Page 57 of Forever Wild

“Clearly, someone—who am I kidding?—clearly, Kyle knows about us. You’re an amazing golfer, and you’re going to be highly sought after again very soon, but—and please don’t take this wrong—it’s too much of a coincidence for this to just be about you.”

If I ever meet Kyle, I’m going to break his fucking nose. “So Kyle is a douche who happens to know about us and made a play to get you kicked off the project. Luckily, he underestimated how much I care about you. I would gladly give up a quarter million dollars for you to get this promotion.”

Her nose crinkles in displeasure. “That’s all they offered you? Don’t you normally get, like…twice that much?”

I shrug. “I said it was a lowball offer. I truly am happy to give it up.”

She leans her head on my shoulder, and I wrap my arm around her. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that will help my case. If you don’t do it, then I’m the person who wasn’t willing to put the company ahead of herself. The one who convinced her boyfriend not to do a campaign—for a steal, might I add—all so she could stay on the team. That won’t look good when considering who to give a promotion to either.”

“Well…fuck,” I say, pulling her more closely into my side.

“Yeah, you’re telling me.”

I slowly stroke my finger up and down her arm. “I can take a couple of days, do you want me to wait? See if you can figure something out?”

“Maybe? I don’t know,” she says, her voice trembling. “Actually”—she sits up abruptly—“I might have a plan.”

Chapter twenty-eight

Bryn

“So I do need you to wait to accept until at least tomorrow. Monday would be best.”

Jameson nods. “Okay, I can definitely do that. I don’t even really want to accept it anymore.”

“No, you’ve got to.” Oh, shit. “I mean, you obviously don’t have to. It’s just the only way that my plan works. You should do whatever is right for you and your career.”

“B, I’m in. Whatever this plan is.”

I outline my plan. I know I can’t fight the fraternization rule. It’s too risky, especially with how high-profile of a guy Jameson is. I might not be getting what I want, but maybe I can take Kyle down with me.

When I finish, we nestle on the porch swing together, Jameson throwing his arm around my shoulders again as I lean into him. “I mean, it’s not as diabolical as him somehow getting you to recuse yourself from the promotion project, but I like it,” he says, giving the side of my head a kiss.

We sit there in silence for a few minutes before I say, “I really enjoyed celebrating with your family today. Thanks again for inviting me.”

“Of course. I’m so glad you could make it. Usually, it’s just me stuck playing peacekeeper between Lila and JT.”

I slide my hand into his. “You think that they hate each other…?” I don’t want to give anyone’s secrets away, but it sure seems like there is something more going on there.

He scoffs. “Oh, yes. Most definitely. Deep animosity between those two.”

“Hmm,” I reply.

His hands are warm in mine, his thumb slowly rubbing circles on the inside of my wrist as he says, “You know, I was thinking during dinner that maybe it’s time for me to sell my Florida house.”

“Really? Why?”

He kisses my forehead, my absolute favorite gesture. It’s just so…selfless. “It’s full of bad memories. And Florida made sense when I bought the place, but now it’s just”—he pauses, staring out into the yard—“a long way from all the people I love.”

“I kinda forget that you actually live in Florida. I always think of you like me, a bit of a nomad who just travels around, no permanent residence.”

“It’s not wrong. I may have had a house in Florida, but it was never really a home. It was basically an Airbnb I paid a lot of money to store my stuff at. But I also don’t really think of you as a nomad. Sure, you don’t have a house or an apartment, but you have a home. Your life is in Wild Bluffs.”

That’s true. My life is in Wild Bluffs. My sisters are there. My parents are there. But there has always been something that has held me back from pulling the trigger on making it permanent.

“Sure,” I say. “For now, at least.”

“Do you ever think about settling down? Buying a house in Wild Bluffs?”

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