Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 103159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
My hand covered my own mouth this time to keep from laughing.
Suddenly, Hunter stood. “I think that’s it for this date.”
Haleigh quickly stood as well. “I’m sorry?”
“I think we’re finished. And before we say goodbye, my mother is the best woman I know, and I’m the man I am today because of her. If that makes me a momma’s boy, then I’m proud to wear that label. Enjoy your flight back to Sacramento.”
“Oh shit!” I said as I scrambled out of the chair. The date was ending not even forty-five minutes in. “I have to get out there.”
Once I slipped out of Blayze’s office, I managed to get over to Jessie, who put my mic and earpiece back in. The producers had gone to an unexpected commercial break.
“Where’s Kipton!” Travis shouted.
I made an oops face at Jessie, and she started to giggle. “I’m right here!” I called out as I made my way over to my mark.
“He can’t just up and end a date!” Travis started yelling as one of the PAs held Haleigh while she cried.
“Pretty sure he can when they start insulting his mother,” Jack stated in a low voice, but still loud enough for Travis to hear.
“Wrap this shit up and play that bonus material of Hunter and Dustin roping yesterday,” Travis demanded.
Jack gave him an annoyed looked and approached me. “I’m not going to put you in this weird position, Kipton. We’ll use one of your recorded messages to end the show.”
I nodded, then looked around the barn. If they were going to use a prerecorded message, I wanted to find Hunter to make sure he was okay. “Where’s Hunter?”
He shrugged. “Gone.”
Chewing on my lower lip, I wasn’t sure if I should try to find him or not. In the end, I figured he needed a break from the show, and I wasn’t entirely sure I was someone he would want to see.
By the time Friday rolled around, Hunter had cooled off. He hadn’t bothered to show up for any meetings the day before, so Jack asked me to track him down and tell him that Friday was a group date. In Vegas.
I knocked on Blayze’s office door before poking my head in. The door had been open. Hunter was sitting there, a beer in his hand as Blayze sat on the other side of his desk.
“Hey, you didn’t show up for the meeting this morning.”
Hunter shot me a warning look. When I looked at Blayze, he simply lifted his brows.
Clearing my throat, I said, “Jack asked me to track you down since you weren’t answering your phone to tell you about the date for tomorrow.”
Something like a grunt came from Hunter, so I went on.
“It’s going to be in Vegas.”
His head snapped around to look at me. “Vegas? The date is in Vegas?”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “It’s going to be a group date.”
Lifting the beer, he finished it off. “I hate Vegas.”
Forcing a smile, I said, “Have you been there before?”
Blayze coughed to cover his laugh as Hunter stood and faced me.
“Yes. Have you?”
I shook my head.
He closed his eyes and dropped his head. I had to fight the urge to walk up and wrap my arms around him.
After a few moments of silence, he sighed, set the beer on Blayze’s desk, and looked at me. “I fucking hate this show.”
Then he walked out. I watched him leave, then turned to Blayze.
“Since it’s clear my baby brother isn’t happy about Vegas, can I give you twenty to put down on the roulette table? Let it all ride on red.”
My hand came up to my mouth to hide my smile as Blayze leaned back in his seat and smiled.
Rose practically skipped over to me once she and Hunter arrived at the barn. How she had managed to talk Hunter into going, I would never know. I was glad, though, to have her come along. We had quickly become friends, so it would be nice to have someone along who was not part of the show.
“All right, let’s get this going, people!” Jack yelled. We were going to prerecord the announcement about the group date, then film everyone heading to Vegas. The show would go live later this evening.
“How can you be so chipper first thing in the morning?” I asked Rose as I took a sip of my tea.
Rose shrugged, kicking back on a hay bale as women scrambled in every direction in a mad dash to get their hair and makeup fixed. “It’s like watching lab rats scramble for the last bit of cheese. I can’t look away and am fascinated at their commitment.”
“Rose!” I laughed, hitting her leg.
She smirked. “Jack will definitely regret letting me go with you guys.”
“He probably will.” I chuckled. Rose, who had begged and pleaded with Hunter to let her come, even offering to pay for her own plane ticket, clearly amused Jack because he invited her to fly in the private jet that would carry him, Travis, Hunter, and myself, as well as Jessie and Larry.