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16

VAUGHN

It had taken me all of Sunday to get over myself regarding Bett McNeely. He’d run, just like I’d expected him to, and even though I was annoyed, I also understood.

The son of Senator McNeely couldn’t be into guys. The prize kicker of the Demere Blues couldn’t be discovered choking on someone’s cock. It made sense. Even though it was surprisingly disappointing.

Hell, maybe it wasn’t the gay thing. Maybe it was the Elliot Vaughn piece. Maybe he’d decided I was beneath him, and he was making sure I didn’t have expectations of more just because he gave himself over to me once.

If so, he was a jackass.

Which… I mean, I kind of already knew.

But it had still fucked up my sleep Sunday night. I’d had to assume when he hadn’t shown up, he’d most likely stayed over at his friends’ house again. Fine. It was none of my business.

But when I’d stopped by BB’s first thing Monday morning for an extra-large coffee and had caught the TV in the corner playing a clip of Senator McNeely at the Falcons game yesterday with his family—all VIP guests of the owners—I’d been surprised.

McNeely had looked like he would have rather been anywhere but there. His posture was stiff, his smile was fake as fuck. And he’d looked… wrong somehow.

“Hey there, stranger,” Rowan said from her spot by the window. Her gaze followed mine to the television. “Still disgusted by your pretty-boy roommate?”

I gestured to the screen. “More like surprised. He wasn’t around yesterday. I figured he was day-drinking with his asshole friends at the frat house.”

She shook her head. “No, and Bett was actually at church early with his family before the Falcons game. Sat with his girlfriend while her father preached the good word. They even hit up the soup kitchen on their way to the game for a little charity bit.”

The mention of Arden surprised me. I’d thought they’d broken up a while ago. I specifically remembered McNeely saying she wasn’t his girlfriend anymore, since it was one of the few civil words we’d exchanged at that point.

Had he run right back into her arms in some kind of gay panic?

“Let me guess—one of your infamous sources shared this information?”

She chuckled, not denying it, but added, “Not much of a secret when his face is all over the news. Election’s in less than six weeks, and this is the first time someone’s actually threatening McNeely’s seat. Everything he does right now determines how many votes he’s going to pick up and how he’ll be perceived on Election Day.”

I grabbed my coffee from the counter and moved over to her table before propping myself on the edge of the empty chair across from her. “So the asshole senator trots out his asshole family to try and make it look like they’re not all assholes,” I muttered.

She shrugged. “To be fair, Bett’s not an asshole. I know you’ve got beef because he won the Hawthorne. But from what I know, he’s one of the good ones.”

I blinked at her in surprise. “Bett McNeely? My Bett?” I quickly corrected. “I mean, my roommate? No. Pfft. He’s the biggest asshole of all.”

“Lies.” She leaned forward, lips still wide with a grin. “I hung out with him a bunch while I was dating Garrett. He’s kind. Respectful. And he defended that poor kid last summer. An asshole wouldn’t have done that, especially since Bett had to suspect what the fallout would be.”

I set my paper cup down with a clack. “What kid? What are you talking about?”

“The bar fight he was in. Over the summer.”

My stomach swooped like I’d missed a step while running down stairs. “I haven’t heard this.” I’d heard Arden mention a fight in her argument with him, but I hadn’t known what it actually referred to.

“I forget you’re not chronically online like the rest of us.” She grabbed my phone from the table and tapped on the screen before turning the phone in my direction. “The media made it out to be a barroom brawl to get clicks and shit, but he was actually defending someone from a homophobe.”

“A homophobe?”

How the fuck had I missed this? The headlines that came back in the results were plentiful.

Senator’s son narrowly avoids assault charges.

Senator’s son involved in drunken brawl.

Will Demere’s Star Kicker Be Out for the Season After Scuffle in Buckhead?