Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 117415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
He answers neither question, only poking his head around me to say, “Thanks for helping out, Cole, but um, something came up, so we have to head out.”
“No worries.” Cole starts helping me out of the harness, eyes darting between us, likely trying to figure out what’s going on.
You and me both.
The second we leave the gym, TJ says, “They know.”
I frown. “Who knows?”
“Everyone.”
I can barely keep up with him as we reach his car. “Wait, what do you mean?” I ask over the hood, needing to be sure he’s saying what I think he’s saying. Then we’re inside the car, engine on, and TJ is already peeling out of the parking lot. “TJ, talk to me, please.”
“AJ said it looked fun and innocent at first,” he tells me as he whips way too fast around a corner, barely heeding a stop sign. “A set of pics are out there. Us at that restaurant we went to after the Houston show.”
Fuck me, I knew it. “TJ …”
“In one online group, the reaction is cute. People wondering who’s the lucky guy Chase Holt is seeing.”
“You’re gonna hit somethin’, slow down.”
He doesn’t. “Other groups … weren’t so sweet about it. I need to look up what a ‘groupie cum goblin’ is, though I can take a guess.”
“Your mom just warned us about deer, TJ, you’ve gotta slow down before—”
He more than slows down. He pulls to the side of the country road, slams the brakes, and stares ahead without blinking, fingers curled tightly around the steering wheel.
Then he asks, “Why do I get the feeling you knew about this?”
I shut my eyes. “I’m so sorry, TJ. I should’ve told you. I swear, I thought it was handled already, and … and I understand if you’re mad at me, but I swear—”
“Mad at you?” He turns to me. “I’m not mad at you, Austin.”
I look at him. “You’re not?”
It’s like the thought didn’t even cross his mind. “Why would I be mad at you? This isn’t your fault. It’s theirs. Why can’t they just be happy for you? They’re your fans! They love you!”
“Think you just answered your own question. They love me … just a tad too much at times.” I drop my head. “It’s how it always goes. They talk, speculate everything to death, make up their own story … Listen to me.” I meet his eyes and come closer, forcing my voice to stay steady. “This is how it always goes. I’ve been through this a couple times. It blows up fast, then burns out just as quickly. My team’s already on it.”
“Your team.”
“TJ, the people at my label, I’m not even kiddin’, they have so many plants in so many of these fan groups for this exact thing. If I go up on lyrics and make a fool of myself. If I lose my cool and go off on a heckler at a show and the fans react poorly to it. Whatever you can think of, they use these plants to steer the conversation. Not to mention their legal team. Their own social media warriors. There’s no headlines. It’s still contained. They’re on it. They’ve … been on it all day,” I finally confess with a sigh. “I’m sorry for not tellin’ you earlier. But trust me, they’ve got plans in motion.”
“I trust you,” he says quietly, then meets my eyes. “But do you trust them?”
I stare back, as if I don’t understand the question.
What he’s really asking.
Do I trust my label? Do I trust them to tell the story? And most importantly, do I trust them to protect TJ the way I’d protect TJ?
Can I even trust these calls from Ian blowing up my phone?
“Yes,” I finally say—or choke, throat stubborn and tightening up. “Yeah. I do.”
TJ continues staring into my eyes, as if to be sure. “Alright,” he finally says with a nod. Then he faces the road, hands back on the steering wheel. “I’ll trust them, too.”
He starts the car once more.
Off we go.
I can’t help feeling like when he says he’ll trust them, what he’s really trusting is me.
We make it safely back to TJ’s house without any spontaneous deer encounters, I’m relieved to report. “Since nothing’s going on just yet,” says TJ before we go in, “let’s not mention anything to my parents. I don’t want them to worry over nothing.”
Then we enter the house through the side door.
Cissy ambushes us in the kitchen. “You’re back just in time!” she cries out gleefully. “Your father and I were about to sit down to watch a movie in the cinema room. Why don’t you two join us?? It’s rom-com night!”
TJ is about to turn her down when I put my arm around his back and pull him close, startling him. “I think that sounds great,” I tell her—and him. He meets my eyes questioningly.