Dropping The Ball: A New Year’s Billionaire Romance

by Weston Parker

  Somehow, despite the lights and the crowd, her gaze landed on mine. The sapphire blue of them burned with intensity when she looked at me, and the cameras broadcast it across the nation and even across the globe.

  “As you can see, I’m standing right in front of you. I’ve never spent weeks in hospital, although there were a fair amount of doctors’ visits at the beginning. After my last attack, I spent two nights in total in the hospital and that was enough to last me a lifetime.” She paused. “One of the reasons why I’m standing here in front of you tonight is because of Carter. Without him, I’m not sure if I’d have had the courage to be here.”

  Her eyes sparkled with moisture but she kept them on me. “He’s not abusive. In fact, he’s my biggest protector. Literally and figuratively. He would never hurt me. I’m sure a lot of you saw the photograph Nathan published of Carter hitting him, and he did, but it was to defend my honor after a horrible comment Nathan made about me.”

  The reporter himself stepped forward but Rylee didn’t give him a chance to say anything. “Should he have punched him? No. Violence is never the answer, but if you knew what he’d said to provoke Carter, I don’t doubt that most of you would’ve reacted the same way if it was said about you or someone you care about. I know I would’ve. In fact, I still just might if the opportunity ever presents itself.”

  Chapter 36

  RYLEE

  Laughter traveled through the audience. I managed another small smile and shrugged. “Well, he wanted the truth.”

  More laughter rang out and I waited for it to die down before searching out Carter’s gaze again. I hadn’t planned on coming up here and spilling my guts to millions of people, but I’d heard what utter shit Nathan was spinning during his interview, and I hadn’t been able to stop myself.

  It was about time to shine the spotlight on my MS and to share about my struggles anyway. I had zero doubts that every reporter I spoke to after tonight—and there would be a lot of them—would ask me about it in excruciating detail.

  Speaking about it here, tonight, before I even made my comeback, allowed me to tell my story the way I wanted to. I didn’t have to wonder if a reporter would edit a video clip or if an article written would convey the right tone. I was stripping myself bare for these people, but I was doing it on my own terms.

  Sort of. Nathan had forced my hand with what he’d been saying, but I was ready to come clean. If they hated me after tonight or thought I was the one lying, then so be it. At least I was getting to tell my side of my own story.

  A five-minute warning popped up on the teleprompter set up in front of the stage. Shit.

  I had to get this out before it was time for my performance. Time didn’t ever wait for anyone, and while me flaying myself open for all to see probably made for compelling television, this was Times Square on New Year’s Eve. There was a schedule and the times on it weren’t changing for anyone, not even for some good old-fashioned soul-baring.

  Movement caught the corner of my eye and I realized Phil was pulling Nathan off the stage. Their time was nearly up and it was clear that their interview was over.

  I did it. I’ve actually done it. My heart raced and my palms were clammy, but I pulled my shoulders back and owned the last few minutes of confession time on the stage.

  I could only just make out Carter’s face. He was right up against the stage in the ring of space before the lights blinded me to what was beyond them. I spoke to him then, even if there were a few million or so people eavesdropping on our conversation.

  “Carter, thank you for throwing that punch for me. I’m sorry you had to stand down there tonight and hear how terrible you are when the truth is the you’re the most incredible man I’ve ever known.”

  There was a chorus of awws that I acknowledged with a smile before looking back at him. “Let me tell you a little bit about the man who owns every inch of my heart. You’ve read so many lies about him in the last few days that I need to set the record straight.”

  Billy was going to have heart palpitations about this next part. “I’ve known Carter since we were kids. He was my brother’s best friend growing up, and just like the cliché, I was the little sister who fell for him. He has a heart of gold, a backbone of steel, and a soul I want to grow old with.”

  At least I kept it PG. Billy’s heart might just make it.

