Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
I'm not surprised when I get to the arena to board the bus, only to find a bevy of reporters waiting for me. They're relentless. But so far, they've got nothing.
Some days, I consider telling them the truth, just to get them to fuck off. It's ironic. We're the ones being harassed, when it should be our mother. But shit never works that way, right?
It's just one more way she's ruining our lives. It's what she does best. I barely even remember a time when it wasn't like this. Before Hattie was born, Harlan and Tye swear she was a decent mom, but I was four. I don't remember those days.
Mostly, I just remember the way she always hated Hattie because Dad doted on her. I remember the way she blamed Hattie when he died, when she was the one he was trying to save Hattie from. I remember the way she constantly tried to change everything about our sister. I remember how Hattie used to cry whenever we'd go off to a training camp.
There aren't a lot of good memories. For me, there never have been.
I realize something is up as soon as I see Karsen and Coach wading through the throng toward me before I'm even out of my SUV, matching glowers on their faces. Karsen looks like he's ready to hit someone.
Fuck.
I wait for them to come to me, not sure I want to know what's up. Whatever it is, I don't think it's good. Judging by the way every reporter in the lot is staring, it can't be good…right?
"You've got a problem," Karsen says, keeping his voice pitched low.
"What kind of problem?"
"Your mother."
I pinch the bridge of my nose, not even remotely surprised. Truthfully, I expected her to be a problem long before now. I think we all did, but she's been biding her time, playing by the rules of the restraining order while we wait for our court date.
"What'd she do?"
Neither Karsen nor Coach says anything.
"What did she do?" I growl.
Karsen mutters a curse. "She told the press that you got involved with Heartstone because you feel guilty about abandoning a kid you had when you were a rookie," he says. "She's claiming that you and your siblings filed the restraining order to keep her from talking. She's trying to extort you, man."
I reel backward, blinking. "What the fuck?"
Coach clamps a hand down on my shoulder. "Easy, son."
Easy? Easy? That lying bitch is trying to…
My heart hammers, my blood pressure spiking. Is this what she meant when she told me that I'd regret turning my back on her? Is this why she's been so fucking quiet? Because this is what she's been plotting?
I didn't give her what she wanted, so she's going to try to ruin my life and my reputation to get it, the same way she's always tried to ruin Hattie. Every time Hattie didn't conform or comply, she found some new way to cut her down, some new way to belittle and torment her until Hattie gave in.
And Hattie is free of her now.
Shit, guess that's my fault, right? I'm the one who delivered our ultimatum. I'm the one who has been running interference. I'm the one who has been here dealing with her. So I'm her fucking target now.
Hell no.
She doesn't get to do this shit, not to me, and not to Tia.
Fuck. Tia.
A surge of panic rips through me, fear and anxiety all tangled together in a powerful knot. If Tia hears this shit, what will she think? That I'm just like Daniel? That I've been lying to her this entire time, playing some game and using her for my own ends?
No. No, no.
"I need to…" My hands shake, the weight of anxiety absolutely crushing. I need to get to her and explain. Right fucking now. Before she feels like she's back in college again, finding out that she's just a pawn in someone else's fucked-up game.
Coach must see something on my face, some thread of the panic coursing through me, because he doesn't even hesitate. "I'm excusing you from tomorrow's game," he says. "Family emergency. Go."
I jerk my chin in a nod, too grateful to speak. Too goddamn afraid to stand here another second. I have to get to her. Right fucking now.
I call Tye on the way, but he already knows.
"Hattie just called," he says. "She wants us to tell the truth."
"She shouldn't have to deal with that," I mutter, my hands tight around the steering wheel as I break the speed limit, whipping around traffic going too fucking slow for me.
"And you shouldn't have to deal with this," he says. "That bitch doesn't get to fuck you over and try to destroy you because you've been the one dealing with her bullshit while we lived our lives, Briggs. We aren't willing to accept that. The decision is made. Harlan is working on a statement now. We're all signing off on it."