Page 9 of Roughing It

The phone rings again—same Austin number. Again. Bo jerks his head towards the phone. “You gonna get that?”

“No.”

With a sigh, Bo snags the phone from its cradle. “Peak Adventures, the wild is waiting. Bo Brooks speaking.”

I’m at a disadvantage, only catching Bo’s side of the conversation, but my hackles rise when he cuts his eyes to me with a shit-eating grin.

“Yeah, man, I remember you. How goes it?… You saw that? What’d you think?... Ha, no, he’s usually not. And strictly speaking, he doesn’t know he’s in it.”

The twitch in my eye kicks up to double time. I frown at Bo, who has the sense to look away. I swear if he used me in that video without my permission, I’ll knock the laughter clean off his ugly mug. Bo knows damn well how I feel about that nonsense.

“He’s stubborn… Oh, trust me, I know who she is… Now that’s interesting… No, I agree. It’s a fan-fucking-tastic idea… You’ve called how many times?... Shit, I’m sorry… Yep. He’s standing right here giving me the evil eye.”

Pure mischief colors Bo’s features as he thrusts the phone into my hands. “It’s for you.”

Shit.

“Hudson Brooks. Who’s this?”

People aren’t my forte. But they especially aren’t my forte when I’ve overheard half a conversation that has my blood pressure doubling.

“Kirk James from KJ Media Management in Austin, Texas.”

“I don’t know what a media manager is, much less why you’d be so desperate to get ahold of me. Care to clear things up?”

When he doesn’t answer, I huff. “I’m a busy man. You want something. So lay it out or hang up.” Shit or get off the pot, buddy.

“Of course. How inconsiderate of me. I’ve attempted to contact you over the past few days.”

I snort. That’s an understatement. Seven calls in two days, not counting this one.

“Look Curt?—”

“It’s Kirk, actually.”

My eyes drift to the ceiling as if the recessed lights can grant me patience. “Kirk, let’s cut to the point. Why have you been chasing me like you’re a dog and I’m the tail?”

The mystery man, Kirk from Austin, laughs. “I spoke to both of your brothers. They were incredibly helpful and mentioned yesterday and today would be my best opportunities to get a hold of you as you’d be working alone in the office.”

What the hell? I grunt, the only indication I’m still on the line.

“If you don’t mind, let me start over. I’m Kirk James, and I manage Blakely Bradshaw.”

He pauses. Like those words should mean something to me.

When I stay silent, he gets the hint. “If you aren’t familiar with her, Ms. Bradshaw is a well-known and popular social media infl?—”

“Let me stop you right there, Kirk. I’m not interested.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“Don’t need to. I have zero interest in anything to do with some city girl who makes her living off social media.”

Bo nudges me and mouths, “Hear him out.”

I glare at him. Covering the mouth of the phone, I say, “I’m not doing this shit.”

“Listen to him, Hudson. You need?—”

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