Page 30 of Undeniable Temptation

“I’m sorry. I—”

He glared at her, resenting the confusion in her voice.

“Scott swore me to secrecy—”

The world stopped, alarm bells rang, and guilt suddenly lessened the anger. “Scott?”

“Sex sells,” she blurted. “But apparently not when you’re gay. He’s the reason we’re in this mess. We went to him with the information at the start of the tour in the hopes of coming out with a big bang. It didn’t take long to realize he was homophobic.”

Mother. Fucker.

“This publicity stunt wasn’t purely about boosting your popularity, was it?” He dragged his feet to the counter and rested his ass against the cold wood. “He did this to hide your sexuality.”

They both nodded, remaining silent as he focused on the carpeted floor. He felt like a dick. An inadequate, non-functioning, STD-riddled dick. All their muttered arguments made sense now. All the glances that held hidden meaning and the times Hannah had demanded every last detail on the dates he had with Felicity.

“I’ve always been gay. Flick, on the other hand, is bi. She has more experience with men,” Hannah murmured. “And I know you thought I was being petty about her getting more media attention, but that was never the case. The attention that worried me was from you.”

He hung his head and wiped a hand over his face. “You were never anxious about being with me.” He tilted his head and focused on Felicity. “You were worried you’d upset Hannah.”

Felicity nodded. “Neither of us wanted this. We had no choice. Scott made it clear our next album wouldn’t see the light of day if we came out.”

He scoffed. “And Scott always gets what he wants.” The bastard had a knack for manipulation.

“I’m sorry, Ryan.” Felicity walked toward him and nestled against his hip, wrapping her arms around him.

“Me, too.” Hannah scooted from the counter and came to his other side to do the same. “We didn’t spare much thought on how this would affect you.” Her head rested against his chest, four arms holding him tight, two bodies keeping him warm.

“How do we make this right?” He spoke into her hair and wished he had the ability to fix this. But how could he when he couldn’t even finalize his divorce or rectify his friendship with Leah?

“Don’t worry about it.” Hannah stepped back. “I’ll get over it.”

“No.” He shook his head, his frown now cemented in place. “You said you wanted to get involved. What did you have in mind?”

She sighed, her glazed eyes blinking away unshed tears. “I want to be with you guys when you go on dates. I don’t want to be constantly worried about Flick falling for yo—”

“She’s not going to fall for me.”

“Ryan, I don’t think you realize how perfect you are. You’ve been nothing but a gentleman. You always put yourself last, have never, ever acted sleazy, and you’re kinda gorgeous.” She gave him a half-hearted grin. “If you had a kitty, I’d be all up in that.”

He spat out a laugh and wished he could hold onto the humor as it fled his system. “I’m done with being the good guy. It’s starting to feel like an excuse instead of a moral compass. So let’s shake things up a bit.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Felicity straightened. “Nobody can find out I’m with Hannah.”

“They won’t.” If Scott could play dirty, they could, too. It was time to stop being nice. “Grander wants a scandal. Let’s give them a something they won’t forget in a hurry.”

Chapter Eight

Cincinnati, OH

“Athreesome? On stage? Really?” Leah’s voice rose in the empty silence as she stared at her computer screen and contemplated the need to run to the bathroom to retch. The video before her was from last night’s performance. The crystal clear visual featured on the Rockin’ Gossip website. Ryan was front and center on the Reckless stage, while Felicity and Hannah rubbed up against him, dry humping his thighs, clawing his shirt.

She had to give him props, though. He continued to play effortlessly through the duration, not losing his feel for the music even when Felicity kissed him on the cheek and then proceeded to saunter toward Mason to help him finish singing the song.

It was a phase. A juncture.

Sean said she had nothing to worry about. He’d promised. But Ryan had been committed to Julie for a long time. An outburst of sexual frustration was inevitable. An explosion of testosterone and lust had always been in the cards, and Leah had been destined to have a front row seat.

A knock sounded on her door, then the deep drawl of Mason’s voice. “Open up, woman.”

---