  “I’ve never told him this, but I guess there’s no time like the present, right?” I saw his lips part and wished I could kiss him, but I still had something to say. “I love you, Carter. I love you with all that I am and all that I ever have been. I love you with everything I hope to become, with every dream I have, and with every beat of my heart.”

  Well, so much for waiting until we were alone.

  Tears welled in my eyes, and I let them slide out because what was the point of trying to stop it? It was all true and I wanted everyone in the world to know how much he meant to me. I wanted to dispel all the awful rumors and I couldn’t think of a better, more honest way to do it.

  My words were met with squeals and screams. I grinned through my tears, waiting for the ruckus to die down.

  A red warning light came on to the side of the stage, indicating that I only had one minute left. “So now you all know the truth. You know about my love, my battle, and my fears, but what you don’t know yet is that I’m back. Get ready New York. Ain’t nothing gonna hold me down.”

  A cloud of green smoke suddenly enveloped the stage and I was grateful to whoever had given me the perfect way to disappear. It’d been an improvisation on the original plan of having me come up through the floor, but it worked just as well.

  When the smoke cleared, I was in position with my back turned to the audience and my arms extended to my sides. My heart pumped heavily, but I wasn’t nervous anymore. I was excited.

  Pure joy flowed through my bloodstream. I’m really back, baby. Yeah!

  The music started and the brand-new poster for Wicked unrolled above my head. It was as long as the stage and probably twice as high. I knew without looking what caused the gasps and shouts of encouragement from the audience.

  All the advertising to date had teased the mystery about who was going to play Elphaba. The rest of the cast had surrounded a blacked-out silhouette. What people were looking at now, though, was the official unveiling of the real poster where I was in the center of them, my name printed across the top in giant bold letters.

  When my cue came, I threw myself into my performance with as much passion and abandon as ever. I was no longer afraid that my legs would quit on me. If they did, I knew Carter would be there in a heartbeat, and more than that, I knew people would understand.

  I hadn’t realized how much of a weight keeping the truth quiet had placed on my chest. I really had needed time to figure out what to say, but now that I’d said it, I was ecstatic to have it over with. Finally, the time had come where I could stop looking over my shoulder when I had to go see my doctor. I could visit a drug store without the possibility of speculation. Carter and I could live without wondering what else Nathan would try to expose. It was all out there now. I had nothing left to hide.

  My performance benefited from my exhilaration. I hit every note and my body had never moved quite as fluidly.

  “Hands touch, eyes meet. Sudden silence, sudden heat. Hearts leap in a giddy whirl.” The songwriter had a point about giddiness. I was certainly feeling it all the way down to my toes. “He could be that boy, but I’m not that girl. Don’t dream too far. Don’t lose sight of who you are.”

  Good advice, Elphaba. I had lost sight of who I was, but this, performing, was a part of me and it was amazing to have it back. “Don’t remember that rush of joy. He could be that boy. I’m not that girl.”

  But I am that girl and I love it. “Every so often we long to steal to the land of what-might-have-been. But that doesn’t soften the ache we feel when reality sets back in.”

  “Blithe smile, lithe limb. She who’s winsome, she wins him. Gold ha
ir with a gentle curl. That’s the girl he chose, and heaven knows, I’m not that girl.”

  As I sang about golden hair with a gentle curl, I searched for Tani’s face in the crowd. She was right at the front with Billy and my parents, smiling like a lunatic and singing along with me. Her friend, Bart, stood behind her with his arms around her waist and her hands holding his forearms.

  I shot her a wink when I noticed it. She shook her head at me, but she didn’t let go of him. If anything, I swore I saw her leaning further into him before I had to move back to the opposite side of the stage again.

  Wonder how long it’s going to take them to admit their feelings for each other run deeper than friendship. I knew Bart had a lot of stuff to work through, and it sounded like those issues were so deeply a part of him that I didn’t know if he ever would be able to move past them, but I hoped so. Tani deserved her own happily-ever-after. She deserved to be that girl for someone great.

