Page 49 of Play Me
“You would’ve just let me believe you’re an ass?”
I shrug. “Probably.”
She twists the flower between her fingers as she gazes at the horizon behind me. She’s somber and pensive, and I wonder just how delicate she might be behind all that piss and vinegar.
Slowly, she brings her attention back to me. She’s still pensive. But this time, she’s also resolved.
“At least you’re honest, I guess,” she says.
“I’m trying to be.” I go out on a limb and take a chance. “Can I ask what your conditions are?”
She brings the flower to her nose and takes a deep breath. Her lashes flutter closed as she pulls the petals away. Then she looks at me calmly and clearly. “You play rugby and leave the rest to me. I won’t tell you how to do your job, and you won’t tell me how to do mine.”
“Done.”
She blinks as if she’s surprised. “Okay. You’ll also have to cooperate with me. Answer my calls and provide me with the necessary information. And when I set up a schedule or make an appointment for you, you do it. Youdon’treschedule everything or fail to show up.”
“So you want to be in control?”
“I have to be.”
The words carry on the breeze rippling through the trees. But they don’t get carried off fast enough for me not to hear the heaviness in them.The honesty.
Her gaze doesn’t break from mine.
My mouth goes dry as I mull her admission over in my mind.“I have to be.”As I consider other things she’s said about not having her needs met and hating bullies … it all starts to make sense. It begins to paint a picture that’s much different from the one I held until now. But I have to put that aside for the time being.
“Can we call a truce?” I ask again. “Just until the season is over, then you can resume all hatred.”
The corner of her lip curls toward the sky. “I still don’t like you.”
I chuckle. “Good, because I still don’t like you either.”
“Great.”
“Great.”
“A truce it is,” she says, studying me. “But the first time you turn around and bite my head off for no good reason, I’ll have Gianna taser you.”
Relief washes away the thousand-pound boulder that’s been sitting on my shoulders all day. I can finally breathe again.Thank God.
She takes a long, deep breath and blows it out slowly. Finally, she nods. “Okay. Deal.” She pulls out her phone. “I need to let Renn know before he hires someone else to take my place.”
Astrid taps away on her screen, then pauses, then taps again. She laughs and rolls her eyes. All the while, I’m waiting for some indication that it’s official and I’m getting paid.
“Dammit,” she says, looking up at me.
My heart drops. “What?”
“We have to FaceTime him.”
“Who?”
“Renn. Who else would I be talking about?” She holds her phone up and stands next to me. “I don’t think he believes I’m doing this willingly.”
The call connects, and Renn’s face appears on the screen.
“Well, if this isn’t a sight,” he says.
