Page 83 of Truth or Tequila (Grand Slam 1)

I’m still not finding any of this amusing. “Did Gentry touch her?”

“Gary says the attack was unprovoked, so yeah, I’m guessing he touched her. Gary isn’t big on the truth where his family’s concerned.”

“I’m going to fucking kill him.”

He turns to look at me when we pull up at a stoplight. “You’re going to do what you need to do, but there are better ways to take Gentry down.”

“Meaning?”

“Gentry has a pattern of this behavior. The team’s been hiding it for years.” He’s staring at me. His eyes aren’t blinking. “Maybe it’s time for the world to know.”

“And how does the world find out about it? Sophie mentioned it to me, but she said no one had proof.”

“There’s proof.” He looks away. “We just need to find someone with the balls to take Gary on. He ruins careers.”

“If he comes after Sophie, I’m going to take him down. I don’t care what I have to do. I’ll lose my entire career to protect her. I know you don’t understand that, but it’s just the way I feel.”

He doesn’t say anything. We drive in silence for about fifteen minutes before he finally says, “When I met Darcy, I knew. I mean the second I met her. She started talking and a little voice inside me told me I was going to marry her. It never happened with another woman. I dated some great women before her, but I never heard that voice. Are you hearing that voice now?”

“From the second I saw her.” I turn to look at him. “God, I think I’m in love with her. How’s that even possible? I just met her.”

“It’s possible,” he says, sighing. “It happened to me. It happens all the time.”

“Did it happen for Darcy that fast?”

He laughs. “We disagree about that. She says no, but I know she was at least really into me at first sight. It might not have been love for her right away, but it didn’t take very long. We were engaged after only five months. Have I ever told you that?”

“No.” I smile for the first time tonight. “That’s cool. And you’ve been married ten years?”

“Yeah, eleven in December. I’d be an entirely different person if I hadn’t met her. It happens like that sometimes.”

“Sophie doesn’t feel the same way I do. She didn’t before today and now she definitely doesn’t. She hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you,” he says, shaking his head. “She’s confused. She knows you’re hiding something from her. She doesn’t know what it is and it’s hurting her.”

“I want to tell her,” I say, looking out the window again, “but it’s not mine to tell. You know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

* * *

After Joe drops me off at the house, I pace around the kitchen for about an hour before I finally text her again.

Sophie, please talk to me. You’re all I care about right now.

Nothing else matters. Just you.

I throw my phone back on the counter and grab another beer out of the refrigerator. My heart stops when I hear my phone ping. I run over and grab it.

I know you care about me and I know you don’t want to hurt me. But that’s what you’re doing. If you want to stop hurting me, please leave me alone.

An intense pain shoots through my body. I stare at her text for a few minutes before I reply.

Ok. I’ll leave you alone. I promise. I’m so sorry for hurting you.

I toss and turn all night—checking my phone every ten minutes. There’s no reply. Finally, I hear a ping about five in the morning. I almost dive off the bed to grab it. It’s a text from Joe.

Hey. I have some family stuff to take care of this morning. Max is going to pick you up. I’ll fly down to meet the team later today.

* * *

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