Page 134 of The Assist
“I do now.” She leans in, pressing her forehead to my shoulder. “Dylan, if this goes sideways…”
“We’ll fix it,” I say. “One way or another.”
“I just don’t want to cost you your career.”
“Youarethe career now,” I tell her. “I’d walk if it came to that.”
She swallows. “Let’s hope it doesn’t.”
“Let’s hope Ben terrifies them enough they offeryoua promotion.”
She laughs, and I think I fall in love with her all over again.
We talk for another minute, just the two of us, our voices low, and our hands still knotted together. Then Ben returns, all business like and with his game face on, and Mia squares her shoulders like she’s heading into a match herself.
“I’ll be waiting after,” I tell her.
She nods. “You’d better be.”
They disappear down the corridor toward the boardroom, and I’m left standing in the hallway, heart thudding, and hope blooming in my chest like something dangerous and wild.
Murphy catches me as I’m walking back to the locker room. “Was thattheMia?” I nod. “And the suit?”
“Her brother.”
Murphy whistles. “He looks like he eats insurance companies for breakfast.”
“He wrote a formal legal counter.”
Murphy grins. “God, I love this woman. Marry her, will you?”
“I just might.” I say with more certainty than I’ve ever felt about anything before.
Before I can say anything else, there’s movement in the hallway behind us. It’s Danny. He’s walking out of the GM’s office carrying a gym bag and looking like someone spat in his drink. He catches sight of me and stops.
“Enjoy your pity parade,” he sneers. “Club’ll drop you next season when they realise she’s turned you soft.”
Murphy moves like lightning, stepping between us. “Pack your ego and your bruised pride in that bag and fuck off, Cain. You’ve done enough damage.”
Danny scoffs. “She picked the wrong player. That’s all I said.”
Coach Bentley appears from behind the office doors. “Actually, what you said was that she should’ve pickedyou. Right before you called her a distraction and told the team she was using Dylan for clout.”
Danny’s face pales. Coach steps forward. “And that’s just the latest in a long list of reasons you’ve been listed, Cain. Maybe next time you want to impress a woman, try being decent.”
Danny doesn’t respond. Just shoulders his bag and disappears out the door.
I exhale, body tight with a tension I didn’t realise I’d been holding. “Thanks,” I say to Coach quietly.
He just claps me on the shoulder. “She’s a good one. So are you. We’ll get through this.”
Murphy grins. “And if we don’t, I’m starting a podcast. First episode, ‘How Danny Fumbled the Bag.’”
Both Coach and I snort with laughter before Coach asserts his authority again, “Get outta here, I’m sure there’s weights to be lifted.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
MIA
