Page 241 of Vegas Heat

I feel sucker punched, and I actually take a step back at her words. “What I’m doing to him?” I repeat. “What, exactly, has he said I’m doing?”

“You’ve got connections the others don’t have, and you’re going to get that position because of who you’re related to when you don’t even care about baseball. You don’t deserve it.”

“Excuse me?” I say, my hand moving to my chest defensively. “I have worked my ass off to try for the position. And I do care about baseball. A lot.”

“More than our friendship,” she mutters.

My brows pinch together. “Are you kidding me? We’ve all been busy! You’ve got your own internship, too, and you’re always with Dylan—”

She cuts me off. “I already told you to keep his name out of your mouth. You should take your name out of contention for that position. Give someone else a chance instead of getting it because you’re related to the manager and you’re fucking a player.”

Tears pinch behind my eyes. I can’t believe she just said that to me, and I have no idea what Dylan has been coming home to tell her, but there’s no way it’s the truth.

I’ve worked really fucking hard to get to where I am. Do I have connections? Absolutely. Have I used them?

Not really.

Yet her words press on every insecurity I have. She confirms that I’m not good enough—not deserving enough—and it causes my chest to feel a little hollow.

It also makes me feel like my friendship with her has run its course. We’ve been friends a long time, and we’ve gotten into fights before, but we always find our way back.

This, though? I’m not sure we can come back from this one.

“Wow,” I murmur. “Great knowing what you really think.”

I spin on my heel and head back out the front door that we never closed behind us, and I rush down to my car. A text comes through just as I draw in a shaky breath in my driver’s seat.

Captain:Where are you?

I’m looking blindly through tears as I read it.

Me:Just leaving Mia’s. You?

Captain:Just got home. Do you have time to come over?

Me:On my way.

I decide to call Justin on my way to Cooper’s as a distraction from what just went down.

“Hey girl hey,” he answers.

“Hey boy hey. What’s going on?” I ask.

“Nothing. Just waiting for Brian to finish dinner with his parents before he comes over.”

“Do his parents know about you two?”

“His do. Mine still don’t,” he admits.

“Are you ever going to tell them?”

He clears his throat rather pointedly. “Are you ever going to tell your dad about you and Cooper?”

I blow out a breath. “Touché. But the answer is yes. We agreed to tell him.”

“You did? When?”

“We don’t have awhen. I guess I’m just…”

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