Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
His phone vibrated in my hand, and he noticed immediately.
“Who?” he asked.
“Hacksmore,” I said, reading the name.
He took his phone back. “Ah, fuck.” He set it down between his legs. “I’m calling him back. I just need a minute to think this through.”
“What’s there to think through?”
“Well, considering PR is my forte, I can tell you right now, no one wants to follow the one-night stands of Hottie Firefighter. You were perfect when you were this eligible bachelor who could have been with a guy or a girl.”
“Technically these things are still true. And we are more than a one-night stand at this point.”
“Not what I meant with either of those things. It’s all about the public’s perception of you. And God knows how much Lil’ fucking Donnie Gibson has tainted this cool reputation you have. I can promise you, you’re not going to look like a stud when you’re running around with some former celebrity. Hacksmore is going to rip me a new one over this. Shit, shit, shit. I wanted this fucking account so bad, and then I had to be the one to fuck it up.”
“I understand you’re trying to process a lot of things right now, Dax, but I think it’s probably best if we head back to the house. We can mentally regroup, and then you can figure out the best course of action.”
He grew quiet, pressing his hand against his face and dragging it down, pressing down on his nose—and having learned the truth about his former celebrity status, I now had the vivid image of Lil’ Donnie Gibson doing the same thing.
“You’re probably right about that,” he said with a sigh.
“Maybe I should drive, though,” I suggested, seeing as Dax didn’t look like he was in the right mental state for it.
He surrendered the driver’s seat, and I drove us back to my place.
On the way there, his phone vibrated again, and he answered it, putting it on speaker. “Hey, Elliott. I assume you’re calling because of the leak from Glitz & Glam, and yes, I’ve seen. I’m going to call Hacksmore. Have you talked to him already?”
“No. Carter got ahold of me first, so I let it ring. I’m sorry this happened, man. What do you think Hacksmore is going to say?”
“I don’t know, but I think I fucked up this whole deal.”
“You know I have your back. And based on these photos, it looks like Hottie Firefighter has your back too, but—”
“Elliott, you’re on speaker, and Jace is in the car with me.”
“Oh…sorry about that.”
“It’s all good,” I chimed in.
“I’m waiting until we get back to Jace’s place,” he continued, “and then I’m calling Hacksmore from there.”
“Just keep me in the loop,” Elliott added.
Dax hung up, and we didn’t chat the rest of the way back to my place. I tried to give him enough space to think.
As soon as we got out of the car and started up the drive, he took a long, deep breath and said, “I guess I’m going to bite the bullet and try to mitigate this as best I can.”
“You want me to back you up? We can put him on speaker. I mean, based on these pictures, not like they’ll be surprised if we’re together.”
Dax bit down on his bottom lip. He was so tense, so stressed, and I wanted to give him the kind of ease I’d offered him the night before.
“Might as well,” he said. “If he wants to find a way to pull out over this negative press, better we figure out now what the hell he thinks about it all, and we deal with it.”
We headed inside and settled in the living area, Dax sitting on the couch as he dialed Hacksmore’s number. Setting the call on speaker, he placed the phone on the coffee table. Mac walked over to him and hopped up on the couch, resting his head on Dax’s lap, and Dax petted his neck, like he needed the companionship.
I took a seat on the adjoining love seat, readying myself for whatever the fuck was about to go down. I just hoped that Hacksmore was a little calmer than Dax.
Whatever the outcome, I would be fine. Worst case, we lost this deal. It would suck to have to face Fever Fight without having the money I’d committed to offering them, but if Hacksmore wanted to walk away over some stupid photos of playing around with a guy, that was on him, not me or Dax.
“Dax, where the hell have you been?” Hacksmore’s voice boomed when he answered.
“It’s Dax and Jace,” he announced. “We…uh…just slept in, I guess.”
“I take it you’ve seen the Glitz & Glam post.”
“Just finished looking at it.”
“What the fuck kind of angle is this?” His words were severe, almost threatening. “Did you two pose for these? Is this some marketing scheme I’ve been left out of? I don’t want you guys running some campaign where I don’t have any say in—”