Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 257(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 257(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Hasn’t that always been the problem? I’ve cared far more than I should, for far longer than I should have. She was too young, too sweet when I met her, and I was a fucking asshole for falling for her. But I fell anyway.
“Please, Jordan?”
I just stare at her, trying not to bend or crack. I want to, though. When it comes to her, I never could say no. But that was then. Before she left her palm print across my face and her accusations ringing in my ears. Before I tore down everything and walked away because her brother left me no goddamn choice.
“Why are you here, Sutton?”
“I need your help,” she whispers. “Jamison–”
“Don’t even say his fucking name to me,” I snarl, my hands clenching. “If you’re here to talk about him, you can go.”
“He’s not the only reason I’m here. Maybe I miss you.” She bites her lip, glancing down at her feet as if that admission cost her dearly. “I…I know he lied to me back then. You weren’t trying to hook up with Vanessa, were you?”
I don’t say anything for a long moment, not sure how to respond. Back then, Jamison convinced her that the fight was all because I wanted to fuck Vanessa. It was laughable, but Sutton believed him.
And I fucking let her believe it. I didn’t tell her who her brother really was or correct her when she confronted me. I just…didn’t say anything at all. I knew if I did, she’d never let it go. She’d throw a massive fit, and he’d end up in handcuffs. Any other tapes he had of her best friend would end up leaking once they got into police hands. Her whole world would blow up. So would her best friend’s. Their friendship wouldn’t survive that shit.
At the time, it made sense to protect Sutton from the fallout as much as I could. She’d already lost her parents. At least with her brother’s lies in her ears, she got to keep the only remaining family member she had. She got to keep her best friend. Jamison didn’t fucking deserve her or her loyalty, but he always protected her, always took care of her. She needed that.
Especially since I had nothing to offer her. I had no career left. Reporters were hounding me. Management was shipping me out of the city, intending for me to languish in the minor leagues until they figured out how to get rid of me once and for all. They were pushing for Jamison to press assault charges. My whole life was in shambles.
And I never felt worthy of her to begin with. How the fuck could I? She was a perfect little princess…and I was the asshole who fell in love with her knowing it was wrong.
“How’d you find out?” I finally ask.
“He told me.”
I grunt, surprised by that. I figured the prick would die telling that lie.
“What really happened, Jordan?” She glances up at me, her brown eyes fathomless. Pleading for an answer.
For a split second, I consider telling her. But I swallow the truth back the same way I did five years ago—not for Jamison’s sake but for hers. Because, even now, she doesn’t deserve to feel guilty for idolizing an asshole like her brother. She deserves to believe the best in at least one person in her life.
“Ask your brother if you want to know,” I say, stalking toward the door.
“I have,” she blurts behind me, freezing me in place. “I’ve asked over and over again. He told me to ask you if I really wanted to know.” She pauses. “I hoped maybe you’d give me the truth.”
I laugh, a raw, painful sound, and glance back at her. “Why the fuck would I do that, Sutton? You didn’t want to hear what I had to say five years ago.”
Her face falls. “That’s not true.”
“Yeah, it is. When you came to see me after they booted me from the team, you never asked my side. You never asked if it was true. You slapped me across the face and told me to go to hell.”
Guilt flickers in her eyes. “That wasn’t…”
“Wasn’t what? What happened? I was there, princess. I remember exactly what that little hand felt like against my cheek.”
“I was hurt!” she cries.
“You think I wasn’t?” I ask, arching a brow. “My whole goddamn life fell apart. I lost everything I cared about.”
I lost you. But I don’t say that part. I know damn well that I’m not being fair right now, but fuck fair. I’ve spent five years in hell, knowing she believed a lie. There is not fairness here.
Guilt and regret flicker across her face. “I’m sorry,” she whispers, her shoulders drooping. “I know that doesn’t help anything because I believed him. I don’t understand why he lied about it. What did he do that was so awful, Jordan?”