“They’ve been playing together since middle school and they seem really tight. Maybe Westley’s afraid of going out of hiscomfort zone and might be interested if Vaughn was coming along for the ride.”
“You… wow, you’ve actually been paying attention, I see. Yes, they’ve been playing together forever.” Dad stands taut, studying me. Maybe he thinks aliens have kidnapped me, because did all that actually just come out of me? “You’re right, and coincidentally, even if Vaughn’s not as sought out as Westley, there are also many teams eyeing him. If we tried to sign them on as a package deal… Hmm, I think you’re onto something here, Son. They could be your first leads, ever. Yeah, that sounds right. They could both be your first deals.” His eyebrows suddenly furrow, and his attention snaps to something over my shoulder. “Damon? Why are you here?”
What the?
My heart drops to my stomach. I turn around abruptly, only to find Damon standing there with a baffled expression. He’s haphazardly pulled his clothes on, the buttons mismatched, and he’s barefoot.
“Mr. Donlan,” Damon says, eyes narrowing. There’s an edge to his voice. It’s nothing like the kind and soft one from last night.
I gape. “Why the hell do you know each other?”
Dad lets out an exasperated groan and shakes his head. “Are you kidding me, Ellis? You haven’t even been to work yet and you’vealreadyslept with one of my agents?”
“One of—one of your agents?”
“Sorry, Mr. Donlan. I didn’t know who he was.” Damon glares at me. “Excuse me. I need to head to work.”
“Wait, Damon!”
Dad turns away from us, rambling, “No wonder there were so many goddamn shoes by the elevator.”
Damon brushes past me, his shoulder knocking against mine hard enough to make me stumble. I rush after him, followinghim to the hallway that leads to the elevator. He shoves his shoes on and slams thedownbutton hard.
“Are you angry because you slept with your CEO’s son?” I whisper loudly, hoping Dad can’t hear us. “How was I supposed to know? There’s got to be about a couple dozen agencies in Tampa alone…”
He turns around slowly. Damon stands a foot away from me, his eyebrows furrowed and his hands flat at his sides. His lips are slightly parted and his chest steadily rises and falls. He doesn’t look angry. If anything, he seems defeated. He’s looking at me the way athletes do when they accept they’re in a game they can’t win.
“Why did you tell him about Westley?” he asks, voice low. “Westley’s one of my best friends, and evenInever used that information for my own benefit. Jesus Christ, Ellis. Who are you to tell people about Westley’s private life?”
My eyebrows crunch together.That’sthe issue here? “I said they’ve been together since middle school. That’s it. Even Dad already knew that. I didn’t say anything that anybody didn’t already know.”
“Youdidn’t know.”
“And? I didn’t spill any secrets,” I counter. “You gave me an idea, and I ran with it. It’s not like I knew you worked for Dad.” That makes me pause, and I blink at him slowly.Wait.“Are you angry because I accidentally stole your lead? I’ll fix this. I’ll tell Dad that it was your idea, and—”
“No,” he interrupts. The elevatordingsand the doors open. “I told you my friends were never a lead to me, because it would have been shitty of me to use insider information like that on them.”
“For him,” I correct. “Forthem, actually. This is a good thing for both of them. Think of what’s going on here. Statistically, they’re both—”
“My friends aren’t statistics. It’s backhanded and I hate it when agents use private details about a player’s life to manipulate them.”
“What? That isnotwhat is happening here.”
He studies me for a long while. The elevator doors start to close, and he holds it open without looking.
‘This is my fault,” he murmurs, looking away. “If I knew who you were, I wouldn’t have said anything. Thought I was just talking about my friends to a cute guy.”
My chest clenches. Shit.
“I was going to give you my number,” I mumble, because it’s the fucking truth. “I was going to see if you still wanted to go on that date you were talking about.”
Damon lets out a tiny snort that only makes my insides hurt even more. Where the hell is the man I was with last night? Who even is this?
“Sorry,” he mumbles. Stepping back into the elevator, he lets go of the door. “This ismydeal breaker.”
Last night, Damon looked at me—astranger—with so much warmth. He looked at me like he wanted to devour me, and he did.
As the elevator closes, now, there’s nothing but emptiness in his eyes.
