Chapter 35
BECCA
TWO WEEKS LATER
We had only been sitting in Jax’s living room for less than an hour, and Ember had sneezed no less than thirty times.
Not cute little sneezes either.
“Oh, my God.” She jerked forward and rubbed her nose, just as his cat, Salem, rubbed up against her leg for the tenth time. “Tell me again why I am here?”
“Because you agreed to come,” I said, handing her a tissue as Salem skittered away.
Jax had texted me and begged me to bring her tonight, which had the potential to turn out to be a complete disaster, if you asked me.
He has been asking about her since the night they met at the Blarney Stone.
Apparently, he has developed a little crush on my best friend.
Which, honestly, was kind of adorable and a little terrifying at the thought of the two of them together.
“I never agreed to inhale a whole damn cat.” She wiped at her eyes. “I’ve been sneezing so much, I’m pretty sure I’m going to need a lung transplant.”
I took a bite of my pizza. “You’re being dramatic.”
She glared at me. “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one allergic to cats.”
A few more guys walked in, carrying chips and beer.
It was a low-key team get-together. A chance for everyone to relax after all the chaos.
Although with the way some of the guys were yelling at the television, complaining about the horrible officiating in a college football game, I wasn’t sure how much relaxing they were doing.
The day after Nate met with management, news broke that Coach Mac had officially been let go from the team.
Letting the head coach go mid-season was never a good sign and was a pretty good indicator that things were broken beyond repair.
According to rumors, management had been looking for a reason for a while.
There were too many complaints and whispers about players being pushed too hard.
Their assistant coach, Jeff Daniel, stepped into the role.
It was still early yet, but the transition had been easier than expected.
The fallout had been messy, and even the team doctor had taken a hit.
The internet was running wild and saying the Hawks were cleaning house and guessing who would be next on the chopping block.
Meanwhile, the team’s priority was putting this matter to rest and winning games.
Jax appeared from the kitchen, glancing around the room before his attention landed on Ember. His hands were shoved into his pockets as he walked over, trying to act casual.
“Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t sure you would come.”
Ember smiled politely. “I almost didn’t, but Becca forced me to.”
Nate busted out laughing next to me.
Jax, bless his heart, looked completely unbothered. “What can I get you to drink?”
“I’m good.”
“Beer?”
She crunched her nose. “I don’t drink beer.”
He raised a brow. “Wine?”
She glanced over to the kitchen. “What kind of wine do you have?”
“I don’t, but I can have somebody run to the liquor store and get you some.”
She blinked. “Thank you, but that’s not necessary.”
“I don’t want to be a bad host, so tell me what you want, pumpkin, and it’s all yours.”
Across the room, a few guys chuckled.
I glanced at Nate. This was painful. He wasn’t being his natural, smooth self. You could tell he genuinely had no idea how to behave around her.
Her cheeks were pink as she narrowed her eyes. “I’m sorry. Did you just call me pumpkin?”
He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I did. Why? Do you not like it?”
Ember pursed her lips, trying and failing to hide her annoyance. “Depends. Are you eighty?”
I shook my head because my best friend loved to torture guys who showed an interest in her.
He lifted a shoulder. “Last time I checked, no.”
Ember went to stand up. “I think I’m going to check out your drink selection.”
“Perfect.” He held his hand out. “I can show you where it is.”
Nate groaned. “Dude, you are trying way too hard.”
I elbowed Nate in the side.
“What?” My boyfriend, who clearly wasn’t taking the hint, decided to make things more obvious. “She’s clearly shutting him down.”
“You don’t need to broadcast it,” I hissed.
Honestly, I didn’t think she was shutting him down. More so, making him work for it. And he was clearly trying to play along, which made it much sweeter. Jax was usually all polished lines and brimming with confidence. Seeing him so smitten with my friend had me rooting for them.
Ryder let out a loud whistle to get everyone’s attention. One second, the room hummed with conversation, and the next, we all turned to the television. A breaking news announcement flashed across the bottom of the screen. Brian Sullivan’s face popped up, and Ryder turned up the volume.