  “Don’t wish. Don’t start. Wishing only wounds the heart. I wasn’t born for the rose and pearl. There’s a girl I know. He loves her so. I’m not that girl.”

  Reminding myself to tell her not to take Elphaba’s advice about wishing only wounding the heart, I belted out the last line.

  And that’s all she wrote, folks.

  I couldn’t believe it was over. All the months of preparation, fear, and doubt, and it was already done.

  The crowd went wild and I knew I’d killed it. My chest heaved, my heart pumping heavily as I struck my final pose. I couldn’t stop the grin that overtook my face.

  I caught Carter’s eye after dipping at the waist to take my bow, and he blew me a kiss. It was such a simple thing, but it warmed me all over. I said I loved him in front of millions of people and he’s still here.

  This had to be the best New Year’s ever. Not even Nathan had spoiled it after all.

  Chapter 37

  CARTER

  I got to Rylee as fast as I could after the show was over. When she came into view at the other end of a long corridor leading back to her dressing room, Ryan and Don flanked her. It was crowded in there, considering that the ball drop count would be starting soon.

  We were going to watch the event from a hotel nearby, but I wasn’t waiting until then. She’d just declared her love for me in front of a worldwide audience. I was pretty sure I could handle two of the guys who worked with me.

  Her teeth sank into her bottom lip when she saw me, her eyes widening for a fraction of a second. There were questions in her expression as we strode to meet each other halfway, our gazes never wavering from the other. Was that okay? Are you angry?

  We slowed when we were just a few feet apart, reaching for each other at the same time. My arms wound around her waist while she tipped her head back and wrapped her arms around my neck.

  “I love you too, Ry,” I said before she could ask her questions. “I love you so damn much that I don’t even know where to begin. You’re amazing. What you just did…”

  I shook my head, hauling her as close to me as I could. So close that I was pretty sure she could feel my heart racing against her chest. “I can’t believe you just did that. I’m so fucking proud of you for going up there and laying it all out the way you did. You’re the bravest, most incredible woman I know. And that performance…”

  Trailing off had never really been my thing. I usually only spoke when I knew what I wanted to say, but with her, after that, I couldn’t seem to find the right words fast enough.

  “You were spectacular, Rylee Naples. I’m pretty sure everyone got the message that you’re back and that you’re not fucking going anywhere.”

  A ghost of a smile touched her lips. “I take it you don’t mind that I didn’t talk to you before I did it?”

  “You don’t need my permission, baby. I don’t even feel like I needed to be consulted about that. It was all you, and I’m so fucking proud.”

  I knew I’d already said it, but it felt like I would burst from the feeling, so I said it again. Rylee stared into my eyes, the corners of hers tipped up from her spreading smile.

  “Does that mean that you also don’t mind that I just told the entire world that I love you when I’ve never said it to you before?”

  “Are you kidding?” Bringing her hands up her sides, I ran them over her shoulders to her neck and caught the underside of jaw in them. “Every asshole on earth knows you’re mine now. They know that you’re spoken for.”

  “Are you speaking for me, Carter Demming?” she asked, the light in her eyes so radiant that it brought a smile to my lips.

  “I’d never actually speak for you because I never know what the hell is about to come out of your mouth, but in the other way? Fuck yes. Consider both of us spoken for.”

  Stroking my thumbs over her cheeks, I slanted my mouth over hers and kissed her over and over again. She pushed up on her toes to deepen the kiss, running her hands through my hair before spreading them out over my shoulders and bringing them back to my nape.

  A throat clearing behind us made us break our kiss, but we didn’t put any space between us. I tossed a scowl at whoever had interrupted us, and it only got worse when my gaze landed squarely on Nathan fucking Biles.

  The cocky look he always wore was gone, replaced by a pale-faced moron who shuffled uncertainly on his feet. He cleared his throat again when Rylee turned slowly in my arms to face him.

