Page 90 of The Promises We Break

But she’s never had that kind of freedom, and who knows how she’ll respond to it.

“It’s not official yet, so I shouldn’t say anything…” Coach’s statement rips me away from my thoughts. He looks to the left and right to check our surroundings.

My breath stalls as I wait for him to continue. His hands are on his hips, which leaves me with no clue, since that’s his semi-permanent stance whenever he shares any kind of news. In fact, if they build a monument for him, it would be this exact stance.

“Sir?” I encourage him to say freaking something.

“We’re working up a contract for you, Byrnes. I’m telling you now because I don’t want you to get any ideas about talking to other teams. Technically, you’re free to go anywhere when the season is over, but we want you to stay with us.” I’m taken aback.

I force out a breath, and I stifle a smile. I wasn’t expecting that at all.

“Wow, Coach. Thank you,” spills out from me, and I have to urge to hug him, but he’s the furthest thing from a hugger.

“I’m pushing for a five-year contract. We probably have to build in a trade option after three, but that’s my goal.”

I nod, smiling, but my smile drops instantly when he mentions the next topic.

“About your brother?—”

My gaze snaps to him. Jesus, don’t say it. If they are signing him, too, that would potentially be five long, dreadful years with my jackass brother. Him taunting me, making my life miserable. I swear he thrives on it.

“We are considering offering him a contract. He’s expensive, but we’re losing Callahan next year and he’s exactly what we need. I have to know if that can work. Having the Byrnes brothers back together could make us unstoppable. Whatever troubled history you guys have, you gotta squash it, son.” He places his hand on my shoulder. His brows are pinched together, like it hurts him to ask. Because he knows. He might not know all the details of everything that happened, but he knows I would have to climb Mount Everest to get over the trauma he’s caused me in the past.

“I told you before that wild pitch could have been an accident, and I think it was. But he ruined my career and had no remorse whatsoever. He stole my fiancé, then left her after a couple months. He’s just not a good man. I have no idea how long it’ll take me to forgive him.”

I place my hands on my hips, mocking his stance, because I don’t know what else to do with them. Looking down, I gently kick nothing on the floor.

I chipmunk my cheeks and exhale.

“You gave me an opportunity, and I’m grateful for that. I don’t want to go anywhere else.” Especially knowing that Ember is here, and she’s making a name for herself at Ford. “I’ll stay with you… with or without my brother.” I hate saying it. I fucking hate it.

He grants me a look of sympathy, but he’s proud, too. Hestays silent, only granting me a stiff nod before pressing his lips in a tight line, then slaps my shoulder and heads down the hall to his office.

I can do this. I just have to find it in my heart to resolve the past with my brother. Maybe Ember is right, maybe he’s been trying so hard these past few months to rekindle our relationship and make up for his mistakes.

She said, “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it can enhance your future.”

Maybe there is some truth to that. I hope so.

45

EMBER

“All the rooms are completed. I am debating about changing the theme of room six. It doesn’t have the same feel as the others. Other than that, the private rooms are ready.” I’m standing at the front of the main conference room. The PowerPoint I created is only a display to show the entire team, including Elena and Christian, the final layout for the club.

“The voyeur stage just needs backstage curtains installed, and I am waiting for our updated AOL logo forthe Chat Roomentrance.” Cruz writes down the items we’re pending because he tracks everything, and I swear nothing gets past him. Smiling when he looks back at me, giving me a thumbs up.

I told him how nervous I was about this presentation, being that it’s literally in front of half the executive staff of the company. But I know this club inside and out, so the moment I stepped up here, I knew exactly what I needed to say. It’s been the easiest presentation I’ve ever done, and I’m giddy with excitement. In fact, I can’t stop smiling like an idiot.

“On Saturday, both the app and the website will announce the soft opening date and allow members to upgrade theirmembership in order to purchase tickets. I suspect we will have, at minimum, a thirty percent increase of our existing members upgrading and an additional five percent of new sign ups. We’ve paid minimal for public marketing, to avoid negative press, but with our social media profiles and current member base, I think this will be substantial growth for the initial opening, and within a year, I suspect our numbers will triple.” Christian peers over at Elena. Her lips are turned up in a semi-permanent grin as well.

“Lastly, we’ll have double the security we would typically have on staff. I’ve tasked Dietrich,” I look over at Christian’s head of security, sitting next to him at the table, “with building a team for opening night. He can give us the details as we get closer to the opening, but we will be bringing on an outside security vendor for placement, both outside and inside, to ensure the protestors don’t scare away the clientele and we don’t have anyone enter the club that shouldn’t.”

Over the last few months, we’ve had a lot ofincidents—people spraying graffiti on the exterior of the building or trying to start fires. We’ve always had security in the parking lot, which has prevented some vandalism but last week, while I was away, a small group of protestors tried to break inside, so we’ve increased our twenty-four-hour security as we’ve gotten closer to the opening date.

It will die down eventually, but until then, I’m doing everything in my power to protect what we’ve built. Just because they don’t agree with the lifestyle that others have, doesn’t give them a right to destroy it. We have consensual loving adults with open sexuality. What gives these protestors a right to say they can’t express themselves in open and honest ways? Their beliefs are beyond unreasonable, and I hate that they throw out such hate and violence. Those actions force people to hide their true desires from others, feeding their own guilt, making them feel like they are not normal for what they need. I knowbecause I’ve spent my life pushing those desires into a black box, hiding it from everyone.

Until Hudson. Until his support allowed me the permission I needed to tell him what I desired. And he did everything in his power to bring all of those to life.

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