Page 105 of Betting on the Bad Boy

“Thanks. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I disconnected and let the phone drop to my lap. Then I took another sip of my drink while I contemplated my next move. If I was going to come out as Chastity Austen, I wanted to do it in style.

CHAPTER 51

Faith

“Hello?”I woke to the sound of my cell phone buzzing on the nightstand.

“Where are you?” Jess’s voice blared in my ear.

“I’m at home. In bed.” I glanced at the clock. “It’s one in the morning. What’s going on?” I tried to suppress a giant yawn, but failed.

Jess growled through the phone. “Is there something you’ve been meaning to tell me?”

“Like what?”

“Like the fact you’ve been writing sex scenes all year?”

I sat up straight, suddenly wide awake. “Who told you?”

“So, it’s true?”

“Well, yes, kind of, I mean, no. I write erotic romance. It’s fiction.” First my mom, now Jess. My heart seized, like someone had wrapped a fist around it and squeezed tight.

“Well, you’re not going to fucking believe this. The paper found out you’re Chastity Austen and they’re running a story about it.”

“What paper?”

“The school paper. Someone came forward with an excerpt from your latest novel and they’re printing it. The article says they have a source who knows the name behind Chastity Austen, and they’re going to release her identity.”

“Murph.” I groaned and fought off the initial onset of a panic attack.

“What’s he got to do with it?”

“He found my manuscript on my computer and tried to blackmail me over it. Wants me to turn down taking on Professor Middleford’s classes and told me I had until nine tonight to make a move or he was going to out me.”

“I’m on my way over. Be there in ten.”

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. The fragile barrier I’d constructed between my two worlds had come crashing down around me. By the time I splashed some cold water on my cheeks and ran a toothbrush over my teeth, Jess’s fists pounded on the door.

“What the hell is going on with you?” She pushed past me into the living room and kicked her feet up on the coffee table. “You’re some superstar author? What else have you been hiding from me?”

“Nothing.” I perched on the edge of a kitchen chair. “I didn’t mean for things to get out of hand.”

“What’s the big deal? I mean, besides who your mom is. Does she know?”

“Yeah, I told her today. But I haven’t had a chance to talk to Dante yet.”

Jess hopped off the couch and walked to the fridge. She rummaged around inside and pulled out a beer. “What’s Dante got to do with anything? I thought you two were off?”

Heartburn. The flash of heat rising from my gut to my throat had to be from heartburn, right?

“The stuff Murph found on my computer… it’s pretty much a detailed account of everything Dante and I have been up to for the past several months.”

Jess took a swallow from the longneck. “So? Nobody will be able to tell, right?”