Page 106 of One Last Time
Tristan is about to have problems for calling me this early. I get that he’s nocturnal, but I happen to like mysleep.
Kristin shifts, pulling the covers over her head as I climb out of bed. The last week I’ve either snuck over to her place or met her when Scott had the kids for dinner. Since it’s his weekend, she finally slept at my place, and we christened the fuck out of my condo. I don’t think there’s a surface in here I didn’t lay her on. It was a damn goodnight.
One that I need way more than a few hours of sleep to recoverfrom.
“What could be the problem?” I rub my eyes as I stumble toward thekitchen.
Coffee is required. I press the button on my Keurig and watch the much-needed caffeinepercolate.
“You know that feature I told you not to do?” he askssmugly.
“The one my girlfriend wrote?” I clarify. Not that I’ve done any otherfeatures.
He lets out a half laugh. “Noah, you need to read it. I’m already fielding tons of inquiries, and I’m doing my best, but we need to put out astatement.”
Sometimes Tristan is ridiculous. I get that it’s his job to protect my image, but not everything iscynical.
“I’m sure it’s notbad.”
“I’m sending you the link,” hesays.
So dramatic he is. Once the cup is done, I grab my coffee and laptop before making my way to the counter. I try not to think about the fact that Kristin’s bare ass was right here while I had her legs over my shoulders, but the mental image is too good tosuppress.
“Noah?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Igroan.
The link loads and the headline causes my head to spin. Across the top of Celebaholic is the headline: Noah Frazier: Hollywood Heartthrob or TeenageKiller?
My head jerks back, and I blink, waiting for this to be an opticalillusion.
There has to be somemistake.
This can’t be what she wroteabout.
Not after everything. She wouldn’t do this to me. There’s noway.
I scroll the page, reading Kristin’s name as the author, followed by the story I’ve spent twenty years burying. It’s like a slap in theface.
There in black and white are photos of Tanya and me at prom, and then all the gory details regarding her death. Then the information about how I moved shortly after, changed my name and started a newlife.
Everything I toldher.
My chest aches with each word I read. This is a dream, a nightmare that I’ll wake up from, it has to be because the woman I love wouldn’t sell me out for a fuckingheadline.
“Noah?”
“Shut up,” I bark back and read more. When I see the line about being an average Joe, I know it’s her. There’s no other explanation. “I-I—” I stutter, unable to get my words to come out. “She . . . Kristin is here . . . I can’t believethis.”
“I’ll call Catherine and get her there.” Tristan’s voice is full ofpity.
“No.” I stop him. “Kristin wouldn’t do this. This is a joke orsomething.”
He sighs. “I don’t know what to say, but this is a PR nightmare, and I need to get out in front of it. I’ve already called Celebaholic, and I’ll do what I can, but it’s out there,Noah.”
This is what I pay him for, but I can’t believe this is happening. Not after everything she and I have shared. I would know if she was playing some game. It would mean all of this was fornothing.
I think about that night I told her, how she cried for me. There has to be some sort ofexplanation.
