The sad part was, deep down, I would have done the same. That just made everything more confusing. I was angry, but I was also proud that he was the kind of man who kept his word. But my intuition told me this was more. This wasn’t the reason he was acting off.
“What other secrets have you been keeping from me?”
His eyes shifted before moving back to me.
“And don’t you dare lie to me, Preston. What the hell is going on with you?” I demanded.
“Baby, can we just sit down and—” He reached for me, but I shifted away again.
“No. We can talk right here.” I narrowed my eyes. “Tell me.”
All the air woodshed from my lungs at his next words.
“Jagger knows about us.”
49
Preston
“Jagger knows about us.”
The truth tumbled out, the pain in my chest sharp as I gauged her expression.
“What do you mean he knows?” she asked, her posture stiff.
I scrubbed a hand across my face. “He saw me coming out of your room the night you got sick. He was on the floor for a hookup…”
Her hands flew to her face. “No.”
“Yeah. He said some things in the elevator about you, and I reacted.” Shame lit me up. “I let my anger get the best of me. It was all he needed to know something was going on.”
“So why hasn’t he said anything?”
I moved to the living room and dropped down on the end of the sofa. She followed but sat on the chair next to me. The distance irked me, but I continued.
“He came to me before the game. Threatened to report us. The school would have to investigate and it would be on the cameras.”
“The cameras.” She closed her eyes.
“It gets worse.” I cleared my throat. “He threatened to expose us unless I made him QB1.”
Her eyes flew open, then they flared with rage. “He did what?”
“If I didn’t bench Krew, he would turn us in. You’d be expelled. Gossiped about and no telling what other horrible things the press would create. I won’t allow that, Trinity. I refuse to let any of that bullshit touch you.” I pushed to my feet, maneuvering around the coffee table to crouch in front of her. “I just need some time to figure this out.”
“And the team pays the price for our mistake?”
Her words were like a dagger to the heart. A life-threatening blow. “Mistake?” I took her hands in mine. “We are not a mistake.”
Moisture pooled in her eyes. “Our choices are not just affecting us anymore. This affects the team, which affects you. And my dad.”
“I know.” I brought her knuckles to my lips and dropped a kiss on the cool skin. “I can step down. I can go tomorrow and talk—”
“You can’t quit,” she said quietly. “He needs you.”
I squeezed her hands in mine, searching her eyes for some sort of answer, but the expression I saw shining back at me had a chill running down my spine.
She released my hands, then pushed to her feet. “There’s only one thing we can do.”
