Page 80 of Wildly Inappropriate

“Nothing,” he lies, his blue eyes meeting mine. They look dull, and my heart aches as I mourn the loss of his normal twinkle.

“That’s not true!” I shout. “I know you fought with your parents last night. I know they lost all their money. I know.”

“You…know?” he asks, his voice barely rising with the question, so it comes out as a statement instead.

“Yes. I accidentally heard you all talking in the hall. And I’m worried about you, JT. You’re not handling it well.”

“Oh, really? And you get to decide that, huh?”

I hold up my hands in a placating gesture. “I’m just worried about you. You’re…despondent.”

His eyes flash at that, and I recognize the signs of JT about to enter battle. As worried as it makes me, I’m also glad to see the flicker of life in him.

“I’mfocused, Lila. If you listened in on my conversation, which is a real dick move by the way, you know how important today is to me and my parents.”

“It was an accident,” I defend myself before realizing I’m getting off track. “Look, I’m sorry about invading your privacy, but I’m not sorry I found out. This level of focus is not healthy. You barely touched your food this morning. You ran into the goddamn door and didn’t even flinch. You’re in your head. You’re stressed. That’s not conducive for anyone doing their best work.”

“And what would you know about it, huh? You’ve had a job for all of six weeks now. I’ve been golfing at the highest level for almost a decade. Don’t try to tell me how to do my job, Lila. I’ve been successfully navigating it without you for a long time now.”

“I’m just trying to help,” I say, and I hate how small my voice is. “Jameo always says he plays worse when he tries too hard. I’m just…trying to help. Trying to support you.”

“Well, you’re doing a poor job of it.” He’s leaning forward now, his voice an angry rumble. “And I’m not Jameo. I’ve carried the guilt of my parents’ sacrifice my entire life. I’ve watched my dad’s video commentary, day after day, week after week, year after fucking year since I was nine. It reminds me of all he’s done for me. All the hours he’s poured into my career and my happiness. Don’t act like you know what’s best for me.”

“Okay. Okay. I’m sorry,” I say. “I just wanted you to know I’m here to support you. I can help you.”

“Oh, really? Do you have a few million dollars in your purse I can borrow?”

A tear runs down my cheek, and I wipe it away quickly, embarrassed how poorly this has gone.

“No,” I say, even though it was a hypothetical question, as we both know I have nowhere near the amount of money he needs to help his parents.

“Well, then, I guess the only thing left you can do to help is to let me focus.”

The tears are openly falling down my cheeks as JT turns his attention back to his phone, dismissing me and our conversation. I wipe them with the hem of my shirt as I stand up from the bed and head toward the door.

“I’m going to go get some coffee,” I say, though, as expected, JT doesn’t respond.

I slide to the floor as soon as the door to our room closes, pulling my knees to my chest as I cry. Knowing it’s my fault for pushing when I shouldn’t have, but not knowing what I should’ve done better.

Chapter thirty-eight

JT

I lost. I placedso low, I didn’t even make enough to cover the cost of being here—it’s not cheap flying private, staying in a hotel for five days, or paying my caddie.

I let my parents down because I couldn’t hit the damn ball straight to save my life—or my parents’ life, I suppose.

I’m back in my hotel room, our flight scheduled for tomorrow in the hope we would be celebrating tonight.

“Do you want me to see if Jameo and Bryn want to change the flight to tonight?” Lila asks. It’s the first time we’ve communicated since I got back to the room after the round. Since our fight this morning, really. We’ve been sitting in silence since I walked in three minutes ago and the sight of Lila made my heart race with a joy I knew I couldn’t let myself feel.

Sheknewhow important it was for me to play well today, and yet she chose this morning to pick a fight with me about my parents. Of course I was off my game after having a major fight with my girlfriend. The more I think about it, the more I realize my parents have been right about dating all along. It is a distraction I can’t afford. I know she didn’t mean to throw me off my game. I know she likely had the best intentions at heart, but I also know the unfortunate truth of the situation is that I can’t let another tournament like today happen. Which might mean I need to let Lila go. She can find a boyfriend who will be around and focused on her, and I can spend my time helping my parents get what they need.

“Doesn’t matter” is my only contribution to the conversation. Realizing I can’t be with Lila feels like someone is slowly constricting my airways.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asks.

“What? Yeah. Sure.” I stand up, staring blankly at my closet.

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