Page 42 of Scoring Grey

I furrow my brow and pull up my news app and sure as fuck there’s a picture of me asleep on the team plane, but I’m not alone. Cozied up on my right with her head lying on my shoulder is BlairfuckingWyndham. I pinch the bridge of my nose and Eloise snatches the phone from my hand. She’s off the bed before I can stop her.

“Eloise, I swear that’s not what it looks like.”

Her eyes study the picture, and Iverson says, “Eloise, you’re with him?”

“Yes…” she says, biting her thumb.

“Say the word, and I’ll send the corporate plane to pick you up. I’ll have someone collect your things.”

I’m off the bed and at her front. When I reach for her, she puts her hands up. “Don’t touch me.”

My eyes widen in surprise. After everything, she’s believing this picture over what we shared and over what I know she can feel. “Eloise, that picture was taken this morning, and you know exactly where I was and who I was with last night.”

Her eyes flash up to mine, a storm brewing in the depths of her blues. “Do I? What about after?”

“Eloise—” Iverson and I say in unison.

“Stop.” She closes her eyes and tosses my phone onto the bed. “Just stop. Both of you. I need a minute.”

My heart is pounding. I’m mad and scared that she’ll say I don’t want you anymore, just like before. The next thing I know, she’s storming down the hallway. “Eloise,” I call after her, uncaring that her brother might still be on the phone. The only person I currently care about is walking away from me. She doesn’t stop, and when I see she’s going straight for the door, I pick up my step and cut her off. “Please don’t, please don’t walk out that door on me. Let me explain.”

“Get out of my way, Callum,” she demands, not meeting my eyes.

“No,” I answer, resolute in my stance. “This is what broke us apart the first time. I refuse to let it come between us now.”

Her eyes slowly rise to mine, and for a second, I believe she hears the reason behind my ask. We can’t keep running, but then she says, “The hurt in your heart as you stood in the middle of the cafeteria believing I chose your best friend over you…” She swallows hard. “Is nothing compared to feeling like the father of your child, a man you hoped would protect your heart is nothing but a selfish manipulator.”

Her words are like a punch to the gut. The pounding inside my chest as my heart tries to find a vessel more suited for survival steals my breath, but somehow, I manage to say, “Is that what you really think of me?”

She angrily runs her hands through her hair. “I don’t know. I need a fucking minute.”

I don’t know why, my mind surely doesn’t agree, but my heart manages to move my hands and feet, and I step out of the way, only to open the door for her. Letting go is hard, but holding onto someone who doesn’t feel the same is brutal. She walks out, and I close the door behind her before I do something stupid like force her to stay. When it comes to matters of the heart, nothing can be forced. You can’t make someone love you. It’s either there or it’s not. I might want her to stay, but I need her to return on her own. The only love that’s real is felt, not forced.

I let my head hit the door, and no sooner my eyes close than I hear Iverson.

“Balfour!” he yells my name. I let out a heavy sigh and trudge down the hall to my room.

“I didn’t fucking cheat on your sister. I thought you, out of everyone, would know better than to accuse me of that shit,” I spit, reclaiming my phone. Iverson has been an ally of sorts over the years. Of course, he’ll always stand beside his sister and take her side no matter what, but for whatever reason, he’s tossed me many bones over the years. Hell, Dash Westin is conveniently staying in Eloise’s condo because he got wind of the ultimatums I gave when Arlo was in town. High Tower could easily afford to put Dash up somewhere. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s probably a company policy when you send employees away on work-related travel; you have to pay their expenses. However, Iverson knew it would put Eloise and me under the same roof. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t lose my shit when Dash arrived while I was out of town. Iverson gave me the heads-up.

“Explain it to me,” he demands with a bite in his tone. Part of me wants to hang up. I have bigger fucking issues to address now that this picture leaked, but I’m also eager to tell my truth.

“The girl in the picture is Blair Wyndham?—”

“How about you start telling me the shit I don’t know. Her name is clearly posted in the article, along with a bit about how the two of you were friends in high school who recently reconnected, and your instant connection couldn’t be ignored.”

“It says all that? Christ! I can’t believe she’d boldface lie to the papers.” I pace at the foot of my bed. “I can assure you there wasn’t then, and there isn’t anything now between Blair Wyndham and me. She was hired as the team’s new publicist almost a week after Eloise arrived in town. I’ve avoided her as best I can given her new position with the team, and I thought I had made it abundantly clear she was to keep her distance from me. Last week, I threatened her and her camera guy when I caught him snapping a picture of us talking outside the team bus. I almost crushed the guy’s camera on the spot.”

I pause to breathe and he asks, “When was this picture taken?”

“On the plane ride home earlier, and I know for certain she wasn’t in that seat when I fell asleep.”

“Who was?”

I’m just about to answer when I see a call from my coach coming through. “Iverson, Coach Beck is calling. I have to take this call. Do me a favor and make sure Adler doesn’t see this picture before I have a chance to get my lawyers on this mess. I swear on my mother’s grave, your sister is the only woman I’ve ever loved. I’m going to fix this.”

“You better. If not, you may as well start digging your plot next to your mother. I won’t let you hurt her again.”

“I’ll jump in the damn hole and toss you the gun if I don’t fix this. All I want is my family. I gotta go.”

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