Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 106774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
She’s so … defensive. She’s too defensive for this to be solely about me.
“I’m tired of fighting with you,” she says evenly. “I can’t do it right now, which is probably what I was trying to communicate to Renn. Battling with you is too much on top of everything else.” She frowns. “You aren’t my biggest problem anymore, if that tells you anything.”
I quirk a brow but don’t comment. If I don’t speak, I can’t fuck this up … and I think we might be going in the right direction. But I don’t want to get my hopes up yet.
“If we can set some ground rules, we might be able to make this work,” she says carefully.
Easy, Adler. Go easy. I offer her the flower in my hand. She eyes it with suspicion before relenting. Her fingers take it from mine without touching me.
“But first,” she says, bringing the flower to her nose, “what’s in this for you?”
I shove a hand in my pocket and kick a rock down the sidewalk. “Honestly? I lost my bonus, and the only way to get it back is to get you back.”
“Right. I see.”
She drops the flower to her side. Her expression is blank, and I can’t quite decipher that. I also can’t spend time thinking about it.
“Either way, I owe you an apology,” I say earnestly. “I guess needing the cash is the vehicle to do that. Otherwise …” I take a deep breath and set my pride aside for just a second. “I’m not sure I would’ve bothered.”
“You would’ve just let me believe you’re an ass?”
I shrug. “Probably.”
She twists the flower between her fingers as she gazes at the horizon behind me. She’s somber and pensive, and I wonder just how delicate she might be behind all that piss and vinegar.
Slowly, she brings her attention back to me. She’s still pensive. But this time, she’s also resolved.
“At least you’re honest, I guess,” she says.
“I’m trying to be.” I go out on a limb and take a chance. “Can I ask what your conditions are?”
She brings the flower to her nose and takes a deep breath. Her lashes flutter closed as she pulls the petals away. Then she looks at me calmly and clearly. “You play rugby and leave the rest to me. I won’t tell you how to do your job, and you won’t tell me how to do mine.”
“Done.”
She blinks as if she’s surprised. “Okay. You’ll also have to cooperate with me. Answer my calls and provide me with the necessary information. And when I set up a schedule or make an appointment for you, you do it. You don’t reschedule everything or fail to show up.”
“So you want to be in control?”
“I have to be.”
The words carry on the breeze rippling through the trees. But they don’t get carried off fast enough for me not to hear the heaviness in them. The honesty.
Her gaze doesn’t break from mine.
My mouth goes dry as I mull her admission over in my mind. “I have to be.” As I consider other things she’s said about not having her needs met and hating bullies … it all starts to make sense. It begins to paint a picture that’s much different from the one I held until now. But I have to put that aside for the time being.
“Can we call a truce?” I ask again. “Just until the season is over, then you can resume all hatred.”
The corner of her lip curls toward the sky. “I still don’t like you.”
I chuckle. “Good, because I still don’t like you either.”
“Great.”
“Great.”
“A truce it is,” she says, studying me. “But the first time you turn around and bite my head off for no good reason, I’ll have Gianna taser you.”
Relief washes away the thousand-pound boulder that’s been sitting on my shoulders all day. I can finally breathe again. Thank God.
She takes a long, deep breath and blows it out slowly. Finally, she nods. “Okay. Deal.” She pulls out her phone. “I need to let Renn know before he hires someone else to take my place.”
Astrid taps away on her screen, then pauses, then taps again. She laughs and rolls her eyes. All the while, I’m waiting for some indication that it’s official and I’m getting paid.
“Dammit,” she says, looking up at me.
My heart drops. “What?”
“We have to FaceTime him.”
“Who?”
“Renn. Who else would I be talking about?” She holds her phone up and stands next to me. “I don’t think he believes I’m doing this willingly.”
The call connects, and Renn’s face appears on the screen.
“Well, if this isn’t a sight,” he says.
“Hey,” I say, hoping it doesn’t sound as curt to him as it does in my head.
“So Astrid tells me you’re working together again. Is that right?”
I nod. “That’s right. We’ve aired our grievances, and we’re really on the same page this time.”