Page 94 of Fight For Me

“Seriously,” Fox asks. “What’s going on here? And why the fuck didn’t you tell us?”

Everyone is talking over each other. Several cell phones are ringing—calls coming from every corner of the family, I’m sure. Seven sets of eyes are trained on us. That same emotion I saw filling my brother’s gaze is now reflected in the faces of my cousins and I finally realize what it is— judgement. Judgement and anger, just like I always expected.

Alex catches my eye. She looks overwhelmed, upset. It’s clear that someone needs to say something. And even though I would rather take Alex and run away from this situation, I know I can’t do that.

I clear my throat. “Alex and I have been seeing each other.”

The room goes silent, except for the occasional ring of a cell phone. I hate the feel of their eyes on me.

“For how long?” my brother finally asks, his voice harsh.

I swallow hard, memories of the first time we kissed flashing through my mind. “A few weeks,” I lie. I gesture at the now silent television. “Since Miami.”

“Looked to me like you were getting pretty cozy long before Miami.” He sounds pissed, and I’m not surprised. Isn’t this what I always knew would happen? No one is going to be okay with this. There’s not a person in this family who’s going to think that I’m the right guy for her. That I can be good for her.

“Nothing happened before then,” Alex says softly, but firmly. “We hung out. I think we were both attracted to each other. But we knew it would be complicated so we tried to ignore it.”

“And then you snuck around and did it anyhow,” Will snaps, staring right at me.

I can’t take that look in my brother’s eyes for another second. My phone beeps with yet another message and I take advantage of the momentary distraction.

I immediately wish I hadn’t. Fucking Scott.

Scott Roderick:How’d you like the show tonight?

Another beep.

Scott Roderick:There’s a lot more where that came from.

My hands are shaking so hard I almost drop my phone. “I need to make a call,” I mutter.

Alex looks at me with wide eyes. “It can’t wait?”

I give a jerky head shake. “It really can’t.” I turn for the door but Alex grabs my arm, an incredulous look on her face.

“You’re leaving me to deal with this alone?” she asks in an undertone, so only I can hear her, but anger and annoyance seep from her words.

“No.” I run my hands through my hair, totally overwhelmed. It’s finally starting to sink in that everyone I know will have seen this by now. My parents. Her parents. Friends and colleagues from Seattle, many of whom have been sending me teasing texts about my turn as a reality show star for the past few weeks. Everyone is going to know that I’m the creepy asshole hitting on a twenty-two-year-old.

And then there’s fucking Scott with his cryptic threatening messages. There’s the anger I can feel radiating from my brother. The pain in Alex’s eyes. And throbbing underneath all of that is the phone call I got right before this all went to shit. We’re going to have to give George up, and the very thought makes me feel sick to my stomach.

My phone dings again.

Scott Roderick:I’d get in touch if I were you.

All of my anger and worry and agitation focuses down to a single point, directed right at the asshole who orchestrated this whole thing. I shake Alex’s hand off. “We’ll talk in a bit. I need to do something.”

She calls after me, but I ignore her, already to the door. I don’t bother waiting for the elevator in the hallway. There’s too much angry energy coursing through me. Instead I throw open the fire escape door and pound down the stairs.

I’m already pressing Scott’s contact when I burst into the parking lot. “You’re an asshole,” I growl when he answers after three rings.

“Nice to hear from you too,” he drawls, smugness practically dripping from the words. He thinks he has the upper hand here and he’s going to use it to his advantage. “You never answered—did you enjoy the episode?”

“You’re fucking dead.”

His voice sharpens. “I’d chill with the threats, Warner. You don’t want to test me.” He chuckles softly, the sound sending bile raising in my stomach. “It’s your own fault, you know. You made it so damn obvious that you didn’t want anyone to know. Sneaking around, treating her like your dirty little secret. Reality TV is all about the drama, kid, and you gave me a hell of a lot of tasty drama. How was I supposed to ignore that?”

My stomach twists. Is that how it looked? Like I saw her as something shameful to hide? “That’s not what happened.”