I hate that he’s here. I hate that we’re in the same industry and it’s his literal job to come to my stadium. I also hate that he tried to take it from me.
And I hate that I wasn’t angrier about it then. I was hurt, yes. But I should’ve been angrier.
Because how dare he?
Now that I’m here and this is all mine, I can’t begin to fathom the idea of losing it. I can’t imagine having it taken away, but even more so, I can’t conceive how someone who I thought loved me would ever try.
A slow fire begins to stir in my bones. I might be a few years late but I’m angry now.
“So, you and Monty, huh?”
I whip in his direction. “What?”
His laugh is dry. “Really, Reese? It’s clear as day. I saw the way you were looking at him up there. I just find it hard to believe that you left me over this job and now you’re risking it by sleeping with your employee.”
Shit.
Fear and anxiety twine around my stomach. Realization steals the color from my face. How did he pick up on that? How did he notice something that he’s never witnessed for himself before?
One thing is for certain, I never looked at Jeremy the way I look at Emmett.
He can’t be the first person I tell. It doesn’t feel right. What’s going on with Emmett is far too special for Jeremy to be involved in it in any way.
My attention shifts to the front of the room to find that Emmett’s previous smile is long gone. The muscle in his jaw tics as he answers reporters. His eyes continue to flash to me and my ex-husband after every couple of words.
“Don’t worry,” Jeremy whispers. “I’m not going to say anything.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do, Reese. Don’t forget that we were married once. I know you.”
Wow.He can go fuck himself with that.
“What’s so wild about that statement, Jeremy, is that, married or not, you’ve never known me. That’s become very clear.”
Not in the way I feel known now.
I risk one more glance in Emmett’s direction, and he looks downright lethal sitting at the front of the room. Tension is clear in his posture, clearly frustrated that he can’t get to me right now. The way he’s angrily focused on Jeremy seems similar to the level of the fury I have brewing inside.
Pushing off the doorway, I turn to leave.
“Oh,” I add before I go. “And I didn’t leave you because of a job. I left you because you tried to take something from me that wasn’t yours to have. Maybe if you had helped me protect it instead of attempting to steal it, I would’ve been inclined to share. But I’m glad you didn’t.” I point down the hall. “So, I’m going to go. To my office. Which is on the top floor of the stadium I own. Have a good trip home, Jeremy.”
Once I’m out of that room, the fire doesn’t tamp down in the slightest. Every step I take away from him seems to stoke it. It’s as if the hurt and anger I should’ve already worked through is all coming to head at this very moment.
And it hits me like a brick wall as to why it’s happening now.
The reason it’s sinking in all these years later is because I’ve met someone who would never dream of doing what my ex-husband did. In contrast, Emmett wants this so much for me that he’d do anything to protect it. He’d risk his own career for the sake of mine.
And that makes me angry.
Because for years, Jeremy let me believe that the only way I’d be loved was for what I could offer. I’m angry at myself for believing that.
I’m angry that he fucked me up so badly I thought being alone was my only option. I’m angry that he broke something inside of me.
Emmett came around and healed something that wasn’t his to fix, and I’m angry that he had to.
I hesitate when I reach the elevator, tempted to go hide in the dugout and clear my head the way I so often do. But I don’t want any part of that safe place to be tainted by my anger toward someone who tried to steal this from me.