  “I hope you know that I never meant to hurt you, Rylee,” he said, his previously confident tone now shaky. “Everything I did was only so you’d come out and tell the truth.”

  “Was it you all along?” she asked. Her fingers wrapped around my wrists resting around her hips. The only tell that she was nervous to be in his presence again was the slight tightening of her grip. Otherwise, she appeared completely unshaken. “The threats, the bird, the letters. It was all you, wasn’t it?”

  He shuffled some more, his eyes dropping to his feet. “You have your job to do and I have mine. There were so many people rooting for you to come back, and when you didn’t, I knew I’d have to try something different to get you to open up.”

  “So you threatened me?” Her voice was low now, dangerous. “How did you even get into my apartment?”

  Over the last few weeks, I’d also come to the conclusion that Nathan was the most likely suspect to have been behind everything. Seeing his face now, I knew that my suspicions, and Rylee’s, had been correct.

  He practically squirmed under the intensity of both of our gazes, looking anywhere but directly at us. Eventually, he sighed and threw his hands up in the air. “Honestly, you’re lucky it was me. Anyone could’ve gotten in there. At least I was just pushing for the truth. I’d never hurt you, Rylee. Ever.”

  “You broke into my apartment and left a dead bird on my pillow,” she said flatly. “I had to move to a different building and hire a security firm to feel safe again and to reassure my family and friends that I was actually safe. Do you really think that didn’t hurt me?”

  Keeping myself reined in wasn’t easy, but Rylee had this. I was right here if she needed me, and she knew it. She had this, and I wouldn’t take the moment from her.

  For now.

  My muscles were bunched, my fists begging for another go at him. Depending on what he said next, I might just lose my tenuous hold on my self-control. I owed him at least one punch—and that was just for what he’d said about me up there.

  Rylee owed him a pummeling at the very least. Or I would pummel him for her. Lady’s choice.

  She didn’t flinch as she held his eyes firmly with hers. “You just went up there and told the entire world that I was done. You don’t think that hurt me? The news of my MS is mine and mine alone to share, but you took that upon yourself as well. My own body can malfunction at any moment, and you used my illness as click-bait. As tabloid fodder to keep yourself relevant.”

  She was breathing deeply, but her voice was steady. “I checked with Jules. You never said you wanted to speak to me about what
you suspected about my medical condition in any of your interview requests. At best, you were going to ambush me with it. At worst, you only found out about it just before you published and you never even tried to get a quote or comment from me.”

  His gaze finally settled on hers, cold as ice and unrepentant. “None of that would’ve been necessary if you hadn’t been a lying bitch.”

  “Name-calling now?” She scoffed, her head shaking as she leveled a glare at him. “That’s rich coming from you. You lied about my physical condition, my relationship, my boyfriend. Do you really think it didn’t hurt me that you tried to turn Carter into some kind of abuser? God, Nathan, you broke into my apartment and left a dead bird on my pillow.”

  “Do you want to know the truth?” His expression morphed again, straight up malicious now. “I’d do it again just to watch you squirm. I wanted you to be honest with people, but I also wanted you to know who you’d turned down.”

  Nathan jerked his head at me. “Without him in the picture, you and I could’ve happened, Rylee. I might’ve lied about him, but I knew you’d have to be crazy to stick by him with that kind of reputation following him around.”

  His smirk was back now, and this had gone far enough. I let go of Rylee, already pulling my arm back as I stepped around her. Only she got there first.

  She sprang forward with her fist ready just the way Billy and I had taught her all those years ago. She caught him square in the nose, and suddenly there was blood spurting everywhere. He roared and tried to lunge at her, but Ryan and Don were there to catch his arms from behind while I ensnared her waist and pulled her out of his reach.

  A roar went up, and I realized it was coming from the televisions mounted in the hallway. A cameraman charged with doing post-performance shooting had his lens focused on us. I didn’t know when his feed had gone live, but it was clear that the entire crowd outside had heard and seen what just went down.