Page 139 of Hot Shot

“It’s too late. I already did.”

I pace back. “There has to be somebody higher up. There has to be?—”

“Wilder!”At the pain and sharpness in that word, my gaze snaps to hers. Her face is crumpled, her eyes shining, skin flushed with emotion. “It’s too late! It doesn’t matter that I didn’t do anything wrong. Cricket is fighting with Avery. You hit her dad. It doesn’t matter if Cricket didn’t cut Avery’s hair. It doesn’t matter that he swung first. Don’t you see? Don’t you get it?”

“Yeah, but?—”

“No!”Tears stream down her face, her voice wobbling and hitching with sobs. “I’ve lost the job I’ve w-workedso hardfor because I agreed to do thisfor you. And I know it’s not your fault. I know that. But that’s the truth of it. I gave e-everything to you, agreed to this whole thing for Cricket, and somehow I ended up a wife and a mom b-but whatIwanted, whatIneeded? It’s gone. I wasn’t supposed to be here, but I got caught up in this whole lie, pretended to be married to you so you could keep her. I did that foryou. I did that forher.And the price I paid was the one thing I did forme.”

Cricket’s door slams.

Our heads turn to the sound. Cass is dead still, her face wide with horror.

We share a look before I walk to the door and open it. Cricket isn’t there.

Cass doesn’t move, but I go to Cricket’s door and knock.

No sound from inside.

“Cricket? You in there?”

“Go away.”

My stomach drops.She heard. But how much?“Bug,” I start gently. “Please, can I come in? Just for a second and I’ll leave.”

“I don’t want to talk, Daddy!” she says, her voice angry and wavering. “Miss Shannon said I can needspaces.Can I please have spaces?”

I lay my palm on the door, my eyes cast down. “Yeah, baby. Of course you can have spaces. I’ll come back later, okay?”

“Okay,” she mutters, then sniffles.

My hand leaves the door to scrub my face as I walk numbly back to my room. Cass is where I left her.

“Did she hear?” she whispers.

I nod, closing the door. “I don’t know how much. She asked for space.”

Cass sinks back into the armchair, miserable and sagging, bringing her face to her palms. She curls in on herself, her shoulders hitching with sobs.

The sight of her is a razor blade to my heart. I’m on my knees in front of her in a breath, pulling the top of her head into my shoulder, wrapping my arms around her. She unfurls, her arms circling my neck and face buried in the space beneath my jaw.

And she cries.

She cries and fucking cries, and I hold her until my knees are screaming, stroking her back, holding her close.

“I’m s-sorry,” she croaks after a while.

“You don’t have to apologize. I’m sorry. For everything. For what I did to you. You’re right. You gave everything and lost everything, and it’s because of me. It happened just like before, like withhim, even though I tried to stop it.”

“No!” She leans back so she can see me, her face puffy and wet, her eyes a bright, electric green against the flush of her cheeks. “No—this is not that. It might look that way on paper, but nothing about it is the same. This is not your fault, it’s just the way it is. I need you to know that if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn’t change anything. I willalwayschoose you and Cricket. I love you both, Wilder.”

“I love you too,” I whisper.

“Today was a lot.” The words choke off, and another tear finds its way free. “What happened at work, then coming home to Trent in the state he was in? I needed a minute after work that I not only didn’t get, but something scary and stressful happened that frayed me even more. That’s how I feel. Frayed. Raw. I’m sorry I said all of that like I said it.”

“You can tell me anything, even things that hurt. Especially the things that hurt.”

“But Cricket heard.” She looks toward the door, her brows drawn. “God, I hope I didn’t fuck anything up.”

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