Page 66 of Broken Player

His patience for my antics would only go so far in public. Like mine, his instinct was to protect, so I didn't mind losing my shit in front of him.

Four minutes.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I was so fucking glad to have the distraction. I pulled up the message and shot up out of my chair, almost knocking it over as I read the screen.

Ryan: I need you.

Ryan: Please.

I didn't give a fuck about the strangers around me who were now staring at me distastefully for causing a scene. Fuck themall. "I've gotta find her," I blurted, kicking the chair out of my way so I could get out of this aisle without passing twenty-five people along the way. My girl needed me. Hope bloomed in my chest. Had something happened? Had she changed her mind?

Sprinting out of the tent, I was suddenly completely sober, but I realized I had no idea where to find her. I pulled out my phone and shot off a quick message.

Maddox: I'm coming. Where are you?

It took the longest fucking ten seconds of my life for her to respond.

Ryan: Just inside the back door of the estate. Go left, first door on the left. Hurry.

I sprinted across the grass with Connor right behind me. Bursting through the back door, I frantically scanned the huge room I found myself in. There were so many goddamn doors, but I would spend all day opening every single one if it meant getting to my girl when she needed me. Nothing would stop me.

There was a hallway off to the left, so I decided to start there, flinging the first door open. The anger melted out of me when I saw Ryan standing near the window with tears streaking down her face. She was alone in the room, and Connor discretely stepped out behind me, closing the door behind him. I knew he'd stand guard and not let anyone in here to figure out whatever the fuck was happening right now.

My breath caught when my gaze raked down her body and took in how the white lace dress she wore hugged every curve, falling and pooling around her feet. "You look beautiful," I breathed, moving up beside her. I let my fingers trace down her arm, the feel of her skin igniting electric sparks under my fingertips.

"Thank you," she sniffled, wiping at her eyes before throwing herself into my arms, sobbing against my chest. I held her tight against me, breathing her in and never wanting to let go. I wasn'tsure what was going on, but I didn't care if we stood here like this forever. At this moment, she didn't belong to anyone but me. There was no one else in the world, but Ryan and I.

Her body trembled against mine while she quietly cried, and I hated that she was sad and hurting. If I could take her pain on myself, I'd do it in a goddamn second.

"Shh," I cooed. "Everything's going to be okay, Freckles. I promise." And I meant it. I'd do anything to make Ryan happy.

She leaned back a little, but still clung to me as if she were afraid I'd disappear and leave her alone to face reality, her fist bunched at the back of my jacket. Her red-rimmed eyes and mascara-streaked cheeks made me want to kill someone for making her cry. She looked as miserable as I felt.

"What's going on?" I finally asked after staring into her eyes for an eternity trying to figure out what was going through her head but being no closer to an answer.

She took a deep breath, exhaling shakily and gripping me even tighter. "I have something to tell you."

My body shook so hard my teeth clacked together. Maddox tightened his grip on me, his eyes filled with concern. I sniffled because my nose was starting to run, but I couldn’t really find it in me to care. The guilt I felt for going this far with the agreement I made with Yates was weighing down on me so heavily, if Maddox loosened his grip, I thought I might collapse.

Tears streamed down my face, and I was sure I looked like a complete disaster.

He brushed the stray hair that had fallen across my face away. “What did you need to tell me?” he asked softly. My stomach twisted at the thought of confessing my secret to Maddox. If he left me here by myself right now, I didn’t know if I could handle it.

Now that I was getting ready to spill all the sordid details of my arrangement with Yates, nondisclosure agreement be damned, I was picking a side. I was choosing Maddox. I hoped once he heard what I did, he’d still want me.

“Before I tell you, please believe me when I say I thought I was out of options. I thought it didn’t matter. It was before you came back, and I finally started to give up on my last bits of hope that you’d ever return home.”

He flinched lightly but quickly recovered, his thumb brushing back and forth across my upper back in a comfortingmotion. He still had his arms wrapped around me, holding me up. “It’s okay, Freckles. Just tell me.”

The nerves made his voice tremble. He was on edge, waiting for me to explain, and I couldn’t blame him. Taking one last deep breath, I began. “A little over a month ago, I intercepted a notice from the bank that our ranch was being foreclosed. It had progressed far enough that they set a date for the auction. My parents never told me.”

He sucked in a sharp breath, his grip around me tightening a little, but he didn’t say anything. So I kept going. “Quinn and I talked it over, and I decided I needed to do something. The hopelessness and resignation in my dad’s eyes killed me.”

Maddox nodded. “That land is his entire life. I know.” I loved that I didn’t have to explain it to him. He just knew how important this was to my parents.

Instead of keeping the distance between us so that I could look into his eyes, I rested my cheek against his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat instead, letting it calm me. “The next day, I went to the bank and applied for a loan. That was where I met Yates. He was the one I talked to about everything, and he denied my application. But then he asked me to dinner.”

Maddox’s muscles tensed, and his heartbeat quickened, but he stayed silent. “That was the day you were a jerk and refused the cookies I’d baked you. Do you remember?”

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