt.
“Grace, I need you to get your belongings and go to the car,” he said, his voice more level.
“No,” I tried, but Jaxson turned to face me, his hands on my arms. I knew before he even spoke what he was going to say, and I shook my head violently. “No,” I said again.
“Just for now,” Jaxson promised me. “Go be with your family and let me talk to the team’s PR agency. We will get this figured out.”
“I don’t want to leave you.” Tears flooded my eyes, and Jaxson framed my face, lowering his gaze to mine.
“We will work this out together. I promise. I’m not going anywhere. Okay?” He waited until I nodded, and I knew he could see everything I could about my brother in that moment. There was no reasoning with him. “But right now, your family needs you to go be with them, and I am not welcome.”
Vince snorted behind him, but Jaxson kept my attention on him.
“We’ll figure it out,” he promised again.
I wanted to kiss him, to feel the comfort and security of his lips on mine. My entire body was trembling now, the facts of what my brother revealed sinking into my skin like claws.
Someone had leaked our videos, our photos, our texts.
It was such a personal invasion of privacy, I could barely breathe.
With one last squeeze, Jaxson released me, and I numbly gathered my clothes off the kitchen floor. I ambled toward the front door with my head spinning and my heart pounding.
Through my haze, I heard my brother hit Jaxson with one final blow.
“I trusted you.”
I froze at the sound of it, knowing those words would break Jaxson. But I couldn’t turn around, couldn’t comfort him — not right now.
Vince’s hand found my shoulder and guided me out the door.
He must have shut the gate after he came through it, because there was already a small gathering of paparazzi, and their cameras all began to flash when we emerged.
Vince shielded me, and with the landscaping around Jaxson’s property, none of them got a clear shot before I was ducking into the passenger side of my brother’s Maserati. The windows were tinted far past the legal shade of darkness, but I still hid my face as we pulled out of Jaxson’s driveway and Vince sped us across town toward the beach.
I didn’t even have my phone to text Jaxson and tell him I loved him, that we would get through this, that everything was okay.
The weight of the morning socked me right in the gut, panic zipping through my chest and making me curl in on myself.
And I realized maybe it was a good thing I couldn’t text him.
Because those last two statements were just pretty lies.