Among the Echoes(70)

He pretends to be annoyed, but I know he’s laughing on the inside. "I think I’m good, Doc." Without another glance, he heads out. "Be good, ladies and gentlemen."

Before the door even clicks behind him, Erica is attacking my mouth. Her hands are all over the place and she grinds against me.

"Fuck," I groan.

"That’s what I’m hoping for," she says, dragging her tongue up my neck until she reaches my ear.

I bark out a laugh at her boldness but move as fast as I can to the bedroom. "Add champagne to the grocery list for tomorrow night. I’m suddenly quite fond of drunk Erica."

"Me too," she says, sliding from my hands the moment we reach our room.

She immediately drops to her knees in front of me, popping open my button on her descent. Just as quickly, she pulls my cock from my pants and sucks me deep into her mouth.

Strike that. I f*cking love drunk Erica.





I pry my eyes open, immediately wishing I could close them again. My head is pounding and I’ve never needed water more in my life. But I’m not too hung over to stop to appreciate Slate’s naked ass as I crawl out of bed.

"Where you going?" he growls, clearing the sleep from his voice.

"Bathroom. Water. Ibuprofen," I croak out while holding my head.

I’m splashing water on my face when I hear shouting on the other side of the door. I fearlessly sling it open to find Leo yelling as Slate tries to pull the sheet around his waist.

"What the f*ck were you thinking? God damn it!" he shouts, throwing a newspaper at Slate.

I pull on my bathrobe from off the back of the door and head over to figure out what the hell all the commotion is about. Then I pick up the paper off the bed.

"Oh my God," I breathe when I find a picture of Slate kissing me yesterday before I left for the grocery store. The headline reads: Slate Andrews caught with mystery woman. Could she be the reason behind his sudden departure from professional boxing?

"We have to go," Leo barks at me.

"We’ve been over this. I’m not leaving him," I respond, never tearing my eyes off the black-and-white image in front of me.

"Even dumbass Wilkes will be able to track down Slate Andrews. We have to leave," Leo growls while Slate remains surprisingly silent.

"Wait. Where are the rest of them?" I say, flipping through the paper. "There’s got to be more than just this."

"That’s the only one they published," Leo says, calming only momentarily.

"You can’t see my face. His hands are covering it. No harm, no foul." I nonchalantly drop it back to the bed.

Slate slings his head to face me, and Leo gives me the most ridiculous look possible before snapping, "Are you still drunk?"

"No. But I’m not going to freak out over a picture of Slate’s hands and a woman with dark hair."

"You can see enough," he responds, but it’s Slate’s reaction that really catches me off guard.

"He’s right. You need to go."

"What?" Leo and I both question at the exact same time.

"We’re so close to this being done. We can’t afford something like this now. You need to go. I’ll give you some money to set you two up for a while and continue with security, but you can’t stay here with me."

"Stop," I squeak out as his rejection causes my heart to physically hurt. I know he’s being rational, but what happened to the man who swore he would never leave me? The one who said he would fight until the ends of the earth for me? "What are you saying?"

"I love you. This is only temporary, beautiful. So get that hurt off your face. I’m sorry, but he’s right. Wilkes would have absolutely zero issues finding me. There’s an end in sight and I’m not going to f*ck it up by being selfish enough to put you in danger."

"Bullshit! That’s exactly what you did when we left the program. That’s exactly what we both did. We chose to stay together and not let this mess dictate our relationship. I’m not leaving."

"Then I will," he says sadly. "You’re right. That picture isn’t too bad, and I don’t think anyone could recognize you, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Now the paparazzi are going to be on me twenty-four-seven. I’ve never had a public relationship before, and with the news of my retirement, people are dying to find a reason to explain why I suddenly called it quits. They aren’t going to let up until they know absolutely everything about you. Wilkes may as well have just hired a hundred new men to track you. I’m sorry, but Leo’s right. You have to go."