“Well, if I get fired, I’ll be back in Chicago ASAP, so let’s plan on a girls’ staycation weekend somewhere fancy. Okay?”
“Definitely. But you’re not going to get fired,” she says.
That remains to be seen. She fills me in on the latest office gossip at Langford, and then she adds, “I forgot to tell you that I talked to Billy the other day.”
“Oh? What did he have to say?” It’s not curiosity so much as I can hear in her voice that she wants to tell me. Talk aboutold news.
“He wants you back, Ev. He told me that. He said he was disappointed with how things went when he was in Vegas, and he was hitting me up for how he can win you back. Maybe if you’re back in Chicago…”
She trails off, but the insinuation is clear.
“Nah. That ship has sailed.”
“Are you sure?”
I think about the night he came by here and what I felt for him versus what I felt for Maverick after he left. “Yeah. Totally sure. I fell for Maverick, Pen. It was different than how I fell for Billy.”
“Was?” she asks.
“I’m afraid that ship might’ve sailed, too.”
“Oh no. Why?”
“It’s complicated.”
And then I proceed to tell her everything.
Is Maverick right? Would letting him name my dad as the operator of that underground casino solve all these issues? I have no idea. He was issued the citation either way. But we don’t know what comes next. The DA could decide to gohard on him, and he could end up far worse off than being suspended for one game.
It’s all speculation until the DA has time to review the evidence. If the raid occurred, they already have evidence, and they probably already have my father’s name, too. I don’t know much about this stuff, though—I guess that’s not all that surprising considering the extent my father went to hide it all.
I suppose now we play the waiting game. Wait to hear from the DA. Wait for my phone to ring to see if Stuart is going to fire me. Wait to see if Jack is going to call me in again even though he claimed he doesn’t blame me for Maverick’s missteps.
Wait for Maverick to continue making my job harder.
Wait for a miracle that will somehow turn this entire thing around and put me back in his arms. What I said about wishing we’d never slept together was purely out of anger, and I miss him.
I don’t regret our time together, but I also know that at this point, I can’t go backward. I made my choice—even if it was the wrong one.
Now I have to live with it.
CHAPTER 39: Maverick Jennings
Birthday Gift
It’s my birthday. It’s Halloween.
My mom always called me on my birthday. Maybe it was Susan who reminded her to call me these last few years, but I don’t even have her to wish me a happy birthday this year.
Nobody from my team calls me. ThebrothersI was supposed tobondwith. Not a single one of my coaches. Not even anybody from the practice squad.
I put myself here. I’m in trouble. I never should’ve gone to that goddamn casino. I never should’ve gone to the club, either, or the strip joint. I didn’t even watch the dancers. I just sat at the bar drinking scotch.
I should be getting ready to go out tonight—or at the very least, entertaining my girl for a while.
Instead, I’m sitting by my windows overlooking the Strip as I nurse a hangover.
Actually, if anything, I should be getting ready to play football tomorrow. Staying at the team hotel, eating right, going to bed early.
