Page 84 of Fever Dream
“Casey? You there?” Riley cuts into my line of thought and I shake my head free.
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Is there anything you want to tell me?”
I let out a breath of air, eyes drifting back to the bedroom and the sleeping form of Harrison who has no idea our lives have just imploded. He looks so peaceful there, curls mussed and perfect, face open and youthful in the light of dawn. Gosh I love him.
“I um, don’t have anything to say right now,” I tell Riley, aware I’m doing nothing to temper his concern.
“Okay,” he sighs, world weary and just a little disappointed. In me of course. I chose Riley Hart as my player agent because he is the best negotiator in the league. But he’s also a really great guy and I know he’ll have my back if I do decide I need to tell him something.
“Casey, this story is going to explode,” he adds when I say nothing. “There’s going to be paps everywhere. I expect they’ll be out the front of your house already. They’ll definitely be at the club today. It is imperative, and I say this again, it is imperative that you say nothing today. No statements, no social media posts, no damn opinions about the weather. Do not open your mouth in public today.”
“Okay, I got it,” I reply a tad defensively. I may have monumentally fucked up last night but I’m not entirely stupid.
“And whatever you do, keep your distance from Harrison Thornfield.”
I sigh heavily, eyes tracking back to the beautiful boy in my bed. The sheets have bunched around his hips, the gorgeous expanse of his back on display for my worried eyes.
“I don’t think I can do that,” I say on an exhale.
“Do what? Be careful?”
“No. Keep my distance.”
Riley is silent for so long I wonder if the line’s gone dead. But then exhales a heavy sounding sigh. “Is he with you now?”
“Yeah,” I admit. “He’s in my bed.”
“Okay,” Riley says, no judgement in his tone. “Can you run some interference?” This is where it would help if I lived in the same city as my agent but he is based in Melbourne where most of the main player agents are found.
“I’ll call Sonny.”
“Okay, good. Do what you can to hide the fact Harrison is at your house,” he adds somewhat unnecessarily. “And let me know when you’re ready to talk. This is what I do, Casey.”
“Okay. I’ll speak to you soon,” I sigh.
I stand on my balcony for an unknown length of time, eyes on the boy in my bed who I’ve only really just got to have properly. It seems unfair that this would happen to us now. I think some part of me always knew we were living on borrowed time, but I would have given a hell of a lot to have him to myself for just a bit longer.
I pull myself together and open the sliding door. The sound wakes him and he eyes me with a soft smile as I step back into the room. His smile falls when he sees the expression on my face. I just want to curl up into him and forget the world exists.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“There’s photos,” I tell him, taking the spot beside him on the bed. He automatically curls around me, body heat lending comfort. “From the club last night.”
“But we were careful,” he protests, worry instantly taking hold of his face. “We kept our distance.”
“Yeah mostly,” I sigh, accepting the inevitable when I open the webpage. I show him the first photo and then scroll to the more damaging ones.
“Shit,” he says, pulling my phone closer and zooming in on the shot.
“Yeah,” I agree. “My agent was on the phone just now. He thinks there’s press camped out the front of the house.”
Harrison doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t need to with eyes as expressive as his. He looks up at me, sorrow instead of light in those pretty eyes as he hands me back my phone.
“It’s just speculation,” I add, voice weak to my own ears. “Riley doesn’t want us to comment or say anything today.”
Harrison sighs and looks down, focusing on where his fingers pick at a thread. “Do you want to cool things?”
