Fast Track

Chapter Six

Addie's POV:

Styling your hair when it was wet wasn't the smartest thing to do but with the time crunch I was under, I was doing good to even have it washed at all. Since leaving Jeb's hotel room, my phone had been blowing up non-stop. Someone had snuck a photo of Jeb and I from the banquet, leaked it to the press, and had labeled me as the resident "whore" of JGR. That pissed me off because in no way was I a whore. But what made it even worse was the quote from Christopher, my ex, that painted me as a cheating woman who was always looking to live on the wilder side of life. He even went was far as to say that he didn't see what I was going to get from an Xfinity driver that I didn't get from him, a cup driver. Drabbing one of the many dresses I had in the closet that could be used for both business and casual, I quickly slipped it on before grabbing a pair of sandals and a denim jacket.

The whole time I was getting dressed to head to the office, my thoughts were on Jeb. Last night had been amazing in many ways. This morning had been too. That is until my phone started going crazy with all the notifications and calls, the most awkward having been from Pappy Joe. No girl wanted to talk about her sex life with any man in her family, especially her grandpa. But Pappy Joe had had questions, the least of which was why I didn't accept the award for Ty last night. Not that he was pissed -he totally understood why- but since I was the one that always put on a strong front for the family, it had shocked him that I hadn't done what his right hand had asked of me.

And speaking of Ty, I'd came home to an empty apartment, no Ty anywhere to be found. That was just one more thing I was going to have to deal with today. I knew he was struggling with losing dad but we all were. He couldn't just up and disappear just because he wanted to. Well, he could, but it wasn't fair to those of us that were left to clean up the mess and deal with the incessant questions that were bound to come. I knew he needed to process all his feelings but dammit so did I and everyone else in the family.

My phone pinged from the millionth time just as I was walking out of the apartment. Assuming it was yet another link to an article that had been posted, I ignored it. But when the device began to ring loudly indicating a call, it was impossible to ignore any longer. Snatching the phone from my purse as I locked up the apartment, I didn't even bother to check the screen to see who was calling. But when the buttery southern drawl that had said some of the most dirty and sexy things to me last night floated though the speak of my phone, my heart began to pound.

"Addie, you could have told me about the article. We could fight this together." Jeb said, skipping any pleasantries.

"Not your problem." I said, stabbing the button for the elevator.

"I beg to differ. They are painting you as a whore and me as someone who is shallow enough to sleep with you in order to get into the cup series." Said Jeb. I could hear anger simmering in his tone, making his normally silky-smooth accent more pronounced, as he told me what he'd read; some of which were new allegations and rumors. "I will say this though, when I get my hands on Christopher Bell, he better watch the fuck out."

"Fighting aint going to fix anything. Plus, he's a driver for JGR. The last thing we need is more bad press. The one that's going on right now is plenty."

"Addie, I wouldn't give a shit if he was the president of the United States. No one, and I do mean no one deserves to have their name ran down like yours is currently being done. You are a grown woman who is free to live her life like she wants. If you want to hook up with someone at a banquet, that's your choice. If you want to escape from reality and deal with the curves that life has thrown at you lately, that's totally up to you. But you cannot expect me to just sit back and watch your name and that of your family and the family business get drug through the mud when I'm just as much to blame in all of this as you are."