Page 89 of The Breaking Point

Elodie shrugged. “Whatever. You don’t always have to say yes to fans. You’re out to dinner right now.”

“Elodie was still polite to them,” I said.

“Oh, I know,” said Mac, sighing, “but I know what happens when you piss people off. Sometimes it’s easier to just say yes and avoid the bad press.”

“Since when did you care about bad press?” Elodie asked, frowning.

Mac’s expression turned serious. “When I started dating you, babe. People can say whatever they want, but when they say shit about you ...” He grimaced. “It fucking sucks.”

“Hey, whatever. It’s okay to say no,” said Elodie. Her gaze turned toward me. “But I will say, dating a famous person has a lot of baggage that comes with it. It doesn’t help when fans get offended when their favorite celebrity starts dating somebody.”

I bit my lip. Since Brady and I weren’t officially dating, I hadn’t had anybody talking about me online. Nobody even knew that I existed.

“I won’t let people fuck with you,” Brady said to me. He squeezed my hand under the table.

“You can’t really control that, unfortunately,” said Elodie.

“But you can always change the narrative. You just have to stay on top of it. If something blows up, get it under control as soon as possible,” said Mac.

I couldn’t help but think about Brady going to the Scarlet Rope. He’d said he didn’t care if people found out, but was that true? And what if fans found out we’d been there together?

I realized I hadn’t been as careful as I should be. I felt a little sick to my stomach.

“And women are always throwing themselves at these guys,” Elodie was saying as she rolled her eyes. “It’s insane. I’ll be standing right there, and women will try to get you to go home with them.”

Mac looked embarrassed. “I never say yes.”

“I’m not worried about you. But it’s just so brazen.” Elodie shook her head. She said to me, “Anyway, I don’t know if this is helping you feel good about dating Brady. But you should know the downsides, too.”

“I think I’m more worried about how people will react when they find out I’m the coach’s daughter,” I admitted.

Mac and Elodie glanced at each other.

“How are you going to deal with that, exactly?” Mac asked.

Brady answered for me. “One day at a time,” he said firmly. “And we don’t owe anybody an explanation.”

“Maybe, but you might think about how you’ll frame the story. Turn it into a star-crossed lovers romance that people will think is romantic instead of, you know, nepotistic,” said Elodie.

“I was already on the team,” said Brady, frowning. “How is this nepotism?”

“My man, people will find a reason,” said Mac, shaking his head. “Believe me.”

“Well, whatever does happen, you guys were already friends, so that helps a lot. Mac and I have already gone through a bunch of shit, but we got through it because our relationship was worth fighting for,” said Elodie.

Mac looked down at his fiancée, love pouring out of his expression. It was so intense that I almost looked away.

I wondered if Brady would ever look at me like that. Sure, he wanted me, but would he everloveme? And not just as a guy who’d been around my family for years and cared about us all in a general sense.

Our food arrived right then, diverting my attention. We all focused on our food. And I had to admit, it was amazing. I hadn’t had fried chicken like this in ages.

When I moaned and licked my fingers, Brady gave me a heated look. I just licked my fingers a second time to remind him of what he could be enjoying tonight if he wanted.

“Stop it,” Brady growled under his breath.

I grinned. “Make me.”

“Hey, you two, get a room,” joked Mac.

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