The Rebel: Red's Tavern, Book 2 by Raleigh Ruebins

Author:Raleigh Ruebins [Ruebins, Raleigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-15T16:00:00+00:00

10

Liam

My phone started playing its little jingly ringtone right as I was walking out my front door. I jumped like I’d just heard a firework.

I slipped it out of my pocket and answered quickly, holding it up to my ear.

“Hey, Red, I’m sorry I’m late, I’m on my way—” I started, fumbling to keep the phone between my shoulder and head while also pushing open the front door.

“You little slut,” the voice on the other end said.

Definitely not Red’s voice.

I furrowed my brow, pulling down the phone and finally looking at the screen like I should have done in the beginning.

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered. It was Colin. I’d been ignoring his calls for so long that I figured he’d given up trying.

I was supposed to be heading out the door to go to the party at Red’s. My evening had already been a shitty roller coaster ride of anxiety, then self-soothing, then more anxiety again as I got ready to attend the party. In fact, every day since Red had invited me, I hadn’t been able to get my nerves down.

I hadn’t been to a party since I’d quit drinking.

I didn’t even know how to act at a party where I wasn’t drunk.

Alcohol had been my crutch for so long that I wasn’t sure who I was without it, especially with the added layer of oh fuck, I think I might still be deeply in love with Red.

I was tense, to say the least.

So when I heard Colin’s voice on the other end of the phone, rage mixed with my anxiety in a potent, insidious way.

“I can’t talk now,” I said quickly.

“What? I can barely hear you,” Colin said.

I sucked in a breath, clenching my teeth. “I told you we needed to just keep this to email. In writing.”

“Yeah, I got your email this morning, dude, and no,” Colin said. “That money is mine, not yours, and you aren’t getting it.”

My whole body went hot. I’d chosen a tight henley shirt to wear this evening, but now the long cotton sleeves were clinging to my arms. I stopped trying to open the front door and instead just stood next to it, staring blankly into my living room.

“The money is mine in every conceivable way,” I said. “What are you talking about, Colin?”

“I had to deal with your manager last night when I was just trying to have a good time.”

“You were talking to my manager?”

“You really should stop ignoring his calls. And mine too, buddy. Were you fucking him, too?”

“Stop calling me that,” I said, the words feeling venomous. “Of course I wasn’t fucking my manager. And what? How the hell were you talking with him? He doesn’t even know who you are.”

Colin laughed. “I mean, he has seen me naked now, so he definitely knows who I am.”

I pressed my fingers hard against my temple. “I’m so confused.”

He sighed. “I was in the pool last night taking a dip. Jim showed up asking about you.”

“His name is Tim, not Jim.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.