Page 12 of My Pucking Valentine

ELEVEN

LUKE

After the fiveof us have discussed everything that can be discussed, which isn’t much at all and ends up being a question-and-answer session instead, I decide to get started on returning phone calls.

We have practice in a couple of hours, and I should just bite the fucking bullet on all these calls before I try to walk into practice and pretend that nothing is wrong. Because that’s what I want to do—live in a world where all this shit is just going to go away.

Judging by the calls, tags on social media, emails, and text messages, that’s not what’s going to happen, though.

Everyone disperses, and I can’t shake the looks of pity from my three friends and Eli's expression of disgust as they all go their separate ways. I head back to my room, closing and then locking the door behind me.

The first call I make is to my coach. Before I can even say a single word, on the second ring, Coach answers, and his greeting causes my spine to stiffen.

“What the actual fuck, Sullivan?” he roars.

I don’t know how he wants me to respond. I open my mouth, then snap my lips closed because he’s not finished screaming at me. Instead, I close my eyes and take it.

“You just fucked yourself, your team, and me. You fucking fucked me,” he rants.

I mean, he’s not wrong. I did fuck everyone. And I don’t know if there is anything worth saving when it comes to my career at this point. I don’t even know if I’m going to have a spot on the team by the end of today, and I know damn well no other team is going to welcome me onto their roster.

There’s a morality clause in every goddamn contract, and I’m pretty sure incest is one of the no-no’s, even if that’s not what this is. That’s how it’s being spun, so that’s what they’re going to say.

“She’s not my sister,” I state.

“What the fuck is she, then?”

I almost laugh but decide that this isn’t the best time to act as if any part of this is funny, and my coach would probably have a fucking heart attack if I did right now. Clearing my throat, I pinch my eyes closed as I slide my tongue along my bottom lip before I speak.

“She’s my stepsister.”

“That is only marginally better,” he deadpans, causing me to fight back a chuckle.

“When our parents got married, I was eighteen and she was sixteen. I met her once at the wedding and never saw her again until last year when she moved here for work.”

He grunts but doesn’t say anything immediately. So, I continue and wonder if I should record this story so I can play it backward for anyone who has questions because I have a feeling that the publicist and my agent are going to want this in detail.

“I’m not close to my father. I didn’t live with him after fourteen. I wasn’t raised with Clara. I literally met her once in sixteen years. When she got a job in Cleveland, my dad asked me to make sure her apartment was in a good area and to be there in case of an emergency. We met once for coffee, and the rest is history.”

“History is right,” he grumbles. “Get the fuck down here within half an hour. It’s time for a meeting.”

Fuck.

Ending the call, I don’t take a shower immediately to start getting ready. Instead, I call my agent. “I already know,” he announces.

“You don’t know it all,” I say.

I repeat the story. He hums but doesn’t respond. Sucking in a breath, I hold it for a moment and wait for him to say something, anything, and when he finally does, I’m relieved that it isn’tI’m dropping you. Honestly, I thought that’s what his next words were going to be.

“Publicity may be able to do something. I’ll see you at the office.”

That’s better thanfuck off, so I’ll take it. Ten minutes later, I’m showered and changed as I head out of the house. But when I pass by the kitchen, I stop at the sight of Eli sitting at the table alone.

“You hate me,” I say.

Slowly, his head lifts and his eyes find mine. “I don’t hate you,” he murmurs. “I’m disappointed, and I don’t understand how you could do something like this. Not only all of that, but you kept it a secret.”

I snort. “Everything that’s going on, this is why I kept it a fucking secret. Clara did, too.”

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