Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 158848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
Numbness crawls through my insides. “What’re you talking about?”
“Last night’s episode, Griff.”
Fuck. I lean sideways and peer at the closed office door. Could Jordan or someone else be out there listening? Jordan said they couldn’t listen in on a call with law enforcement, but I don’t exactly trust him. I need to be careful. I can’t get cut off before I figure out what the fuck is going on.
I answer in a voice barely above a whisper. “The show hasn’t even started airing yet.”
He pauses and when he finally speaks, seems almost calmer. “Griff, the show’s been airing for a month. We’ve been watching it every week.”
“Shit, really?” No wonder the few minutes a week I’m allowed to talk to Molly have seemed so strained. The calls are monitored. Before we’re allowed to speak, someone reminds her not to ask about or discuss the show. The one time I came close to the topic of my workouts, they cut our call short.
“Yeah, really,” Remy continues. “The whole world knows you fucked Kiki. Including Molly.”
He could’ve said I fucked a narwhal in the Arctic and I’d be less shocked. “Kiki? What the fuck? Why would you think that?”
“Are you seriously gonna play stupid?” he asks like he’s speaking to a lowlife trying to weasel out of a bet at The Castle.
“Remy, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t fuck anyone. Did someone on the show say I did?” It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Deadass and his crew use their confessional time to spread gossip.
Kiki said some stupid shit that seemed scripted, and she’s followed me around the house. I assumed the show was putting her up to it for the drama factor. The cheesy host of the show, Matt, refers to me as the “bad boy with a good girl back home” or something stupid like that. Woolly warned me the show was probably trying to tempt me into cheating on my girl since it would be great for ratings.
“Said?” He sighs into the phone. “Griff, they showed the two of you in bed.”
His words make no sense. “That’s not possible. It never happened.”
We’re both silent for a few minutes and a sense of impending doom or time running out rushes over me. “Remy, tell me what happened. Please? I don’t know how much time I have before someone cuts me off.” Jordan said they wouldn’t listen in while I was talking to the sheriff. But if they overhear me talking to my girlfriend’s brother, it’ll be game over.
He blows out a long, frustrated breath. “You haven’t seen any of the episodes?”
“No. We never see the footage. They’re filming 24/7. Like I said, I didn’t know it started airing. I thought it still had to be edited and would run in the fall. The set’s locked down tight. We’re not allowed to watch any television. Can’t read current magazines, go online, nothing.” Venom jokes about our restrictions being worse than a jury sequestered for a high-profile murder trial.
“All right,” Remy snaps. “From episode one, they’ve framed you as the bad-boy fighter with the good girl back home.”
“Okay, that I knew. Matt’s said it a few times.”
“Right. Well, on the first episode, they showed a lot of clips of Molly and made a huge issue about her age and how she hasn’t even graduated from high school yet—which I did not appreciate by the way.”
I snort a humorless laugh. “Are you sure that wasn’t more of a dig at me, than her?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Remy growls. “It made shit awkward as fuck for her the last week of school. She didn’t want to do a damn thing for graduation.”
“I’m sorry.” Fuck this. Remy’s taking too long to get to the point. I need to hear Molly’s voice and know she’s okay. “Is she there? Can I talk to her? Is she upset about the car? Tell her it’s not a big deal, I’ll fix it for her as soon as I get home.”
“I don’t give a fuck about the car, Griff!” Remy explodes. “Shut the fuck up and listen.”
Remy used to blow up like this all the time when we were kids. These days he’s usually more in control. The ball of dread in my stomach tightens. “Where’s Molly?”
“She’s not here. You’ll understand why in a minute.”
“Go on.”
“With the other girls, Kiki’s always talking about you or that other dumbass, Naptime.”
I groan. “He’s such a tool. I didn’t know she was going after him too.”
“So you know she’s into you?” Remy shouts.
I shrug, even though he can’t see the gesture. “I assumed it’s just for the show.”
“Yeah, well she can’t stop yapping about how hot you guys are. How much she wants to fuck you. Maybe both of you at the same time. Says nasty shit about you having a little girl back home and how you need a real woman.”