Page 87 of Freak Show

Though not, I’d like to add, being handicapped like me.

Needless to say, the few days that I’d been home had been hell.

I had to admit, though, the circus wasn’t what was on my mind.

Slone was.

Slone’s total one-eighty on me.

How had he gone from being the absolute best person in the world, to the worst?

How had I given him my complete and utter trust, only for him to punt it straight out the window the moment I was no longer there?

I mean, let’s be truthful here. People didn’t usually tell someone their biggest, darkest secret—Briley not being his biologically—and then go and sleep with someone the next night.

Well, even ‘sleeping with someone’ had been implied by that article.

Plucking my phone out of my back pocket, I turned my phone back on and winced when I saw all the missed calls.

Two hundred and thirty-seven missed calls, sixty-one voice mails, and twice as many text messages.

Shit.

I ignored them all and went to the article that was still up in my web browser.

The one my sister had sent me with a cynical smirk on her face and glee in her eyes.

She liked that I’d given myself over to Slone. What she didn’t like was that I’d started to genuinely like him.

She didn’t like anyone that would take me away from her.

And to be completely honest, Hades had never been completely ‘there’ when it came to who she loved.

The only time that her fixation with me was toned down was when she met someone that filled this hole inside of her.

Her first true love, Benji, she’d met when Hades and I were studying for school.

She’d met Benji when she was twenty-one and had become obsessed with him.

Later, when Benji had broken up with her and she’d gone into a downward spiral of texts, calls, random appearances, and physically stalking the poor man, we all realized she needed help.

The professional we took her to for help said that she had obsessive love disorder.

She willingly entered into a six week long evaluation where they helped her find healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her issues. She was also on some meds that were to help her control those behaviors.

My eyes scanned the article, skipping over the picture that was sure to make me sick to my stomach again.

Defensive end Slone Day was seen out this weekend with none other than old flame Tamara Rhodes, celebrity heiress that recently starred in Survivor and brand-new sitcom Traces.

Day and Rhodes spent the entire night dancing and entertaining guests of the Buckner Ball. Buckner Ball is an annual ball for the elite of the elite that sponsors the children of Buckner House. A local nonprofit that is near and dear to Slone’s heart.

Overall, the charity raised a hundred and ninety thousand dollars for the children of Buckner House.

The ex-lovers were seen leaving early in the night, both of them going to the same vehicle where they disappeared into the night.

Slone plays for the Longview Liners, who are well on the way to being contenders for the Super Bowl.

“Hey,” Simi called, pulling me out of the article before I could read to the end. “Are you okay?”

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