AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hashtag definitely not winning. Better yet? Loser.
BetsyAnne poked her head inside my office door a few seconds after Zack left me alone to stew in anxiety that burned my stomach. “Anything I can do for you, boss?” she asked, her word choice soothing the part of me having a pity party.
“I’m going to call Micah,” I said since I’d only failed to that point and had no other options that my tired brain could come up with.
Pay him or off him. I didn’t have the means for the first and didn’t know anyone capable of doing the second without getting caught.
“I’ll see you Saturday at the quarterly meeting?” she asked, studying me as though she could read my mind.
“Noon, right?” I asked absently.
“Yeah.”
I nodded. “I’ll be there.”
BetsyAnne left me in oppressive silence, and I heaved a heavy exhale, slouching in my chair. Damning images scattered over my desk, and fear snaked through my guts at the thoughts of worst-case scenarios.
Something like this can bury us.
No more Elite Escorts, gay or otherwise. No more dick, balls, or holes smorgasbord. No more getting paid for the pleasure of using my body. And definitely no more living the high life as a once again blue-collar worker who stocked shelves overnight at the grocery store.
Micah was going to be pissed…I’d messed up for real this time.
“Fuck.” I muttered a few more curses.
Sure, I could wait the two days for Micah to get home, but the sooner I tossed shit out into the open, the sooner he could come up with an answer to protect us.
I swiped my cell to life and called my brother, the golden boy, the one who didn’t make mistakes like I did. He would know what to do to ensure Elite would escape this unscathed.
I had a client Friday night, but I couldn’t focus worth a shit. A blue pill helped me fumble my way through the first round. Thank fuck the guy was vers and wanted to pound my ass the second time. What sucked a pickled prick was the fact that fuck with me bent over the end of the hotel bed took place at three in the morning.
When I got home at six, I collapsed, passing out before my head hit the pillow.
Micah had calmly assured me during our short phone conversation that he would handle shit but refused to cut his vacation short. He’d gotten into town Friday late afternoon, but I’d already been on the way to pleasing our client so had yet to speak to him about whatever plan he’d cooked up.
I trusted him, so my brain should have relaxed over the entire situation. Not so. The whole pile of shit had hounded my mind and body non-fucking-stop to exhaustion like I’d never experienced.
A buzzing noise roused me but silenced before I forced my eyelids open. Sighing, I snuggled deeper into soft sheets and warmth, every inch of me needing to slip back under. But my damned brain got moving on the what-ifs.
The buzzing started up again.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I muttered against my pillow, wanting to cry like a little bitch. “Leave me the fuck alone!”
A third interruption made me lift my head to blink bleary eyes at my alarm clock.
Twelve-thirty.
In the afternoon.
“Oh fuck!” I pushed up to sit on the edge of my bed and grabbed my cell, my insides turning liquid, rumbling in a flash.
Micah: Where the fuck are you?
“Shit, shit, shit.” Once more, I revealed to the world how much of a fuckup I truly was. When Micah had announced the MM branch of Elite at the Christmas party and put me in charge, I’d promised him I wouldn’t let him down. For the first time, I’d really believed in myself, in my determination to grow up and prove I could be responsible.
I doubted Micah was surprised I’d failed, and I could only imagine what Pop would say when he found out about the mess I’d created by contracting Zack with an asshole bent on ruining us.
At least I’d learned to own my mistakes rather than lying to cover my ass as I would have done prior to becoming part of Micah’s team.
