Page 25 of Spite Crush

Unfortunately, today probably wasn’t going to be about what I wanted.

Kellen and I each took turns using the bathroom for what it was intended for, then we headed down to the hotel bar, only a few minutes later than Sutherland had requested.

The bar was empty, probably because it was so damned early in the morning, so Sutherland and the man I had to assume was Kellen’s manager were the only people present, sitting next to each other at a table near the back of the room.

Both men stood as we approached and Craig Casper introduced himself to me as CoachSutherland shook Kellen’s hand and insisted the rock star call him Dan.

We all sat down together and silence fell like a brick. And since they were the ones who’d wanted this stupid meeting, I didn’t feel the need to break it, and apparently neither did Kellen.

“Fine,” Sutherland said, as if answering an unasked question. “I’ll start. Dempsey, are you in a relationship with this man?”

“No,” I answered honestly. “I could have told you that over the phone.”

“But you did sleep with him last night?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your fucking business,” I told my coach. “Kellen was kind enough to let me stay in his room, since Josh was fraternizing with Naomi Rose in ours all night.”

“We’re not here to talk about Josh,” Sutherland snapped.

“Really, because he brought a reporter back to the room. Which seems like a much bigger deal than me hanging out with Kellen Fox.” I crossed my arms over my chest andglared at Sutherland. “But it’s not really about that, right?”

“No, it’s not,” Sutherland agreed. “You know damned well what it’s about.”

Of course I knew. But I wasn’t about to save him the discomfort of having to say it out loud. If he wanted an answer to a question, he needed to fucking ask it.

I felt Kellen’s hand rest on my leg under the table. The gesture of support obvious and appreciated, but not necessary. I honestly wasn’t sure what he and his manager were doingat this meeting. Clearly Kellen was open about his sexuality with his band and his manager, so what was the big deal?

“Are you gay?” Sutherland finally spat when he realized I wasn’t going to offer him a reprieve.

“Yes.” There was really no point in denying it, everyone at the table had clearly made their assumptions about what really happened between Kellen and me, and I was too pissed at their belief they had any right to discuss it with us to worry about their feelings.

“How could you keep this from me?” Coach asked, his tone bitter and harsh. “Why didn’t you trust me enough to come to me?”

“Because it’s none of your business,” I snapped. “It’s no one’s business.”

“Well now it’s everyone’s fucking business,” he hissed.

“No, it’s not.” I let out a long, slow breath. “As far as the world knows, Kellen and I are friends. You can release a statement saying that we met last night to clear the air after a mutual misunderstanding in the pressover the past week. Frame it as two men working out their differences like adults.”

“No one is going to believe you could act like an adult,” Kellen said.

“Can you not?” I tried to glare at him, but as our gazes met, I couldn’t hold back a small smile.

“You two are going to stay the fuck away from each other,” Sutherland said.

“Do you really believe that you have the authority to tell me how to live my life?” I shot back. “You can’t tell me who I can be…friends with.”

“I can when thatfriendshipcould ruin your career. Could bring unwanted attention to the team.”

“Wait a minute,” Kellen cut in. “From one photograph of us sitting in a booth at a bar, our label and your team has just assumed we jumped into bed together. That sounds like a you problem. The world has already proven that no one else is going to make that wild of an accusation.”

“Not yet,” Craig agreed. “But all it takes is one slip. One moment where the two of you forget that there are cameras everywhere and then what?”

“Why are you under the impression that we won’t be able to keep our hands off each other?” I asked, rolling my eyes at the absurdity of this conversation. Though the momentary tightening of Kellen’s fingers on my thigh was a reminder that at the moment, we weren’t keeping our hands to ourselves. “It was one night. It’s not like I’m going to ask him to team prom.”

“You guys have prom?” Kellen asked.

“No.” I chuckled. “But we should.”

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