Former Sports Agent Arrested.
Nate’s arm tightened around my shoulder.
Well-known sports agent Brian Sullivan has been arrested in an ongoing investigation into allegations of financial misconduct, fraud, tax evasion, and sexual harassment.
Nobody said a word. You could hear a pin drop.
I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that the article I had written a few weeks ago had kicked this whole thing into motion. I only meant to expose what he did to Nate, but somewhere along the way, it turned into something bigger.
Since that article dropped, things have snowballed fast. The situation with Brian was worse than we had expected. It felt like someone had finally turned the lights on.
Not only was he in financial trouble, but he was in legal trouble as well.
More than a dozen women came forward with allegations that he behaved inappropriately.
A few were accusing him of assault. And thanks to Lydia, we had more than enough evidence that Brian didn’t have a chance of getting out of this.
“Jesus,” Nate said, reading the charges as they flashed across the screen. We were watching his life unravel in real time, and it felt surreal.
Every story painted the same picture.
A man who was greedy. Who thought he was untouchable.
“I bet there’s more,” Ember said, still staring at the screen.
I grabbed my phone, which was blowing up with text messages. People were sending pictures they had found online. Some were sending links to different articles. It amazed me how fast the internet could spread news.
“Dude was way worse than we thought,” Jax said, shaking his head.
Nate laced his fingers with mine. “He fooled a lot of people.”
We all nodded as the noise in the room slowly started coming back to life. Conversations resumed, music started playing again, but next to me, Nate had gone quiet.
“Are you okay?” I asked, feeling my body fill with concern.
“Yeah, I’m just glad it’s finally behind us,” he said, as his fingers traced lazy patterns along my arm.
I tilted my head slightly. “Lydia helped too.”
If it weren’t for her handing over information on her brother, we wouldn’t have gotten this far.
He squeezed my hand, suddenly looking unsure of himself. “I had my lawyer send her some money as a thank you to help her and her family get up on their feet. It felt like the right thing to do.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “How come you didn’t say anything?”
He shrugged, but I could tell he was worried about my reaction. “I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I hope you’re not mad.”
I turned to face him. “Nate Sandler!”
“What?” He frowned.
Emotion climbed into my throat, but I swallowed it down. “She lied to you. Cheated on you and let her brother manipulate you, and you still helped her.”
Most people would be bitter and resentful, but this felt so very him.
“She also helped us too. She came forward when she didn’t have to. It was the least I could do.”
He still looked uncomfortable, as if he expected me to be upset.
“You are a good person,” I said quietly.
“You have had so many people screw you over. Given second chances when most people wouldn’t.
I don’t know if you realize how rare that is.
You are honestly one of the best people I know. And I’m really glad you’re mine.”
A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “Do you want to know what I think?”
I laughed softly. “I’m not so sure.”
“I think I’m the one who got lucky. You could have left when things got ugly. Not only did you stay, but you went to battle for me.”
I didn’t understand why he had such a hard time believing that someone would choose him when things got hard. Maybe because so many people had failed him, pressured him, and used him, that he forgot what it was like to have someone love him without strings or conditions.
The thought of my confident football player doubting his worth undid me.
My hand slid up his chest, settling over his heart. “Nate, you make it easy to stay, and if you ask me, I’m the lucky one.”
The room around us faded into a blur. The television played in the background.
Jax was in the kitchen trying his best to charm Ember.
Ryder was arguing with another player about stats and rankings.
A few guys were sitting at a table bickering over their poker game.
Yet somehow it felt like we were sitting in our own little world.
Nate brushed his lips against my ear. “You know what I want right now,” he said quietly. “I want to shut the world off and have you all to myself for a little while.” He stood up and reached for my hand. “Come on, Press Girl, let’s go home.”
For so long, everything between us felt impossible. Wrong circumstances. Bad timing. Too much risk. But as he led me out of Jax’s house, none of that mattered. We made it through the hard part, and everything felt exactly the way it was supposed to.
Somehow, through all the noise, we found our way to something steady and real. And I had a feeling the best was yet to come.