Page 45 of Dreams on the Ice

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” I say as my phone begins ringing in my pocket.

I dig the device out and slide my thumb across the screen. “Elizabeth,” I murmur.

She laughs softly. She’s loving this and earning every fucking penny I’m paying her, which isn’t cheap, so I’m glad it seems to be working so far. “You better love me,” she says in a singsongy voice.

“From what I’ve seen, I do. So what’s new?” I ask.

“I just got you on two huge podcasts to talk about what happened.”

I stand frozen, my spine straight and muscles tense. I didn’t agree to that, didn’t want to do anything like that. Talking on a podcast, especially about my parents and Kiki, sounds like hell to me.

“Podcasts?” I ask.

She snorts. “Podcasts. It’s the only way you’re going to be heard. You don’t have social media, so nobody would even hear or see anything if you posted it. You need to be able to speak and be heard. This is the way to do that.”

Great.

“When and where?” I ask.

“I’ll send you the information of what to do and how to do it. It’s going to be a good thing, and I’ll be with you.”

Frowning, I look down at my feet. “You will?”

Elizabeth hums before she speaks. “I will. Absolutely nothing is going to fuck this up for you, Forrest. Nothing.”

Nothing.

Chapter

Twenty-Two

BROOKLYNN

My entire bodyis frozen as I stare at the screen. It’s Forrest. Some woman named Elizabeth sent me the link. I don’t know why I clicked on it, but she said it involved Forrest and I would want to see it, so I clicked on it, and now I can’t look away.

It’s a podcast.

And he’s sitting on a couch across from the host, talking. I glance at the live feed viewers. There are over a hundred and fifty thousand people tuning in. I blink again and again. It’s the only thing I can do right now—blink.

Because the conversation is about me, and it’s about Kiki. But he avoids most of the conversation about her. He doesn’t trash-talk her the way she assuredly deserves, especially after all of the nasty recordings of her have surfaced.

“So you’ve decided to set the record straight. Are you doing it in hopes of saving your reputation?” the host asks.

Forrest chuckles. “Not really,” he says. “It’s about keeping Brooklynn’s reputation intact. This caused a lot of unnecessary turmoil for her. And the last thing I ever want is to see her hurt.”

The host smirks, but it’s the cohost, a woman, who makes anawwsound. “That is so sweet. How is Brooklynn? You guys are all good, right?”

I watch as sadness washes over his face, and then he glances down at his lap before he brings his head back up. “Her business has been targeted. She’s lost a lot of clients and wants to sell her percentage so her partners don’t suffer.”

“That’s horrible,” the cohost whispers.

“It’s the main reason why I agreed to come on this show. She and her business shouldn’t suffer over lies. I felt it was necessary to come forward and tell the truth.”

I smile as tears fill my eyes. I can’t believe he said that to… one hundred and sixty-five thousand people. The number keeps rising. I’m shocked that so many people are watching. I hope that means this is a good thing.

“We’re going to take some calls now. We have so many people calling in who are dying to ask you questions.”

My breath hitches. I wasn’t expecting that. None of it. And I don’t expect this either. The people calling in. They ask questions, and they have comments. A lot of hate for Kiki and a lot of interest in me and my business.

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