Page 101 of Hold On Me

I slam the sandwich down so hard the plate rattles, and lock eyes with her. Hearing her explain my sad little existence for the last week is fuelling the anger inside me.

“Oh, I’m so sorry if I’m upsetting you. I mean, it’s not like the whole town doesn’t know my personal business. And let’s not forget my dad is barely speaking to me because rather than letting him help me, I lied about my job, left myself vulnerableand in danger, and acted like it a fucking brat when he called me on it. I have no job. My so-called brothers are all treating me like I’m fragile and made of glass—well, except Jenson who is outright pissed at me. And,andthe person I thought I could trust turned out to be a snitch. So excuse me if I don’t feel like smiling and just want to wallow in my heartbreak.”

I push the plate even further away, stand up, and run straight to my bedroom. I should never have let her in in the first place, but she’s the only one who’s bothered to check on me. The boys sent me some texts, upset I’d kept things from them, and when I went to see my dad the night after the gala, he was so disappointed, I had to leave.

“Why didn’t you tell us? You know I’m always here for you. We all are.”

His face is etched with disappointment and I have to look away when I spot tears welling in his eyes.

“I didn’t think I needed to. I had it handled.”

“And that's all that matters, isn’t it? Penny has everything handled, so god forbid her family, the people who love her, want to help. You never let us in. Any of us. We try to be there for you, but you shut us out time and time again. People love you, Penny. People want to be there for you. You need to start letting them.

“If you’d told us, we wouldn’t be here right now, would we? I wouldn’t be forced to watch my beautiful daughter become a shell of herself because she’s alienated everyone in her life and is now heartbroken. You had a good thing going with Ben. You loved the job. Maybe not as much as teaching, but you still loved it.”

I refuse to listen to most of it because it’s too painful, so I latch onto the part I can hear without it hurting. “That’s what this is all about isn’t it? Your beloved job. I only took it to helpyou in the first place. You don’t care about anything but your stupid Spartans and Ben.”

As soon as the words have left my lips I know I’m wrong. I’m acting like a petulant little child.

“If you believe that, Penelope, then I’ve failed you as a father. My whole life has always been about you. And it always will. It's why it hurts to watch you shut people out because of the hurt your mom caused you. When you’re ready to apologise and accept what you’ve done, I’ll be here. But until then, I’d like you to leave.”

Walking away from my dad’s place was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I know he’s right. I know I shut people out. I had a beautiful, caring, and attentive man declare his love for me, and instead of acknowledging that, accepting it and shouting from the rooftops that I loved him too, I paid it no mind and crushed it under my heel when I walked away from him.

And now I’ve pushed Angie away, the one person on my side. As the front door snicks shut, I know I’ve finally gotten what I wanted. I’m alone. And I let the tears fall from my eyes as I sob.

52

BEN

“I don’t care.”

My lawyer scowls at me. “He refused the mill you offered and put a counteroffer in—5 millandthe Spartans. Start caring.”

A laugh full of disbelief and outright irritation bellows from my throat. I know I should care, but I can’t bring myself to give a damn. I know it’s impossible for him to take the team from me—the team of lawyers that work for me have already confirmed that—but it’s absurd he’d even ask for it. The bastard assaulted my Little One, and now has the audacity to think he has the upper hand.

“Sort it then. It’s what I pay you for, after all.” I spit the words at my lawyer, who blows a breath of air out of his mouth, throws his hands up in despair, and storms from my office.

Brooks refused to press charges with the police, which probably would’ve been easier to deal with. Instead, he’s delighting in having the opportunity to sue my arse, and I can’t bring myself to give a fuck. My lawyer can handle it all, because I just don’t care. I won’t be going to prison, and I won’t be giving him the team or five million dollars either. I only offered the one mill to get him to go away quickly and quietly. I was justified indishing out everything he got. And my lawyers are better than his, anyway.

Dragging my hands through my hair, I lean back in my chair and stare at the ceiling, trying to figure out how the fuck I got here and why. And there’s only one word to explain it.

Penelope.

It’s been over a week and I haven’t heard a single word from her. At this point, I’d even welcome being served papers from her for breaking the NDA, but I’ve had nothing.

There’s no point in reaching out to her, I know she’ll ignore me. She hates me again. Hank’s tried to talk to me, but I keep shutting him out. I don’t want his pity. And I know no matter what he says, his loyalty is with his daughter. Just like the rest of the Bradys. As it should be.

I’ve left all the group chats, ignored the messages from Jameson and Jenson. Left them unopened on my phone. I don’t want them to feel like they have to choose. She needs them more than I do. I’m just grateful they showed me what it was like to be part of a family like theirs, no matter how short the experience was.

BANG!

I jump from my chair at the loud noise, banging my knee on my desk as I do, and curse loudly. “Motherfucking fuck!”

Jenson’s deep laugh fills my office.

I scowl at him, not the least bit amused. “What are you doing here? You should be at training.”

“The season’s over, Boss. Or did you forget how badly we sucked this year? No playoffs for us, so we’re officially on break and you know it.” He folds his arms over his chest and stands in the doorway.

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