Page 50 of Those Heartbreak Scars

I still have no compunction to share with him when it comes to America. I know his opinion on what we’re doing, and I don’t need him to reiterate it.

I call him back anyway. He has no way of knowing his cousin is taking up space in my bed.

EJ picks up the other end. “You’ve been quiet lately.”

“I’ve been busy.” I clear my throat. “With work.”

“Tell me about it.” EJ chuckles. “I’m dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on a settlement upward of three billion dollars. This shit is not for the weak.”

“Mikey Valance’s deal with the Bears blew up. We’re scrambling to find him a new team.”

He lets out a low whistle. “Fuck.”

“Fuck is right.”

“If anyone can bring it back from the brink it’s you,” he says.

“I hope so.” I open my emails to see some of my feelers are already being returned. My bosses aren’t showing the same confidence. They’ve decided to put Crew in charge of Mikey’s contract negotiations. They don’t trust me to do the job I used to be so good at. It’s been like this since I came back. But it won’t stop me from reaching out to my contacts. Mikey’s career hasto come first. Hopefully this shows my bosses that they can still trust me. “How are your parents?”

We make small talk while I write emails and check player stats. The feelers I put out for Mikey are turning up some good leads. This might actually work out in his favor. I forward a few of them to Crew. Mikey’s career and his family are more important than my ego.

EJ’s putting the final touches on the settlement that he’s presenting tomorrow.

“We’re all heading to the Dells—” He stumbles to a halt. “Shit.”

“I’m not invited.” It’s the only reason he’s wishing he kept his mouth shut. It’s a family trip and that used to include me.

“No. That’s not… Of course you are.” Everything about the way he says it tells me that he’d rather go to the dentist and have teeth pulled than the awkwardness that would be me showing up to that trip. “It’s just… it’s to celebrate Indy’s recovery. It’s been almost a year.”

“I’m aware.” I’m aware of how long it has been since she ripped out my heart, stomped on it, and left it a beating zombie inside my chest.

“And Theo’s family lives out that way. And then there’s America and what happened in Positano. Have you seen her since you’ve been in the UK?”

I glance toward the bedroom. “No.”

“No? As in you haven’t reached out? Or no, as in she doesn’t want to see you?”

“I haven’t had the time.” I open another email from the office. I’m almost done with probation. I’ll have proved that I’m stable and trustworthy. I’ll get my client list back. And can stopworrying about whether my job is secure. My breath sticks in my throat as I stare at the words until they blur. “I’ve been too busy courting Everett Mann.”

“It’s probably for the best,” he says.

Yeah, it might be if it were true. But we’re so far past that. And there’s a good chance that I’m going to have to pay for it with my career. All-Star wants me to stay on, but only as long as I bring Mann. Without him… I won’t have a job.

“You’re still my brother. You don’t need to be dating my sister to be family.” Or dating his cousin. That part he leaves unsaid, but it’s there in the undercurrent. “Want to play some?”

“Think I’m going to log off actually.” I slump back in the chair. I suspected it would come down to something like this. But not over Mann. “Get some sleep. Next time?”

“For sure.”

Hanging up, I close my laptop too. Lumbering to my feet, I stretch as I consider going back to bed with America. She’s soft in all the right places, and smells so good.

But there are ghosts in the shadows of my mind and now, unemployment on the horizon. So I pace the living area and search for a nearby pizza place on my phone.

“Can’t sleep?” America fills the bedroom doorway when I glance up. She’s wearing my shirt. As I watch, she lifts the collar to her nose. “Is everything okay?”

Those beautiful legs, those sweet curves, those gorgeous expressive eyes are all fast becoming kryptonite. I’ll work out how to get Mann to sign. I don’t have another option. Although I wonder how much harder that will be once America tells him it’s over.

He seems to truly like her. If he realizes I had anything to do with why she no longer wants to see him he’ll no doubt be more interested in kicking my ass than signing on the bottom line.

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