“That’s why I don’t think Mr. Fox could possibly be the brains behind this train wreck,” Ms. Dixon said.
After Ms. Dixon was done, Angie talked about the charity work we did. She also told everyone that she knew I would be a great father, and how much my niece and nephews loved me. While Angie talked about them, Frank’s staff played video of me playing with Kyle, Mac, and Nate. They made it look like old home movies.
Then it was my turn. The first question out of the chute came from a reporter from the East Coast. He went right for the throat. Thankfully, Frank had prepared me, and we put on a little show for him.
“I see on Facebook your status is ‘In a Relationship.’ Our investigation has uncovered that it’s with a girl in middle school. Care to comment?” the reporter challenged me.
“I’m pretty sure that whatever I say, you’ll discount,” I said and then paused, and could see I was right.
I looked perplexed, and all the reporters in the room suddenly paid more attention. This was the moment I was to go down in flames, and they wanted to watch it happen.
“Is there some way I can show them what happened? There’s a video in my cloud storage that’ll clear it up,” I said.
One of Frank’s people hurried out and acted like they did something to his laptop. All she really did was allow its display to be shown on the big-screen TV so everyone could see.
“Okay, everyone close your eyes. I don’t want you to see my login and password,” I said, which made a few of them smirk.
Frank had even written out the dumb joke. He wanted to have me appear as a naïve boy who couldn’t possibly deceive them.
I pulled up the video and played it. Frank had decided not to edit the video. What they saw was me being nice to a young girl and letting her talk me into being her boyfriend so she wouldn’t be bullied. Part of her proof was the status change on Facebook.
“Next time your investigation finds something, all you have to do is ask me. I’ll be more than willing to help you,” I said to the reporter.
Everyone in the room knew how the reporter got the information. Frank said he’d bet that the next piece of information that Mr. Fox put out would be checked before someone made an ass out of themselves. Frank planned to erode his credibility as a source.
◊◊◊
I missed Cal’s appearance on the Nancy Grace show. Frank’s people told me Cal made a claim that because I was famous and a football star, our prosecutor was dragging his feet on charging me. It was the typical small-town attitude to protect someone like me. It was a travesty of justice that his daughter, as the victim, had to face the ridicule and outright hostility that she was forced to suffer.
Tracy emailed me a video of the ridicule. Apparently, my friend Yuri didn’t get my message. He made a smart comment about Pam causing the team to lose me for the upcoming game. Pam reached into her book bag and pulled out the Taser. She pushed the button, and it started to make a snapping noise. I will give Yuri credit: he knew when to make a run for it. Pam gave a war cry and chased the poor boy down the hall. If he could run in an actual game like he did from Pam, he would be All-State.
All I can say was I needed a laugh.
◊◊◊
There was a reason I missed the Nancy Grace show. It came in the form of a Miss Brook Davis. She walked into my apartment as if she owned the place. I was again amazed that Brook got past the security code, because this was the first time she’d been in my bachelor pad. I took one look and saw she had on her silk sweatpants and a tight, armless t-shirt. It was the end of October, so it was a little chilly to have just that on. It was apparent the cold air had reached a particular part of her body by the way her nipples stood at attention.
“How’ve you been?” Brook asked.
I got up off the couch and kissed her. When our lips parted, our foreheads touched, and I smiled at her.
“However I was before, I’m much better now,” I said.
“That’s good. Tracy sent me over to make sure you were doing okay,” she said.
I was glad that Tracy and I had been able to be friends after all we’d gone through. I would have to thank her for thinking of me this way. Brook was exactly who I needed to see. I led her back to the couch so we could talk. Of course, Duke needed to say hi. When he had been assured she liked him, he came over and laid down on one of my feet.
“What’s going on at school?” I asked.
“Mona told me to tell you that you owe her for commandeering her house for a party Saturday night. She said you planned to set everything up. What are you planning to do?” Brook asked.
“Can you keep a secret?” I asked.
I knew full well she would tell. It wasn’t a real secret, so I expected her to tell everyone.
“Of course.”
“I called a couple of my friends at State who I took an acting class with last fall. I’m having them make Mona’s house into a haunted house. I called Granny, and she’s going to cater the party. I then called Lydia to find a good band to play,” I said.
“Is this the same Lydia who was engaged to Ken?” she asked.
I’d forgotten that Brook had met her. I met Lydia at a sorority dance, and at first hadn’t liked her. She had come off as the stereotypical queen-bee bitchy sorority girl. What I found was it was all an act. Lydia was incredibly smart and quirky.
Ken, on the other hand, personified the stereotypical dumb frat guy who couldn’t keep his pants zipped.
“Yes,” I said cautiously.
“How is she?”
“Good.”
I was a little nervous because Brook knew the revenge I’d helped Lydia extract on Ken.
“Are you getting a keg?” she asked to change the conversation back to the party details.
“Nope. If someone wants alcohol, it’s BYOB.”
“Okay, I’ll let everyone know.”
“Hey, it’s a secret,” I moaned.
“Come here.”
I looked at her, and something wasn’t right.
“Why?”
“Just come here. I have a secret to tell you,” Brook said and gave me a pouty face.
Mr. Happy voted that we go to her, so I leaned over. She reached up and caressed my jaw.
“Closer,” she said in a husky voice.
I expected a kiss, but Brook turned my head so she could whisper in my ear. I felt her hot breath, which sent a shiver down my back. I felt myself become aroused. I then heard a wet popping noise and felt a wet finger in my ear.
“There’s your secret,” she crowed in triumph.
“Brat!”
Brook screamed as I reached for her. She avoided my grasp and rolled off the couch. I tried to pounce on her, but Brook was quicker than I’d guessed and ran for my bedroom. She gave a little squawk when I caught her and picked her up and tossed her on my bed. Brook’s eyes got big when she saw the lust on my face, and she scrambled to the head of the bed to keep out of reach. I slowly crawled up on the bed, as if I were a big cat that had its prey in sight.
She gave away her mock fear when she giggled. I reached up, grabbed her hips and jerked her towards me. Brook was on her back, and she was flushed and breathing hard. I was on all fours and slowly worked my way over her. I never let our eyes unlock as I leaned down and touched my forehead to hers. She bit her lip right before I kissed her.
I pushed Brook’s shirt up and found what I expected: she didn’t have a bra on. I exposed both her breasts. I toyed with them as our kiss intensified. I lay down beside her, and our lips came apart. When she opened her eyes, I gazed into them and slid my hand into the front of her sweats. Brook took in a sharp breath as I put my four fingers together and rapidly rubbed them over her sex. She gasped as I assaulted her womanhood.