AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I appreciate that,” I said, looking around at my friends all gathered together and skipping class to help me. I winked at Daire, who was sitting alone in the corner, his arms crossed. “I even appreciate your wanting to use your fists to defend me, but please don’t do it again.”
“No promises,” he grumbled.
“Look, I won’t be able to be with Archer if I’m not honest with myself and everyone else,” I said. “And that’s what I haven’t told you.” I took a deep breath, and Serena nodded, giving me the reassurance I needed to say it. “The truth is, Archer and I have decided we want to be together. No more secrets, no more hiding.”
One by one, jaws dropped, but I kept going.
“Obviously, we were still trying to figure out how to make that happen without causing some scandal. So…fail on that, I guess.”
“Epic fail,” East agreed.
“But…” Donovan shot East a look that said to shut up. “At least it’s out there now, even if it’s not the way you planned.” He pointed at himself. “If anyone understands a public outing, it’s me.”
That was true. It wasn’t like he’d wanted his secret life of dipping his toe into the porn waters with Kelly to get out, and once it had, the repercussions he’d expected hadn’t manifested at all. In fact, he’d recently driven us all out to the billboard in Times Square that featured him and Kellybecauseof their scandal.
Somehow, I didn’t think Archer and I would get the same treatment.
I glanced down at my phone again. Still no response from Archer, and I wondered what that meant. Had he gotten a heads-up, or would this all blow up in his face the way it had mine?
“He hasn’t answered me either,” Serena said quietly. “But I have a feeling he knows.”
I swallowed, not sure which option was the better one.
It’ll all work out,I told myself, forcing a calm I didn’t feel so my body didn’t head straight for a panic attack.It has to.
THIRTY-SEVEN
archer
THE SOFT CLICK of the door shutting behind me was the final nail in the coffin of my run as a member on Astor’s school board. I’d just been fired.
Fired…
I had never been fired in my life, and while the phrase those stuffed shirts in there had used was “let go,” their condemnation over my extracurricular activities had definitely leaned more toward a firing. As in, they wanted to tie me to a pillar and bring out the firing squad.
Not exactly the way I’d anticipated starting my week. Especially after the amazing end to my weekend. But it seemed the blissful bubble that Preston and I had enjoyed for the past twenty-four hours had just exploded in the most spectacular way.
I let out a sigh and couldn’t help but feel responsible for the total dumpster fire that was now roaring out of control. That photo was damning evidence if I’d ever seen it, and I had no one to blame but myself.
I’d known there was a chance someone would see me and Preston, that someone might follow us out into that alley. But did that stop me? No. No, it did not. All I’d been thinkingabout in that moment was making Preston understand whom I wanted, whom I cared about, and now there was proof.
Proof in the form of an explicit photo circulating the halls of the university my daughter attended.
Wow. Parent of the year over here.
I glanced up and down the empty hall, hoping like hell I could get out of there undetected. The last thing I needed was to draw more attention to myself, and I had no doubt the gossip was running rampant.
Poor Preston. This was exactly what he’d been hoping to avoid. It was already going to be hard enough for him to come out to his family, and now he had to deal with this? Everyone in the school staring at him, pointing, believing he’d cheated on his girlfriend with herdad.
I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was going through right now. Not to mention Serena. I wouldn’t blame her if she publicly disowned me.
I needed to check in on them.
After I’d been called in to the emergency board meeting, I’d sent a text to Sasha that’d I’d be late into the office and switched off my phone. I’d never imagined the emergency had been me. But now that I’d been informed of my “offensive indiscretions,” I had no reason to stick around and cause any more of a scandal.
I reached into my pocket for my cell and switched it on, and it started to buzz with email, text, and voicemail notifications. It seemed the gossip had raged like a wildfire while I was getting my walking papers this morning, as several messages from outraged Elysium members flashed across my screen.
The first email had the subject line:Call for President Carrington’s immediate resignation
