Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 97994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Love.
“And you were going to break her heart. On purpose.”
I was.
I am an asshole.
“You’re in love with the sister of the guy who slept with your girlfriend,” Sutton says finally. “It’s written all over your dumb face.”
I crack a morose smile. “I’m not in love.”
Sutton laughs for the first time since answering my phone call. “Lies you tell yourself.” She nibbles her lip. “So, now what happens? How do you get yourself out of this mess?”
“I have no idea—she works for the Ice Wolves, so I was thinking that maybe I would…” I hook a finger through the strings of the decorative blanket on my couch and start pulling at them. “Speak to the human resources manager and let them know, so she doesn’t have to sneak around. The last thing I want is for her to get in trouble because of me.”
“Oh, you’re sooo concerned about her getting in trouble.”
“Can you stop being sarcastic?”
She shrugs. “I’m having a super hard time wrapping my brain around all this—and I have to tell you, Aaron, I don’t actually think you deserve someone who puts you on a pedestal. You’ll walk all over her.”
I stiffen. “She doesn’t put me on a pedestal.”
“She works for the organization you play for,” Sutton counters. “There’s a built-in power imbalance whether you want to admit it or not.”
My sister has it so wrong. “She isn’t impressed with any of this—her brother is a player. She’s used to it.”
“That’s not the point.”
“You said I’d walk all over her,” I snap. “I wouldn’t.”
Sutton studies me.
“You literally already did,” she tells me with a frown. “What you’re doing is so gross.”
Does she have to keep reminding me? Christ.
“I haven’t gone through with anything, Sutton. I haven’t dumped her. There is nothing here to beg forgiveness for.”
She goes quiet. “So, there is no one who knows about this who could rat you out?”
Garrett Storm comes to mind.
And of course, there’s Declan himself, who has no trust for me.
“What happens when Declan comes for you? Or Bailey rats you out to the media? When you’re used to winning, you don’t always consider who you trample on the way there.”
I open my mouth to argue.
Then close it.
Because six months ago?
She’d be right.
“I’m not that guy,” I claim. “I have never trampled anyone.”
“Puh-lease,” she lets out. “I watched your last game; the cameras were zooming in on you getting in Declan’s face. If you weren’t that guy, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. How long have you been seeing her? Is fourteen days long enough for a man to un-asshole himself?”
Un-asshole myself. Is she inventing verbs now?
“You have no faith in me.”
Sutton scoffs, tossing her long, dark ponytail. “Oh please—I am a girl’s girl. You weren’t going to win this argument.”
I laugh. “That is so unfair.”
An eye roll. “You don’t get points for realizing you have feelings after plotting to crush someone’s heart.”
I wish she would stop phrasing it like this.
It makes me sound unhinged.
“You were with Bailey for a year. Then you jump straight into this? So suspect.”
“Okay,” I mutter, rubbing my temples. “You are not helpful.”
For a split second, I consider hanging up on her in the guise of saving myself from a full dismantling of my character.
No one is more ruthless than a sibling.
My sister is proof.
Sutton must see something shift on my face because her expression changes, and if we were in the same room, she’d be pulling me in for a hug.
“Hey.”
I look back at the screen.
“I’m not trying to annihilate you.”
“Feels like it.” Am I pouting? Sounds like it.
She smiles. “I’m trying to make sure you don’t annihilate yourself.”
“You don’t think I know I fucked this up?” I lean back against the couch, exhausted. “I do.”
“I know you do,” she replies gently. “You want advice?”
“Yes.”
“Actual advice?”
“Yes.”
She nods once, decisive. “Okay. Stop thinking about how to get yourself out of this mess.”
I frown.
How does she know?
“That’s literally what I’m trying to do.”
“Duh, I know. That’s your problem. You’re in crisis management mode.” Sutton leans back against the bowl of her toilet. “First, you need to tell her all this before someone else does. All of it, starting from the beginning.”
I nod slowly.
“Yeah, I can do that…”
It’s going to be awful, but I’ve dealt with worse.
I exhale slowly as she continues.
“Second, don’t talk to HR before you speak to her.”
“Really?” I ask. “That was me being responsible and proactive.”
“It reads like you trying to get ahead of a problem—which says you’re only thinking about damage control.”
I guess she’s not wrong…
It might appear that way.
“Third,” she says, holding up a finger. “When you tell her, don’t make excuses. Don’t tell her how hurt you were by her brother and his actions.”
“I was humiliated,” I argue feebly.
“And that’s valid,” she says. “But that’s between you and Declan. Not you and her.”
I go quiet.