Thinking of him leaving makes my chest tighten, but a trust we didn’t have the first time thrums between us now. “We may have failed at the long-distance thing before, but we won’t let that happen again. If staying here is what’s best for my business, I will. Cade will always come back.”
Opening his arms wide, Jimmy smiles. “So work here at Slim Jim’s. That room became your office the moment you claimed it. Couldn’t rent it out to anyone because that would mean you’d stop coming by. Nobody loves this place like you do, Shay. And if you’re here, I’ll be able to keep a close eye on you and make sure you’re getting rest. But you’ll have to buy new furniture. That stuff in there is junk.”
Renting the spare office at Slim Jim Batting never crossed my mind. It may not come with a coffee shop nearby, but it has Jimmy, which makes it my dream location.
“Tell me how much rent is, and I’ll start decorating immediately.”
Our extended hands shake in agreement. “Wonderful, partner. Now, I think your guy is waiting for you.”
I turn to find Cade’s cheek pressed against the glass.
After giving him one last hug, Jimmy leaves us alone in the office, and I glare at Cade. “You knew that would happen, didn’t you?”
The smug man doesn’t even have the decency to look guilty. “I may have had ulterior motives in bringing up a space this morning, yes. But only because I knew you hadn’t thought about here yet. Jimmy was waiting for you to bring it up, so I pushed it.” His hug is warm and grounding. “You know I’m incredibly proud of you, right?”
I look up at him. “Hmm. Not sure. Maybe you should tell me again.”
“I’m so”—a kiss to my forehead—“proud of”—one to my nose—“you,” he breathes, before pressing his lips against mine. “Not only are you the best agent, but you’re the greatest person I know. I love you so much, Shay baby.”
“You better,” I whisper. “Because it’s you for me.”
“And you for me,” he finishes.
Our arms brush as we make our way down the hallway to the cages, and for a second, it feels like those first few visits to Slim Jim Batting all over again. Back then, I was a bundle of nerves about being with him without our best friends as a buffer. The first time his hand grazed mine, I told myself it was an accident. Then I found out he had been doing it for weeks, trying to get my attention.
Just before we reach the door to the cages, he tugs on my hand and brings us to an abrupt stop.
“Now don’t be mad, but I have a surprise for you.”
That alone triggers fear because I hate surprises. But when the cackle I’ve heard during countless phone calls, voice memos, and voicemails rings out from the cages, I break into a run and push open the heavy door. Hands pull me in before I can make sense of what’s happening.
The person closest to me smells like she ate a handful of sour candy and bathed in leftover sugar, and I soak it all in.
“I missed you,” Holly chuckles into my neck.
“I missed her more!” Brett hollers. “I need a hug too!”
“Squeeze her extra hard for me, Brett!" Delilah laughs.
My eyes bounce between the six people smiling back at me. Holly, Victoria, Lionel, Brett, Deshawn, and Delilah—who’s joining on a video call—are all watching me with the same excited glitter that has been in Cade’s eyes since this morning.
He was hiding this all along.
Draping a muscular arm over my shoulder, Victoria laughs. “We couldn’t let you open a sports agency without celebrating you!”
Guilt cracks my broken heart. “I didn’t want you to think I was trying to replace you guys, but I couldn’t go back to—”
“We don’t want you to ever go back to Permian,” Brett chimes in. “Like ever. Actually, we’re here to tell you that we’ll all be needing new representation soon.”
Hope replaces the guilt. “What?”
“You see,” Lionel says, pointing over my head. “Your boyfriend brought a very long pattern of discrimination to light, and we agreed that none of us would be re-signing our contracts when they end.”
“What about Andy? You can’t—”
“Don’t worry about me.” The man himself steps through the door with pink tulips in hand. “They’ve never been mine, Turner. I’m just taking care of them until they can re-sign with you.”
I rush to my friend and give him a hug. “What about yourjob?”
