I see him wince. He indicates, turning at the next set of lights. ‘She’s gonna love you, I promise. Especially when I tell her you’re the angel I’m gonna marry someday.’
About a half hour later, Jake’s pickup pulls up on a side street near the oceanfront behind a white sports SUV. I know it’s Dalton and Ally’s vehicle because she sent me their license plate.
Jake kills the engine, then in the silence, he exhales. He slides one hand around the rim of the steering wheel. Throughout the journey, he’d grown quieter the closer we got to our destination. ‘Are you alright?’ he asks.
I nod my head. ‘I won’t be alone, remember.’
He lets go of the steering wheel and massages the knuckles on his left hand. ‘I wish I could go up there with you. Show that clown what I think of him.’
‘I know. I know you wanna protect me. But he can’t know about us. That would make things even worse. He’d have more hold over me than ever.’
He shifts in his seat. His fingers cup my cheek.
‘I know you’d be there in a second if you could,’ I add for good measure, because I can tell by the look on his face that he doesn’t wanna let me go.
‘I’ll be there, waiting for you when you get out. I talked to Dalt. He won’t let Brody anywhere near you. He’s the cap, I trust him.’
The truth is, I can’t get enough of Jake Walsh. In his presence, my insides turn to goop. And now we’re edging closer, caught up in a moment. The second our lips touch, I almost jump out of my skin when behind me somebody knocks the window of the pickup. My head whips round and I see Ally Briar’s face in the darkness, staring at us both, her blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail.
‘Hey there, lovebirds,’ she hums as I open the door.
‘Sorry,’ I mumble as I get out. ‘Are we walking over?’
‘Dalt thinks you should walk,’ Ally says. ‘Hey, Mr MVP, you know where we’re going?’
‘Yup. Follow behind me.’
‘Are you alright?’ Ally asks me.
I give her a nod and she squeezes my hand. Nerves tangle in my stomach.
I give Jake a small wave.
Either tonight is gonna fix things, or my CMC career is well and truly over.
‘Are you alright?’ Dalton Briar asks as we walk side by side toward the oceanfront condo at the bay where Brody Conway is expecting me.
My forced smile belies my true feelings. ‘Everybody keeps asking me that.’
‘I get it,’ Dalton says, pushing his hands down further into his pants pockets. ‘You shouldn’t even be having to do this in the first place. I feel like a part of this is my fault.’
For a brief second, I stop in my tracks. ‘How is any of this your fault?’
‘When Ally told me what Brody had done, I was advised by those around me not to approach him and to avoid confrontation. I still had significant time left on my pro contract. I knew at the time that if I did what I wanted to do, I would have landed myself with an assault charge. But if I’d known then what I do now… that he was gonna go after other women? Let’s just say I regret my actions from four years ago. That asshole needed to be taught a lesson. But I’m not an idiot. Jake’s in the same situation I was. He just got drafted. He’s at the beginning of his career. Brody’s not worth throwing away that level of talent on.’
‘Brody Conway is your typical trust-fund kid,’ he continues as we cross a road, ‘who was never told,no you cannot do that, or,that’s not how you behave. He’s always gotten away with doing whatever he wants with impunity. He stands to inherit his grandfather’s fortune, and he’s never done a proper day’s work his entire life.’
When we reach the condo, we walk through double glass doors into a lobby. We cross direct to the elevators.
‘Can I be honest with you?’ Dalton asks me as we wait for an elevator to arrive.
‘Of course,’ I say, looking up at him.
He swallows. ‘I spoke to Jake last night. Before you left. He reminds me a little of me at that age. The day I met Ally at college, I knew I was never gonna want anyone else. But I’m not lying when I say you are holding that guy’s heart in your hands. He’s willing to throw it all away for you. That’s how much power you have over him right now. He’s so in love with you, he’s quit caring about his career, or how much talent he has on the field.’
I hear adingsound, signalling that the elevator has arrived. Except I can’t move. I stare at Dalton Briar in the lobby of the condo, unable to respond to what he’s just told me.
He cocks his head toward the open elevator, indicating that I should go in first. When I walk inside, my legs feel like lead. This whole time, I’d been so scared of falling for Jake. Of giving my heart to him and risking everything. I was so worried, I hadn’t even noticed he’d given his heart to me about three times over. It might not say so in his contract, but he’s also taken a risk by falling for me.
