Page 116 of How We End
I sat down hard on the chair.My sad eyes stared up at me from the mugshot.All those years ago, I thought it couldn’t get worse.I was wrong.
“Listen, Wyatt.I’m sure you are a great person and this is all in your past.But unfortunately, that’s not how things work in Julian’s world.I don’t need to tell you how important this season is to him.There is more than Vegas winning a cup on the line.His entire career hangs in the balance.He can’t have another scandal.The last one almost broke him.Toronto is willing to pay a lot of money for him.Not to mention DC and Vancouver.But if this gets out, no team will want to touch a player that has a sex addiction.”
“He doesn’t have a sex addiction.”
“Then why did he hire you?He’s Julian Fucking Silver.Women throw themselves at him all the time.Do you know how many emails that man gets from women?A lot.They want to have his children.They’ll leave their husbands and wives for him.”AJ ran his hands over his face, exhaling.“I know to the outside world this all seems so trivial.But look at this from a team’s perspective.Why would he need to pay for sex with a prostitute unless there was something more?Couple that with the drinking and fighting this summer, the fact that he is still fucking married, and it looks like Julian Silver is about to crash and burn.He’s not some stupid twenty-year-old that I can write this off as a learning experience.Is that what you want for him?For all his hard work to be forgotten because of the choice you made?”
“I didn’t hire him.He came to me,” I yelled.“I had been just fucking fine until he walked into my life.Everything was fine.”The tears choked out the rest of the words.“Oh god.”I hung my head at the reality of what was going to happen.I was going to lose him.
“I’m sorry, Wyatt.I really am.But it’s not just him.This is going to affect you, your family, every client you ever had.There are a lot of lives this will ruin.”
I could see how this would play out.They’d trace my alias to my dying mother and my sister.Then to my father.Then Dana and Maverick and the long list of clients I had.All men I swore to be their secret.All men who had wives, children.They didn’t ask for this.
“This will kill him.”The first tear hit my hand, then a second.There were too many to stop now.
“He has his team and his friends.He won’t be alone.”
But I would.Before Julian I was okay with that.But now I knew what being loved by him felt like.“I’ll do it.But I do it on my terms.”
“The sooner the better.”
I nodded.So this was how we end.
CHAPTERFIFTY-FIVE
WYATT
April 8
I walked up the stairs, numb with what happened and what was about to happen.My past had not only caught up to me, but everyone I cared about.
“Wyatt?”
“Teigen?”I wiped the tears away.“What are you doing here?”
“It’s Wednesday.We have book club.It’s not really book club, but the guys have a game, so we get together and drink wine and bitch about them.I was going to invite you, but… is it true?”
“You okay?”Hannah asked as she opened a bottle of wine and grabbed three glasses.
“How much of that did you hear?”I knew they heard and if they hadn’t, I was sure AJ told Hannah.
“I already knew.AJ told me.I had to tell her because Anders is also involved.”Hannah pulled the cork out of the bottle.
“Is that how you know Anders?”Teigen stepped away from me as if what I had was catching.
“Teigen, seriously?”Hannah poured three glasses.“That’s what you’re worried about?”
“No.I know Anders because I work with his sister.”I couldn’t look at either of them.I wasn’t embarrassed about what I did.I was more embarrassed about what I had done to Julian.How I had let this happen.
“Margo is a?—”
“Teigen.That’s not important.What are you going to do?”Hannah asked, handing me a glass of wine.“You can’t stay.”
“Hannah!”Teigen snapped.“How can you say that?”
“Easy.We are two weeks away from the playoffs, and right now we are leading the division.Mason played with a sprained wrist, a concussion, and a bruised kidney.I haven’t spent a Christmas with my family in six years.I have put off my wedding.Sold two houses, moved four times.I’ve put off having a family, all so Mason wouldn’t have to choose between me and his career.And I’m sure as hell not going to let all of that go to waste because Julian Silver needed to get his dick wet.”Hannah turned to me.“Listen, I know this all sounds crazy.I’ve heard it a million times.But we all know what it means to be involved with a professional athlete.We all know the sacrifices.And like it or not, you are one of us.You have to put the game first.”
“No.My god, Hannah, this has gone too far.It’s just a fucking game,” Teigen yelled.
