I stare at her, trying to process it.
"You quit because of what happened with the information you gave Carey?"
"Yes."
A bitter laugh tries to rise in my throat and doesn’t make it out.
"You gave up your career," I say, and it comes out half accusation, half disbelief.
Natalia’s eyes flash. "I gave up that firm," she corrects. "Not my career. I’m starting my own sports management consulting firm."
"But you loved that job. You flew to Switzerland on your own dime to keep it."
"That job cost me you, Luka. It wasn’t a fair trade. Penelope is going to send me anyone she thinks could use my services. I don’t have any clients yet, and I’ll probably be broke for a while, but… it’s going to be worth it. I need to know that the client comes first. I need to know that trust isn’t just something we use when it’s convenient."
The words settle into the space between us.
Because if she quit, then she didn’t "win." She didn’t get rewarded the way I convinced myself she did. She didn’t choose the firm over me. She burned the bridge completely. Just like I did between us when she showed up to the arena. I had no idea that she quit for me when she showed up that night.
"I’m not telling you this, hoping that you'll give me another chance," she says quietly. "And I’m not expecting you to forgive me. I gave up that hope after I showed up to the last home game." Natalia’s gaze drops to her hands, as if that night was a painful memory. It is for me too. "I just… I need you to know that you weren’t a strategy."
My throat tightens as I swallow.
My instincts want to retreat, to find something colder to say, something that keeps her at a distance.
But the image of her asleep on my couch, head tipped awkwardly, body tense with discomfort because she stayed anyway, won’t let me.
"You could’ve left," I say.
Natalia looks up. "Last night?"
"No," I answer. "All of it. You could’ve walked away when I shut you out. You could’ve stayed in Scottsdale. You could’ve let Carey take the win and moved on."
Her mouth tightens. "That’s not who I want to be."
I push away from the counter and step closer to the island, stopping across from her because I know she’s telling the truth.
"I could use someone," I say slowly, and her eyes flicker with confusion.
I continue anyway because the words are already out and I can’t pull them back.
"I could use someone who scares off journalists and PR agents who don’t take no for an answer."
There’s a soft smirk at the corner of her lip. She remembers our first meeting when I told her the same thing when she scared off the puck bunny at Oakley’s.
"What exactly are you saying?"
"I’m saying that I could be your first client."
Her eyes search mine, looking for sincerity. "You’re serious?" she asks.
I nod once.
"I don’t say things like that unless I’m serious."
Natalia stares at me as if she’s afraid to believe it. Like hope, is a thing that might hurt her if she reaches for it too fast. Her eyes go glassy, and she swallows hard.
"I don’t want you to just be my first client," she says quietly. "I want to be… yours. I'm in love with you."
