Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
I always suspected it was him and his asshole son, Colt, who planted that tranquilizer in my locker, and now I know. He admitted as much. I just wish I had proof.
At the desk, I’m handed a plastic bag with my belongings, and then I head out.
“Hey, man, I heard what happened.” Casey pulls me into a man hug, and I slap his back in return. “You did what anyone would have done.”
“Emily here?”
“Outside with Carrie. She was in a mess, imagining you in all kinds of trouble.” He clears his throat and stops me before I push my way out through the doors. “I got a call from Emmett fucking Smith. Buck. Whatever the fuck his name is. Deal’s off, man. He told me if I dropped you, he’d consider it. I told him to go fuck himself.”
“Shit…” I huff, shaking my head. “Can he do that? I mean, we had a signed contract…”
“He had Carrie put in a clause about disrepute or something. She said it was pretty standard, and she added and initialed it before the contract was signed. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”
“Fuck. Thanks for standing by me.”
Casey shrugs. “We’ll find someone else. You’re my fucking brother, and I happen to think you were right on this.”
I nod, and we push through the exit, out into the sunshine.
Emily is there with my sister, and as soon as she sees me, she runs right across into my arms. She’s sobbing, and I try to calm her the way I would a horse who’s been spooked, speaking softly, making shushing noises, stroking her hair.
She shakes her head. “You don’t know all of it. They… The people filming us. It’s all over the internet. Look.”
A moment later, I find myself staring at a video clip on repeat on some social media app. It doesn’t show the way Smith grabbed Emily, or the things he said about her. All it shows is the punch I threw, and the way he crashed against a car hood before I laid into him.
It’s bullshit, but it’s bullshit people will flock to because it makes for good entertainment.
“I don’t give a fuck,” I tell Emily. “I’d do it again. Bring that fucker here, and I’ll finish the job this time.”
“No.” My wife is sobbing as she hugs into me. “No, he’s nothing. He’s not worth it. I don’t want to lose you, Roman, not now. Not after we waited so long.”
It’s then that I feel my own phone vibrate in my pocket, and pull it out to read the text message that just came through. And if I thought today couldn’t get any worse, I was dead wrong.
Decker: Saw your little bust-up. I’m disappointed in you, son. I really thought you were gonna make the year.
“Who is it?” Emily looks up at me with tears in her eyes, but I shake my head as I type out a reply. My heart cracks open inside my chest. Without Decker’s blessing, Emily will never have what she deserves, and I fucked it all up.
Me: It’s not what you think, man. I was only defending your daughter. If you were there, you’d thank me.
“Nothing. Some sales bullshit. I have no idea how they even got my number. Come on, you’ve got a competition to get to.”
Three hours later, and the crowd has gone fucking wild. I can barely hear the announcer over the cheers and shuffling of feet as those who bet on Emily go to collect their winnings.
Of course, my wife won.
How could she not? She’s a goddamn miracle, riding Ruby Tuesday so tight around the first barrel some people in the crowd were holding their breath. Her time comes in a full half-second faster than her nearest competitor. I couldn’t be prouder.
As she runs across to where we’re all standing with Decker, May, Leah, and Allister, the smile on her face lights up my world.
She runs right by her dad and straight into my arms instead, and I don’t miss the dark look on Decker’s face.
“Roman, we need a word,” he says, and I nod, ready to face whatever shit he’s about to throw at me.
I guess I disappointed him, and things are bad between the two of us right now. But before he can say whatever he was about to say, I realize they’re about to get worse. Because Emily took off her wedding ring for the competition, but now she’s back with me, she reaches into the back pocket of her jeans and slides it out and onto her finger.
And our moms go silent.
It’s Allister, my dad for all intents and purposes, who speaks first. “Is that…”
Emily’s face is red as she turns, her words garbled. “We were going to tell you—”
“Tell us?” May and Leah both speak at once.