Page 59 of Wait For It

She yawned and stretched her arms overhead. “Now that I’ve had a nice cry, I require a nap. And you—you’re going to be yourself, and then you’re going to go get your Nickie!”

Be myself.

Tsega wheeled me down the hall, slowing as she neared Killian’s door. “You want to knock, or should I?”

I pointed to my temple and winced, my eyes flooding with fresh tears.

“Oh, Ari,” she sighed. “Today has just been too much. Let’s get back to the room and rest.”

God help me, it was a lie.

The real Ariana was a fraud—no better than the other actors. Just because I’d changed my mind before I could go through with it didn’t give me an automatic second chance. Maybe my penance would be feeling this ache in my chest every time I saw him.

As I looked at Killian’s door, I thought of Terry, trying to explain to Nickie how she’d gotten into an accident as she rushed to meet him at the Empire State Building.

‘Oh, it’s nobody’s fault but my own! I was looking up... it was the nearest thing to heaven! You were there…’

The nearest thing to heaven…

He was—but just as out of reach.

Chapter Twelve

Killian

“Progress always involves risks. You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.”

-Frederick B. Wilcox

The foodatTrue Northwas supposed to be top of the line, yet I hadn’t tasted a single bite of my grilled chicken sandwich as I read over the text message my father had sent just before dawn.

Until recently, Saturdays had always been designated parent days in his book. Now, it felt like he was calling me almost daily. I wondered if he had reminders set in his phone, or if the inclination to reach out to his wayward son just came naturally. Even my mama had been pleading with me to hear him out.

Dad-

Have you heard from the team? I think you need to put the pressure on Theo to handle this before the press forms their own opinions. Love you, but this can’t wait.

Love you, but…

There it was. The caveat—because, apparently, I wasn’t worthy of something without a catch. My dad loved me,butI could do better. On the verge of being offered a slew of contracts,butI blew out my knee. I finally met a nice girl,butthere was a catch.

Maybe it was asking a lot, but just once, I wanted the universe to give me something without that damn conjunction attached to it.

Although, if experience had taught me anything, it was that there was always going to be an angle.

Moving up to the majors was like winning the lottery. Ex-girlfriends… long-lost relatives… there was always someone popping up out of the woodwork, looking to capitalize on my success.

I’d had women claim they were friends of my sister’s in an attempt to get close to me—failing to bother with even the most basic ofGooglesearches. If they had, they would have discovered I was an only child.

Then there were the particularly vicious few who’d claimed to be pregnant with my ‘love child,’ only to balk when my lawyers insisted on a paternity test. Those cases had only solidified my decision to remain celibate for the remainder of my natural life.

There had been so many over the years. I’d learned to spot a con from a mile away. The women were all the same, blinded by their own expectations of who I was. When the girl-next-door persona failed to get my attention, they seemed to have no issue with browsing the supermarket tabloid covers for new ideas.

But Ari—I could honestly say she was the one I never saw coming. I hadn’t wanted to believe someone like her could ever have a motive.

News had spread throughoutTrue Northin a matter of hours. All anyone wanted to talk about was Ari’s ridiculous outfit. As much as it irritated me that people had nothing better to do, I had to remind myself it wasn’t my problem anymore.

It was over before it even really began, but my sex-starved brain hadn’t gotten the memo. I’d had dreams of Ari all night, none of which ended with a kiss on the jaw.

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