Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 62492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Will heaved a sigh. “Scott.”
“I said I’m fine!” Scott snapped.
His uncharacteristic outburst left the room ringing with silence.
“It’s about Cameron Richter, isn’t it?” Will said after a moment, his voice careful.
Scott struggled to keep his expression blank. The mere mention of Cam’s name made his insides ache, like someone had prodded curiously at an ugly, jagged wound in his chest. “No,” he said curtly.
“You stopped going to the races.”
“Don’t you have your own life instead of stalking mine?” Scott snapped again.
Will’s eyebrows drew together. “I’m just worried for you. Someone has to be.”
Scott’s throat grew uncomfortably tight. “Thanks for the concern, but I’m really fine,” he said hoarsely. “Yes, I haven’t been going out much lately, but it’s not like you’re any better.”
Will’s expression turned pinched. “You’re not me. You’re not introverted. You actually love going out and being around people.”
Did he? These days, even the thought of going out with his friends and putting on the sociable Scott Palmer mask exhausted him. Which was why he’d been declining every invitation to this party or that party. Maybe he was finally getting too old for that shit.
“I’ve been busy,” Scott said curtly.
“I know,” Will said. “Your dad has been over the moon that you’re taking your responsibilities this seriously.”
Scott snorted. “Glad I’m finally doing something to please him.”
“Scotty.”
Scott flinched. “Don’t call me that. I hate nicknames.”
“Since when?”
“Since now.”
Silence fell, strained and full of uncomfortable questions Scott had no desire to answer.
“Did you two break up?”
Scott’s stomach turned to lead. He stared at the document in front of him without really seeing it.
“If you mean Cam, we were never together,” he said flatly. “He’s straight. He was just fooling around out of boredom and convenience. So was I. We were never anything.”
“Right,” Will said, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm. “You just happened to be ridiculously in love with him.”
Scott’s chest tightened all of a sudden.
He’d never allowed himself to think of Cam and love in the same sentence. Cam had made it clear he didn’t want Scott’s love—that they were just friends. But Scott had told Cam he loved him several times, always casually, the way friends did, and each time he’d felt a small, guilty thrill bloom in his chest, as though he were getting away with something. Like a starving bird stealing crumbs.
God.
Was he in love with Cam after all? It would explain why he couldn’t seem to move on.
“I wasn’t,” Scott said weakly. “I wasn’t in love with him.”
Will sighed. “I’m not going to try to convince you otherwise. You know your feelings better than me. But honestly? I’ve never seen you so gone on any of your boyfriends you claimed to be in love with.”
Scott dragged a hand over his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. “What the hell do you want me to say?” he bit off. “That I’m stupidly in love with him? What’s the point of admitting it? I never meant as much to him as he meant to me.” He hated how bitter he sounded. This wasn’t him. He’d always prided himself on being a positive, optimistic guy who didn’t mope around. Who didn’t obsessively reread old texts. Who remembered what it felt like to want sex with other people.
“Scott…”
“Just drop it,” Scott gritted out. “I don’t want to talk about him. I’m trying to move on here, and you forcing me to talk about my feelings isn’t exactly helpful.”
Will’s eyebrows drew together. “You never had a problem talking about your feelings before. Sometimes I couldn’t make you shut up about them.”
Scott smiled crookedly. “Well, that was before. Talking about my feelings is the last thing I want right now.” He met his cousin’s eyes. “Please, Will. Just drop it. Please.”
Will’s expression softened. “All right,” he said. “But I’m not going to let you turn into a depressed homebody who buries himself in work and never leaves the house.”
“God, you’re such an overbearing ass,” Scott said with an eye roll. “Will you leave me alone if I promise to go out tonight?”
The look Will shot him was insultingly skeptical. “Only if you actually mean it.”
Scott rolled his eyes again. “As it happens, I was invited to a movie premiere tonight. I wasn’t going to go, but I will if it gets you off my back.” He shrugged. “Might even get laid while I’m at it.”
Will smiled, relief flashing across his features. “That’s the Scott I know.”
Scott smiled back thinly and returned his gaze to the document. “Now shoo. I’m trying to work here.”
Once the door closed after Will, Scott’s smile faded. God, he really didn’t want to go out. Or get laid. The mere thought made him vaguely nauseated. But he would have to, if he wanted to convince Will that he was fine.
Because he was.
He was.
Chapter 22
DAILY MAIL: DOUBLE WORLD CHAMPION CAMERON RICHTER IN SECRET ROMANCE SCANDAL WITH BILLIONAIRE HEIR?