Kevin’s wrinkled face is blank. “I’ll do anything to ensure my son achieves this. I won’t allow him to throw it away for…” He looks me up and down. “Some whore.”
“Excuse me.” I poke him in the chest. “You don’t know a damn thing about me. Or your own son, for that matter. You’re living through him. You want him to achieve what you never could just to feel some sense of accomplishment.”
Kevin taps his foot impatiently, glancing at his watch. “Think about it, Mae. I can get these photos out by the end of the game. I don’t care about Nathan’s image. I don’t care about how he looks to the media. All I care about is him lifting that trophy, so don’t underestimate what I’ll do to ensure that happens. Make the right choice.”
I can hear the crowd settling down. Halftime is coming to an end, which means I’m expected back out there.
“Well?” Kevin hikes his eyebrow up.
My nostrils flare, chest burning. If these photos get out, Nathan’s image will be ruined. He lives and breathes the Missarali Storks. Not only are they his team, but they’re his family, and getting kicked off would crush him.
He wouldn’t want to sign a contract with anyone else.
He’s worked so hard to mop up the team’s image, and these photos will take them right back to square one. People would see Nathan as a player. Someone who cares about getting his dick wet over football. They wouldn’t understand. He’ll be eaten alive.
“Cut it off with him, Mae. You have ten seconds before I send these to fifty different tabloids.”
I clamp my eyes shut, balling up my fists. As the seconds stretch, my heart begins to ache painfully. I’m tangled up—unable to escape.
Nathan needs to win this for his mom.
And that can’t happen if he’s not on a team.
“I need an answer, Mae.” Kevin waves his phone, showing me the mass email he’s already drafted. His finger hovers over theSendbutton, and my stomach flips.
My mouth begins to move without my permission. “I’m leaving anyway. At the end of the season.”
He shakes his head. “That’s not good enough, Mae. I need you—”
“To Florida.” The words feel like ice on my tongue. “I’m moving to Florida. To join a veterinary program. I’ll be states away, so I’ll never see Nathan again.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “You’ll never contact him again?”
I’m doing this for Nathan. He won’t survive losing his position on this team. It will crush him.
And I won’t be able to handle that. The way he speaks about his mom—helovedthat woman.
I dip my chin, glaring at the narcissistic man before me with gritted teeth. Would I get arrested for stomping on his head? I’d only give himminorbrain damage.
The impatient tapping of his foot drags me back to reality.
“I won’t contact him again.” My voice is strained.
Could Nathan and I have been anything anyway?
He needs to focus on his career.
I need to focus on following my dream.
Or what Ithoughtwas my dream.
Because my priorities are changing.
I thought I knew exactly what I wanted. Who I wanted to be. I spent so long convincing myself that it would make me whole again.
But now I’m here questioning everything—like waking up from a dream where your world has been flipped on its head.
But it’s too late now.
