Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89465 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89465 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“So,” Adalynn says as she steps back in front of me and leans over the counter. “You were about to tell me what’s been going on between you and Chase.”
I ignore the part of me that’s screaming to keep my mouth shut, certain that Chase’s manipulation and betrayal is cause for voiding that damn NDA. Besides, the only judge in Llano County, Texas is a sixty-year-old woman who’s never been married. If there was ever a woman scorned with a high probability of hating men, then it’s Judge Karen Brown.
I lean right back in toward my friend and I give her as much of the details as I can. I don’t pull back when it’s time to confess my own failures and how he’s manipulated me, how obsessed I am, nor do I keep from telling her how foolish I was to fall for his lies and how heartbroken I am.
Adalynn listens intently, and for the first time in our long friendship, when I finish, she doesn’t make suggestions. She has tears in her eyes to match mine, and she pats my hand in commiseration. She doesn’t go so far as to tell me all men are pigs because, despite my current situation, she fully believes her knight in shining armor is still out looking for her.
Chapter 29
Chase
With very few exceptions, I’m usually a calm, think-it-through sort of guy.
I’ve discovered that it’s people that I expected more from who really have the power to anger me. It’s why I lost my shit on Cory in the locker room and not on Emily. I learned early on not to expect much from my wife, but my best friend was supposed to be better. It wasn’t the fact that he was screwing around with her. It was that he was doing it at the risk of my boys’ safety. That was the real rub in that situation.
It felt like a betrayal.
Just like her whispered voice in my ear feels like right now.
I press my finger against my earbud in order to hear better.
Walker shot me a text earlier with a link attached. Maybe I wouldn’t be simmering mad if this was just one more thing Emily did, but the way I feel right now means that I had already positioned Madison higher than my ex.
Hearing the details she’s sharing feels like treason, as if she’s betrayed me in the worst way. I’m stunned honestly, and maybe that’s another hint to how much I’d given up, how easily I’d trusted.
“The way he moved my body.” I’m familiar with the low groan I hear. “I’m telling you, it’s the best I’ve ever had.”
Maybe some guys would be flattered. Maybe the complimentary words about the way I fuck should make me stand a little taller, but I’ve been down this road before. I’ve been on the high of being praised only to be cut down at the knees a little later. That’s the thing with popularity and stardom. The higher you are, the greater the fall back down, and the general public live for that shit. It’s the calm before the storm.
Candid Interview with Former Hockey Star’s Latest Lover.
That’s the headline posted on social media. Even though it was posted only a couple hours ago, it’s already gone viral. The clip has been posted as a black screen video, closed captioning added to make it more user friendly. I mean, how accommodating of Toni Tanner, the social media vlogger who’s responsible for this piece of trash. She’s given millions of people access to what goes on in my bedroom, but I can’t really blame the blood-thirsty vlogger. Madison is the one who sat down with her and whispered our secrets.
With an angry huff, I pull the earbud out and shove the damn thing in my pocket before doing a quick search on the same social platform of Toni’s name. It doesn’t surprise me to see that same smiling face I saw at the bar the other night while I was waiting for Madison. I was a little shocked she was so quick to tell me goodbye rather than trying to monopolize my time.
She was working on her story, not looking to hook up with me herself.
The picture that is accompanying the audio clips is proof she didn’t stay in the bar after we left that first night.
Madison and I were so hot and heavy, we didn’t notice her or someone working for her lurking in the shadows. As much as I want to blame Madison for the setup, I was the one who stepped into her that night. I was the one about to crawl over her, rip her panties away, and slam inside of her.
Maybe that was what the look was for? Maybe it wasn’t embarrassing for her that she was so slick I could easily see that intimate part of her. Maybe it was knowing someone was snapping a picture of that exact moment that made her cheeks heat.