Page 35 of Hold Me Closer
I mutter a curse, bouncing my helmet against my thigh pad. "So this is my only option?"
"It is if you still want to play next year," she says quietly. "They're not going to budge on this one. You don't have to announce it to the world, but they want you in an alcohol education program."
"Fine," I mutter. "Whatever."
"You'll do it?"
"I'll think about it."
She smiles at me, relief coloring her expression. "I'll let them know. And it won't be so bad, Teo."
I snort, not buying that bullshit for a hot second. She knows damn well it'll be bad. Someone will inevitably get ahold of the news that I was forced into alcohol education. It'll serve to confirm exactly what everyone already thinks.
I'm not a fucking alcoholic.
"How are things going with Nadia?"
"Fine."
She kicks me in the shin.
"What the fuck?" I growl, scowling at her.
"You spent half the day at the studio with her yesterday. It's all over the gossip sites," she snaps. "Don't give mefine, Mateo Kirby."
"Jesus Christ. Do you have any business of your own?" I ask.
"Yes. It's called being in yours. Now, spill."
My lips twitch with amusement. "We're working shit out. It's private, Emelia. I'd like to keep it that way."
"Then maybe you shouldn't have told the press that you're dating." She gives me a dirty look. "You did not run that by me."
"I was hedging my bets."
"You're lucky she didn't kill you."
"She loves me."
Emelia smiles, genuinely happy. "Good. Then don't fudge it up. Team management is willing to back off for now if you take the classes and partner with a charity for image rehab, but we still have to convince the league that you're a changing man."
"I want Nadia left out of it," I remind her. "She isn't something to dangle in front of them like proof."
"I'm aware. But she's good for you. And what's good for you is good for the league. So don't fudge it up," she repeats.
"Fuck it up. It'sfuck it up."
"Go play sportsball, and leave me alone."
I laugh quietly, shaking my head as I turn back toward the field.
"Oh! By the way, is there anything in your past you don't want the press to know?" she asks me.
I turn a questioning look on her.
"With the two of you back together, they're going to dig," she says. "Is there anything we need to worry about them finding?"
"Nadia's accident," I say softly. "I don't want them splashing it all over the goddamn news. She shouldn't have to relive that."
