Page 84 of Playing the Game
I slide a hand into one of each of theirs. “I just realized you’re both leaving soon, and I can’t stand the thought of losing you.”
“Does that mean you’ve given more thought to my proposition?” Jami leans closer to me.
“What would that be?” Mel glances between us. “Come on and tell me. We don’t keep secrets.”
“After your suggestion, I spoke with Jami, and he asked me to move to Miami with him.” My lips curl into a smile.
“And you’re just now telling me this?” She playfully pushes my shoulder. “So, what’s your decision?”
A calmness blankets me and warms me to the core. “I’m going to move with you two. I can’t imagine being away from either of you, so I guess that means you’re stuck with me.”
“Oh, yay!” Mel draws me into a hug in seconds. “I knew you couldn’t live without me. This calls for mandatory shots.”
Hunter and Jonah approach us.
Jonah’s eyebrows pinch together. “What calls for mandatory shots?”
Mel releases me with a grin from ear to ear. “Dori’s moving to Miami with us.”
Hunter’s expression sobers as Jonah’s eyes round into saucers.
Jonah’s hands fly up. “What about your job?”
“What about it? If my memory serves me right, I don’t have one.” My chest compresses with shame.
I avoid making eye contact with Hunter. The pain coming off him is hard enough to deal with. Seeing it written across his face would only make me feel a thousand times worse.
“Beauty, don’t decide before we’ve had time to get the board’s decision overturned.” His voice cracks at the end of his sentence.
Jami grits his teeth, causing his jaw to twitch. “Her name is Dori.”
I didn’t even realize Hunter used his pet name for me. My throat tightens and I swallow a ball of guilt.
Before I can respond, Hunter cuts in. “You told me at dinner the other night you would take your job back if we could get the board to change their minds.”
“I know, but that might not happen, and I’m not going to just wait around.” I dwindle into myself.
Hunter moves a smidgen closer. “We only need one more person for them to overturn your termination. You can’t go when I’m certain we can get you reinstated with Efron Worldwide.”
All their eyes are stuck on me. I want to shrink and disappear from this situation.
It’s a fantastic thing to tell Jami and Mel and a terrible disclosure to Hunter and Jonah. No matter how hard I try not to, I continue to hurt Hunter at every turn.
Jami takes my hand. “If Dori stays, she’ll have to continue to worry about your mother. The farther away from the Efrons, the better for Dori.”
Hunter growls under his breath. “We don’t know it’s my mother.”
“If it’s not her, who else could it be?” Jami pegs Hunter with an accusatory scowl.
Hunter jerks his chin in my direction. “Her brother works undercover for the FBI. It could very well be someone Aiden has been in contact with.”
My blood drains from my limbs. And not because of what Hunter said.
Jami and I haven’t talked about telling Aiden about us, so a new mountain of stress presses on me. My head throbs harder as the blood races through my ears.
Jami sneers. “Either way, Dori’s safer with me.”
Hunter points at Jami’s bullet wound. “Is she?”
