Page 264 of Vegas Heat

I’m scared to do this at all, but having to do it without Cooper seems like the sort of daunting task that I can’t face.

It’s not like I’llnevertell him. I’m just waiting for the right time.

Because we all know how well the last time I waited forthe right timewent.

Sometimes there isn’t a right time.

There’s a knock on the office door, and then it opens. My dad walks in as I wipe away my tears.

“I don’t want to talk to you right now,” I say with a sniffle as my voice trembles.

“I don’t really want to talk to you, either,” he admits, and he sits on the chair beside me. “But you’re my daughter, and whatever else went down today, whatever secrets and lies and betrayals were unveiled, that’s the one relationship that won’t change as a result.”

I grunt, unable to form any sort of reply, and a beat of awkward silence passes between us as I start to feel like I don’t really know him at all.

If he truly loved me, wouldn’t he want me to be happy?

Instead, I feel like he said something to Cooper that made him feel like he didn’t have any other choice but to walk away from us.

“Where’s Joanie?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Not here.”

“Did you talk to her?”

“Long enough to end things with her,” he says quietly, his eyes down on the ground.

“What did you say to Cooper?” I ask.

He glances up at me. “That’s between him and me.”

I blow out a frustrated breath as an annoyed growl gurgles in the back of my throat. “Whatever you said caused him to come in here and break my heart, so I sort of feel like I’m a little bit involved.”

He sighs. “I told him I would always choose you over anyone else. I told him it was wrong for him to take advantage of you, and that he made commitments to the team.”

I press my lips together. “He chose the team over me, so I hope you’re happy.”

“I’m not. I fucking hate that you all lied to me, and I fucking hate how all this went down today.”

“Like it matters,” I spit. “The end result is the same. You never would’ve approved of us whether we lied to you or we were open from the beginning.”

“I guess we’ll never know if that’s true.” He raises his brows pointedly, and it feels very much like the end of this conversation.

“I’d like to go home now,” I say.

He nods. “Of course. I will not be coming home tonight. I’ll send someone to pick up my bags for Arizona in the morning.”

“Right.” I should tell him to have a good trip or win some games or something, but I can’t seem to muster any of it up.Instead, I stand and move toward the door without another word.

“I’ll miss you, Gabriella. I’m sorry for how all this went down, but trust me. It’s better this way.”

I freeze by the door, and then I turn around to face him. “I wish you trusted me enough to make that decision for myself.”

I open the door and head for the first stairwell I find, hoping against hope I don’t somehow land in a sex room on my way out of this strange place.

CHAPTER 3: COOPER

What have I done?

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