Page 119 of Pucking Daddy

I swallow.

“It wasn’t me,” I say again, because it’s the truth.

“Then who—”

“I have to go,” I cut in.

“What? No, you don’t just—Zara, you need to tell me what’s going on—”

“I’ll call you back,” I say, already pushing to my feet.

I hang up before he can argue.

My heart is racing now, my thoughts tripping over each other.

He did this. Jaxon did this.

There’s no one else who could have. No one else who would have.

One hundred sixty thousand dollars.

Paid off like it’s nothing.

“Jaxon Halberg,” I murmur under my breath.

This man. This impossible, infuriating—

The front door opens.

Jaxon's voice carries from the entryway, low and tired, followed by the thud of his bag hitting the floor.

He has been at an early practice, up before dawn to run drills with the team before the day's real chaos begins.

“Zara?” he calls.

I’m already moving.

I round the corner into the hallway just as he straightens, shrugging out of his jacket. His hair is still damp, his T-shirt clinging slightly to his shoulders.

He looks up, sees my face, and immediately goes still.

“What happened?” he asks, alert in an instant.

I stop a few feet in front of him.

For a second, I just look at him.

Because I don’t know where to start.

“You paid it off,” I say.

His expression doesn’t change.

“Zara—”

“You paid off Danny’s loans,” I repeat, my voice thinner now.

There’s a beat. Then he exhales slowly.