“Yikes.” She reached for her glass. “Can you wait that long?”
“I’d wait as long as she asked me to. If she needs two years, I’d do it. But the problem is I don’twantto. I don’t want to be away from her. I don’t want to sneak around. I want her to be mine, and for everyone to know how proud I am that she is.”
Liv smiled, big and genuine. “Well, big brother. Looks like you just made your decision.”
I guess I have.
The next morning, I knocked on Rodney’s door.
“Come on in.” His voice flowed from the other side.
I twisted the knob, my hands unsteady as I walked into the room. This was either going to go really well or really bad. But I made my choice. Now I just had to execute it. Just like any game I’d ever played. Sometimes your opponent struck, and you had to reevaluate your strategy. Switch up the play. Sometimes, circumstances changed the game.
I sat down in the open chair in front of his desk, then met his eyes. “Rodney. We need to talk.”
52
Trinity
It was the last game of the season. The one everyone talked about all year long. The Stallions were our biggest rivals, and my stomach swarmed with nausea as we gathered up all of our supplies to place on the gator that would truck it to the field.
“I think that’s it.” Julia rubbed a hand over her belly.
“You look like you could domino any day.” I smiled. “You ready?”
“Yes. I can’t even remember what my toes look like and you can bet your ass I’m having a margarita the second he exits my womb.”
I chuckled again as we started down the hallway, but I pivoted when I realized I left my phone. “Meet you out there.”
She waddled toward the exit, while I jogged back to swipe my phone from the training room. As I passed Preston’s office, I skidded to a stop. The light was off, but I could still make out the shape of his desk.
His clean desk.
I flipped the light on, my heart dropping to the floor when the entire office was empty. The only remaining items were the desk, his two chairs, and a computer monitor. Nothing else.
No, no, no.
The thrash of my heart against my rib cage was painful, sheer panic crawling up my throat as I glanced around the hallway. What happened? My feet moved before my brain did. I hurried down the hall, barging into Wesley’s office. He was rising from his chair, his phone to his ear. He paused when he saw my face.
“Let me call you back.” He ended the call. “What’s wrong?”
“Where are his things?” My voice cracked.
His eyes volleyed between mine in confusion.
“Preston,” I croaked. “His office. It’s empty. Where are his things?” I was practically shrieking at this point, but I didn’t care.
Was he fired?
My throat clogged, my hands clenching and unclenching as Wesley rounded the desk.
“Hey, breathe. I’m sure everything is fine.”
“It’s not fine!” I shrilled.
He gently reached for my shoulders, just as Shaw’s voice flowed from the doorway. “Wes. We have a situation.”
Wes peered around me, giving him a subtle nod. “Be there in a sec.” He looked back at me. “You need to go to the field, Trinity. You can talk with him after the game.”
