Page 1 of Feral
Chapter 1
Gemma
“You've got to be fucking kidding me, Gemma,” my best friend, Tammy, says as she downs yet another shot of vodka. It's my twenty-fourth birthday and I am celebrating it alone at the local bar, thanks to my sleazy, rotten son of a bitch ex-boyfriend, Jack, who decided to dump me on the day of our second anniversary.
Thanks a lot, fucker.
“I’m not kidding and you know it,” I say flatly as I delete random pictures of Jack and me from my phone. “Imagine the buzz after I get his interview up in the newspaper. He has never spoken about the accident, not since his conviction, did you know that?” I sigh as I delete my favorite picture of Jack taken at last year’s Fourth of July. Now I only have to scroll down and do the same with a couple hundred others.
‘Slow Dance’ by Ana Popovic plays on the speakers and I feel like this is just my luck since it's the first song he and I ever danced to. Tammy shakes her head, her eyes lingering on the heavily tattooed man behind the bar.
“Jacob Broussard is responsible for driving his best friend off the road and into smithereens, Gemma. News reports say he’s been cooped up inside his mansion for months on end. I doubt you’ll be able to even find out where he lives. And why do you need to go there and interview him yourself? Darren is drooling over this and you know it. It’s practically all I’ve heard him talk about these past few weeks.”
I flip open my purse and count what money I have left. It’s not much, but it’ll have to do. It’s not every day I get to celebrate my shitty choice in men. Well, boys actually, if I’m being totally honest.
“Darren wants to meet him because he somehow thinks he’s entitled to tell his story just because he’s a sports reporter and he’s obsessed with race car drivers. I’m sure that even if he managed to talk to him, he’d end up twisting the whole thing and making him out to be something completely different.”
I watch her make a noncommittal grin and chug down the rest of her drink, gesturing to the bartender for another round.
“Take it easy on those, okay? Last time we went out, you bailed on me without so much as a heads-up.”
With complete disregard for what I just told her, she rolls her eyes and scratches her nose, looking around the crowded bar before she speaks again.
“What makes you so sure he's going to tell you anything more than what he's already said to the Press before, Gem?”
“Nothing,” I simply say. “I just know that I want to give him a fair chance. I want to meet this man in person, Tammy. See if he’s the cold-blooded killer everyone portrays him to be.”
“Honey, flying out to New Orleans to talk to a convicted felon just for the sake of an interview, sounds way too risky. Even for you. What if the rumors hold true? I don’t want to see you get into any trouble.”
“Please, spare me the lecture, okay? I’m a big girl, I can handle myself. I’ve read the dossier that the research department compiled on him. I know all his background information, where he’s from, his age, his political leanings. I’ve gone through all the court documents. I’m not going there blind. I know he’s angry, bitter, and stubborn as a mule. Did you know that he’s refused every doctor or physician's advice to get a prosthetic leg and make his life easier?”
“No, I didn’t know that. Damn, he sure sounds like one headstrong, unbending son of a bitch, huh?”
I pull out my phone and show her the files I have saved. “And who said anything about flying? I thought you knew I’m terrified of planes. I’m going by bus, or train, whichever is cheaper.”
“You’re going to take the bus to Louisiana? From Manhattan? Girl, you’ve lost it, you know? That’s sheer madness!”
“You don’t have to worry about me, Tammy. If I need anything, that’s a little fun. Now, how about I buy us another round, huh? I’ve got some more money to throw around to celebrate my unceremonious break-up.”
Tammy and I met my first week at Manhattan Express, and since then we have been inseparable. Her warnings do nothing to deter me from going to Louisiana, not one iota. I still want to interview him. Come hell or high water, I’m going to do just that. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. With Jack out of the picture and my self-esteem hitting rock bottom, this project sounds exactly like what I need to get my mind off my miserable little life. I need some fucking excitement, something to get me out of my slump.
“Suit yourself, hon,” she finally says, taking another look around the now bustling bar. “Damn,” she mumbles a moment later. “That stud at your left has totally been checking you out, Gem.”
I turn slowly, pretending to look innocuously around and catch his eye. Mid-thirties, lean, and impeccably dressed, he looks like Liam Hemsworth, only better. His wind-swept hair shimmers like autumn leaves under the bar’s ambient lights, and when he smiles, revealing perfect white teeth, the gleam in his eyes is unmistakable.
I smile back and he instantly disentangles himself from his buddies and walks over to where we are in slow, confident strides, all the while keeping his eyes on me. When he’s finally in front of me, it’s his intoxicating, musky cologne that seals the deal, even before his rich, smooth voice hits my ears.
He’s exactly the thing I need and if he’s game, I am too.
“Wanna get out of here?” he asks and that Southern accent alone is seductive enough.
Damn, he’s cocky.
I’m surprised that he doesn’t cast a single glance at my best friend sitting right next to me.
Rude but what the heck?
I turn to look at Tammy and I know she’s thinking exactly the same thing I am.
