Page 35 of Worlds Collide

ELEVEN

CJ

I bangthe door of my apartment closed behind me and still feel numb. Hour twelve of my twenty-four hours off at the hospital is less shitty than hour eleven, but not by much.

I never expected everything I did after I got the Clemson trust to go viral the way it has.

That’s the power of Wolf Storm, I guess. People have always been ravenous when it comes to anything that has to do with him, so of course the second I was linked with him, the whole world had to know every little thing about me.

Hell, with how much they dug up it’s a wonder they didn’t print my work schedule and show it to the whole world for fuck’s sake.

The intrusion into my private life, into every aspect of my so-called family, into every event I ever attended... It’s a bit terrifying. It wasn’t even this bad when the news came out that I was the latest person to join the billionaires’ list.

And now I have twelve hours to get my shit together and get thefuck over the biggest asshole to ever exist, then I’ll get back to work and back to shaping my life into exactly what I want it to be.

I’m standing in front of the breakfast bar, staring off into space when the front door opens again and Gracie walks in, looking a lot more awake than she normally does after one of her shifts.

She smiles triumphantly the second her eyes land on mine.

“Why don’t you make us some coffee. If you wanna talk, that is...” She trails off and looks at me from under her lashes as if she doesn’t know exactly what she’s doing.

“Sure.” I sigh and turn to go into the kitchen.

“I’m gonna take a quick shower and be back here in no time.”

I wonder what she’ll want to talk about first—all the article bullshit or all the Wolf bullshit. I don’t even know what I’m hoping she’ll want to start with. Both subjects seem to be equally as potentially explosive. I never know what I’m going to get with Gracie, which is actually something I like about her.

She plops down on the couch next to me fifteen minutes later and has her phone in front of her face a second later.

“Socialite CJ Sounders, twenty-eight, was very busy the month after gaining control of the Clemson Trust.” She starts to read the article verbatim and I have to bury my face in my hands. “And although he wasn’t as busy as he was last night, his actions are worth noting.”

“Dear God,” I groan and flop back to lie flat on the couch.

Gracie wiggles her eyebrows at me, but returns her focus to her phone quickly enough.

“It seems that Sounders is intent on giving away the legacy fortune as fast as he possibly can. His donations during the three weeks after his birthday are in the billions—that’s right, with a ‘b’—by my calculations, and there doesn’t seem to be any sign that he’s going to stop until every cent is gone.

“Art programs in public schools, ten environmental charities, community centers in Black communities all over the US, charities for women who have suffered domestic abuse, government rehabilitation centers, the community college in Baltimore—all these organizations and more got hefty donations from Sounders. If he keeps going, Sounders is more than likely going to lose his billionaire status before the end of the decade.”

I can’t help but scoff at that. “Whatever. I should’ve done all that anonymously,” I mumble and keep cursing myself for not doing that in the first place.

“It’s pretty amazing that you did all that. Why didn’t you tell me that’s what you were doing all summer?” There’s a knowing glint in her eyes that tells me if I keep this subject open she’s going to take it somewhere I have no place going.

“Because it’s not something I’m ever going to advertise. In my mind I only righted a few of the wrongs the Clemson’s have done to the world, and I’m not even close to making up for all the hurt they’ve caused for hundreds of years, so it’s not something I’m proud of either.”

“You should be,” she says quietly. “You’re already better than all those assholes combined and you’ve had that money for less than three months.” I only shrug at that. I don’t think I should be proud and I’m never going to be, but I’m not going to fight her on this, I just want us to move on. “Now, on to the juicy parts,” she says, clearly excited. I’m hoping that’s all the discussion we’re going to have about the money thing. “Sounders was seen with Wolf Storm, half of the country rock band The Storm, on his thirty-third birthday. It’s believed they were having a quiet, intimate celebration, and have been in a secret relationship for some time now.

“Although we don’t know the exact timing of their relationship, it’s important to note that Wolf’s brother, Hawk, the other half ofThe Storm, celebrated his marriage to Derek Johnson, the star safety for the Los Angeles Warriors, this summer in a private ceremony. Johnson is known to be a close friend of Adam Darnell—of the Darnell football dynasty family—and what’s linked these two is the fact that CJ is known to be Adam’s lifelong best friend.

“Jesus, they’re intense about linking you two,” Gracie mumbles. “And then they basically go on to say how everyone Adam knows is gay or in a queer relationship, yadda, yadda, yadda, and then—oh yes, back to the good stuff. Despite his well-known bisexuality, Wolf Storm has only ever been in one serious relationship before that ended in tragedy. He was linked to movie star Harley Harper and it was rumored they were together for a few months. Sadly, she passed away only weeks after the relationship ended. Damn, that’s rough, she took her own life?” Gracie stares open mouthed down at her phone.

“I didn’t know she was Wolf’s girlfriend,” I say without thinking.

“Are you like, in love with him?” She worries her bottom lip and looks at me with tight eyes.

“No. He blamed me for the pictures coming out. The first thing he could think is that I somehow orchestrated the whole thing. Believe me, I’m never going to be seen with Wolf again,” I tell her with as much determination as I can. “Look, I’m tired. I’m going to take a nap, and try to get some actual rest before I need to get back to work this evening, okay?”

“Yeah, of course. I’m going to do the same. You want to order in later?”

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