He flinches.
“Don’t, Jared. Please don’t run from this.”
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Jared
I close my eyes for a second before opening them and looking at Ashley. At the one person who won’t let me shut down.
“I won’t run.” I may want to jog very quickly at times, but I won’t.
She tilts her head. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
She smiles. “Good.”
“Let’s head back. We’ll circle back to this conversation tonight when I get home.”
“I’m coming to your game,” she says.
I don’t want to put pressure on her, so I try to hide how much it means to me that she’ll be there. “Cool.”
“I’m sitting with Mia.”
“Then I’ll know where to point when I score my first goal.”
We ride back to the ranch and tack down the horses. I make jokes and engage in light banter with Ashley, but my mind is elsewhere. By the way she hurries through the brush down, she knows, but she doesn’t call me out on it. I appreciate her patience because I’m too emotional right now. If she pushes me again, I may break.
“Raincheck on the muffins?” I ask her as we stand outside our cabin.
“Of course. I need to get going anyway.”
We say goodbye, and she hops into her car.
I wait until she’s driven away before I reach for my phone.
Liam answers on the first ring.
“We just finished practice,” he says. “I’m headed to pick up Lulu. Can I call you later?” Before I can answer, he says, “Shit. You’ve got your opener. What time are you leaving for the arena?”
“Not for a while, but this will only take a minute.”
“Shoot.”
“You know your detective contact at the police station? The one you kept up with before we nailed Dad’s killer?”
“Pete. Yeah.”
“I need to talk to Pete. Ashley’s got this…well, I can’t really divulge…”
“No need. I’ll have him call you.”
“Thanks.”
“You and Max kick some ass tonight.”
I shake my head as Liam ends the call without asking a single question as to why I need help from the New Orleans police force.
