Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
“Me, trying to abduct her?”
“They were being overly cautious, and I’m very sorry about that. It’s my fault for leaving the two of you. As a member of the royal family, I profusely apologize, as will the royal guard.”
“So I’m not a prisoner or in trouble?”
“No, of course not. I’m sorry you had to go a moment thinking that was the case.”
I sighed. “Well, that’s another relief.” At least I knew I wasn’t going to wind up in some royal prison with a bunch of guys making me the center of their gangbang abuse, which admittedly returned to being a hot scenario once the real threat was no longer a possibility.
“Now comes the bad news, then,” Owen—or I guessed, Prince Owen III—went on.
“Bad news? How could there be more bad news?”
“It appears that a picture of our kiss was leaked online.”
“Wait, what do you mean a picture was leaked?”
“A picture from the bar…of us kissing.”
“There’s a picture of me kissing a guy? Where is it? Like on someone’s Facebook page or Twitter? Can you get it pulled?”
“Exactly how big of a problem will it be if I can’t?”
“No one back home knows I’m gay. It’s a huge problem!”
“Okay, well, your friends obviously knew when I—”
“No, I mean my family, everyone back home. I’m not out to anyone.”
That wasn’t entirely true. There was Casey, Steve, Serena…and then Linc, a guy I knew back home and with whom I’d talked about it a little.
Owen’s wide eyes and gaping mouth assured me he hadn’t considered I was closeted, but his look was enough to convince me he was taking my distress seriously.
“Fuck.” He took a breath as he sat on the edge of the frame of the prison cot I’d woken on. “I am so sorry, Keegan. I had no way of knowing that was going to end up anywhere. Hell, it wouldn’t have ended up anywhere if I hadn’t been who I am.”
“Shit, shit, shit.” I paced the cell just like I had after I’d woken up in that place. I took off my cap and ran my hand through my hair.
“Keegan, I’m sorry if this is going to make your life more complicated in some—”
“No, it’s not that. I have a great family, and they’ve always been incredible. My brother is bi, so it’s not like that’s going to be an issue, but it does upset me that I might not be the one who gets to tell them. That they could find out from some stupid online crap. I didn’t keep it from them because I didn’t think they would handle it well. I don’t want them to think that was the reason.
“I was planning on getting this trip out of the way, having some fun, and working up the courage to finally say it. Just not very fair because, you know, it’s not like straight people have to go around telling everybody. And I’ve been confused as fuck trying to figure out who the hell I am anyway.”
“I understand that,” Owen said.
I sat down beside him, trying to absorb this information, sort through it while I reconfigured everything I’d felt throughout the day in light of the new information Owen had provided. “I’ve seen how it went down with my brother, and everything’s going to be fine, but there’s a part of me that has not been saying anything because I feel like in a way, I’ve been lying to them all these years.”
“Lying to them?”
“No, not like that, but even when Jace told us—that’s my brother, Jace—it was like I had missed out on a part of his life because I didn’t know he was bi. I love him so much, and I don’t ever want him to think I’m not there for him, and I don’t want them to feel like because I haven’t told them this, that they weren’t able to be there for me, that I didn’t want them to be, that I was keeping it from them.”
“Well, it sounds like you have a very nice family.”
“They’re pretty special.” I took a breath. “It would have been nice to say it myself and not have it revealed to them through some guy sticking his tongue down my throat.”
“There’s a chance it’s not even going to go anywhere outside this country, but it is online, and it is very well publicized, so there’s a possibility they might see it.”
“Better that you told me than me winding up getting out of here and being blindsided by it.”
“Yes, I think you’ve had enough surprises for one day.”
There was a knock on the door, and a guard entered and handed Owen the first-aid kit. He opened it and retrieved a cloth and some hydrogen peroxide to tend to my superficial injuries.
“So,” I went on, “when you said you were going to look me up at the hotel, that wasn’t just a way of blowing me off?”