“Yes. I told you that more was being dumped on me and that was something that never should have happened.”
“There has to be more to it.”
Just the way everyone reacted when Brice said it.
“There was. McKayla, Levi’s girlfriend, was jealous and everyone knew. It happens. You heard Brianna.”
“I’ve got to imagine it’s hard to trust someone when they are out drinking and surrounded by women nonstop.”
“Exactly. Did I do that early on when I worked there? Sure. I’m not going to lie, but it got tiring and I didn’t like doing it anymore. McKayla was always dramatic and around more than she should be.”
“So she made a nuisance of herself?”
He snorted. “In more ways than one. One night when we were out of town, she showed up looking for him. She couldn’t find him and came knocking on my door. Not sure how she found out which room was mine, but she always had a way to get information. I told her I didn’t know where he was, shut the door and went back to work.”
“Then what happened? Because there is no way it was as simple as that.”
“It was that simple. I had proof to back it up, but she still ran her mouth to Levi that she came in and we spent some... time together that night. She wanted to make him jealous and it worked.”
“She said you slept with her?”
“She said it, but it was a lie. One of many that she told. Levi and I had some words, I tried to walk away as the bigger man and told him she was lying and he shoved me into the wall.”
Her jaw dropped. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this? That you were accused of sleeping with a player’s girlfriend on top of it. You know how I feel about those things. I’ve said it multipletimes that even the whiff of cheating is enough to put my walls up.”
“There was no cheating,” he said. “Nothing. She never stepped foot into my room, I’ve never been alone with her, nothing. I was working. I was interacting with people at the time she knocked and two hours after. No one believed her, even if I didn’t have proof.”
“But you needed the proof?”
“No,” he said, standing up. “I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t want to get caught up in that shit. I showed Henry, my boss, everything. He never believed her story. A week went by and it quieted down. I thought it was over.”
“But it wasn’t?” she asked.
“No. That’s when I saw Levi in the building and when he’d pulled his shit. I’d never fight with a player, I knew my place.”
“Your place?”
“Farrah. The players are more important than anyone else. They bring the money in. I took his shit and walked away. But the truth is, that was the last straw. I was teetering as it was. I was ready to throw in the towel and he pushed it.”
“Let’s back up,” she said. “You’ve lied to me.”
“What? No,” he said. “Never.”
“Withheld information. I believe the reason you said why you left. That it’d been building, but there has been part of me that knew something had to have been a trigger for you to pull the lever and walk away. Not even wait until the season ended in a month. To give two weeks and be done. Then to hear them say they were all shocked, it’s like no one had a clue and they all assumed it had to do with Levi, didn’t they?”
“I don’t care what people think of me.”
“I think you do,” she said louder. “That’s why you weren’t honest with the real reason you left. I told you everything. Iopened up every part of my life to you and you didn’t do the same.”
Why did it feel as if her heart was drained all over again?
As if for a second time in her life someone didn’t trust her or give her everything that she was giving to them. To leave out one important part.
“I have been extremely open with you. Even from the beginning. Did I tell you I was accused of something that never happened? No, I didn’t. Maybe I should have.”
“There is nomaybeabout it,” she snarled. “And don’t give me any excuses that you couldn’t figure out how to say it or when. You had plenty of chances. You could have told me after I dropped Archer off with Tucker. We talked about my marriage and his cheating and you could have brought it up then.”
“And have you think I was just like your ex? You’re crazy to think that would have gone over well.”
