Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“Zane, too?” I closed my eyes and groaned. “Fuck.”
“Precisely.” Kenji took a deep breath and let loose, his words practically tumbling over themselves he was so worked up. “They’re in Philly. Zane played at the Tower Theater last night, so I booked him into a nice hotel near the venue. But then fucking Landry showed up to watch him play—which, like, did Landry bother to tell anyone where he’d be? Noooooo, of course not, because then someone might get to enjoy their weekend in Florida without needing to send him a hundred ‘Where are you and who are you fucking?’ texts on a daily basis so I can make sure I have the NDAs ready and/or a description for the police when one of these randos murders him in his bed—”
“Kenji…” I said, trying to calm him down.
But Kenji was too upset to be calmed. “Zane’s publicist already has him convinced that a rock star needs to be freaking nocturnal and either fighting or fucking someone every waking moment, which is bad enough— like, are you a musician, Zane? Or a horny, rabid raccoon?—but you just know that once Landry was on the scene, he made sure things got dialed up to eleven. The two of them ended up in some groupie’s hotel room on the other side of town, where they proceeded to engage in Landry’s other favorite activity—when he’s not fucking anonymous strangers, that is—getting drunk and trashing a hotel room.” Kenji blew out an aggrieved breath. “They’re cooling their heels at the police station now. And here I am, stuck in Boca Raton…”
While Kenji continued to bitch, I glanced over at Rowe. He’d sat up in bed, gorgeous curls going every which way, and furrowed his eyebrows in worry. “Everything okay?” he whispered.
I covered the phone. “Define okay.” I rolled my eyes. “No one’s hurt, but there’s been a huge clusterfuck, and I need to drive down to Philly to bail my friends out. You can go back to sleep.”
Instead of snuggling back under the covers, though, Rowe squeezed my hand, then moved off the bed and out to the other bedroom, like maybe he didn’t want to be disturbed.
“Bash?” Kenji demanded. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah, sorry. I was talking to… never mind.” I shook my head, still staring at where Rowe had disappeared into the darkened living area. “I’m gonna go get them. If the guys call back, tell them I’m on my way.”
“Oh. Oh, shit. You’re with Rowe,” Kenji said in a hushed voice.
“You knew I would be. You arranged—”
“No, I mean… you’re with him. Like, in bed with him. Post-sex sleeping with him. Together.”
Kenji had traded his anger for pearl-clutching. I couldn’t help chuckling as I headed into the bathroom, blinking under the bright overhead lights as I retrieved my toothbrush. “Did you think we were going to tell ghost stories and braid our hair all night?”
“Well, no, but I thought… Actually, I don’t know what I thought,” he finally admitted. “Spending the whole night with someone isn’t a thing you do… is it?”
The last thing I wanted at that moment was to be reminded of how unusual—and impossible—this situation with Rowe was… especially now that it was coming to a disappointingly quick end.
I cleared my throat. “If I leave now, I should get to Philly in an hour and a bit. Text me the location. I assume you’ve already contacted Bruce?” I asked, mentioning the expensive attorney Kenji had finally put on retainer to deal with Landry’s messes. “Shit. And I forgot I didn’t drive out here. I need a car—”
“Morris will be waiting outside. I’ve been texting him as we talked. And yes, Bruce is already involved—he should have the guys processed out before you get there.” Kenji paused. “Sorry, Bash. Genuinely. I wish you didn’t have to be the one to handle this. But somebody needs to have a come-to-Jesus with Zane, and he’ll listen to you. He can’t jump on Landry’s fuckery train and expect it not to catch up with him.”
“I get it. It’s fine.” It really wasn’t. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Rowe, to leave the little bubble we’d created in this hotel room. But that wasn’t Kenji’s fault. “I’ll text you when they’re out. Put this out of your mind and enjoy the rest of your weekend, okay?”
He snickered. “Oh, yeah. You know me—living it up here at the Vista Bonita Active Seniors community. I’ve finally found my people. See you Monday… And FYI, I’ll be making another large deposit to the Fake Sterling Chase Escape Fund before then. Just in case of disaster.”
“Great.” I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t going to need any special coping mechanisms to deal with the fallout of spending a single weekend with a sexy man… but that would be a lie.