Page 137 of Waiting Game

She pulls away from me, but I consider it a positive that she doesn’t slap me.

Instead, on wobbly legs, she retreats to the bar where she pours herself a massive glass of whiskey.

There are so many fingers in that glass, it might as well be a hand.

Whistling, I also head to the bar, surprised when she shoves the glass at me and pours herself one too.

“You’ve…” The croaky words freeze before she can get them out. Then, with her hand still trembling, she lifts the glass to her mouth and takes a deep sip.

I’m almost impressed when she doesn’t cough.

She guzzles it down, turning bright red as she does. Then, she gulps some more, and I lean over the counter to snag the rest from her before she can polish it off.

“I get that this is a conversation worthy of alcohol, but let’s not end it in the hospital, eh?”

She scoffs. “I grew up in this place, Cole.”

“Does that mean your liver’s immune to alcohol?”

That has her grimacing.

“Going to assume that your uncle wasn’t the best case of having a healthy relationship with booze...”

That earns me a wince.

She gives up the tug of war with her drink then rests her hand on the counter. Her fingers starfish as she bows her head then mumbles, “That’s whyCalKorwent through the personality shift.”

She recognized that?

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Her throat bobs. “You paid me a small fortune this summer.”

I hum. “Worth it.”

That has her gaze hunting mine down. “How was it? You paid tens of thousands of dollars—” She croaks out the words. “—to watch me bounce on a dildo.”

“I can afford it.” My jaw works though. “I hated that you were doing that. My brother told me how he was in love with you and that he wanted to run away with you to save you from having to do the cam-girling.” I bite off a dour laugh. “I thought he was insane until I found myself offering you fourteen grand a week to be my private cam girl.” I purse my lips. “I have no regrets.”

“Jerk.”

I sniff. “How can I regret it? I’ve clearly been propping this placeand youup. If anything, I regret that you know now because we’ll have to stop with that stuff or you’ll think I’m treating you like a hooker when I’m not.

“All I want is to support you. It killed something in me to see you so worn down even if you tried to hide it.

“I don’t want my legacy whereas you want yours, but I get how it is.”

She gnaws on her bottom lip. “You think that Iwantthis place? What alternative do I have?”

“Coaching, of course. I think that you can’t let it go,” I muse. “I also understand how that feels.

“I spent my childhood watching my mum get beaten by my father, watched her turn into a shadow as he yelled at her, and then I witnessed her breaking free of her chrysalis and getting the hell away from him. All on that land.” I take a deep sip of my drink. “You ever heard the sound of horses dying by being burned alive in a stable fire, Mia?”

Her gasp is horrified. “No!”

I close my eyes. “I can still hear them some nights.” When I open them next, I know I’m crying. She has tears in hers too. “They were fucking terrified and there was nothing I could do.

“Pops ended up tying me to this railing at the front of our house with rope. My adrenaline was so jacked that I pulled down the porch to get free but it was…” My head shakes of its own volition. “I fucking hate that place. I hate it with every goddamn part of me, and yet…” I sigh. “It’s still home. I only go back there forthatand my brothers.”

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