Page 98 of This Thing Between Us

I wanted to do everything by the book and have him there during the arrest in case things got ugly.

Which, judging by Coach Ramstrom's face, seemed highly likely. His face turned beet red, anger pouring off him.

I wondered if he knew the writing was on the wall.

He held his clipboard behind his back, his legs splayed in a wide stance. “What's going on here?”

I walked straight up to him so that only a foot separated us. “Coach Ramstrom, you are being arrested on charges of giving performance enhancers to minors. You have the right to remain silent—”

He interrupted my little speech, pointing a finger at me. “How dare you do this to me. I've done nothing wrong.” He started to protest, his words incoherent, his arms waving erratically as I continued to read him his rights.

The chief stepped in and asked Ramstrom politely to put his hands behind his back. When Ramstrom evaded the maneuver, I jumped in to lock his hands behind his back as the chief prepared the cuffs.

I continued to read him his rights as twenty something teenage boys looked on in awe.

Chapter 31

Whitney

“What doyou mean you haven’t received an offer?” I asked when I managed to get James Dern on the line.

As it turned out, athirdperson sold real estate in Haver’s Creek. He also managed the listing I was trying to acquire.

As much as I loathed to talk to her following the little bombshell Katie dropped at the diner, I called and left voicemails to talk to her, needing to finalize the house. Between the flood at Savannah’s house and Jack turning out to be a prize liar, I needed this new house yesterday.

But I heard nothing. Not a peep.

It shouldn’t take so long to make an offer and come back to me with a counteroffer or an acceptance. Hell, even a rejection would let me know where I stood.

Sleeping at Savannah's house hadn't been nearly as bad as I imagined. The cleanup crew worked from sunrise to sunset, making good progress to make the space livable. In fact, Savannah could probably come home in a day or two if she really wanted to.

But still. I wanted my house.

Fingers danced across a keyboard. “I’m sorry, Ms. Rose, I’m looking at the offer I have on the house and it’s not from you or your agent.”

“What? How is that possible? My agent assured me she’d be in touch.”

James took in a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but I don’t see anything here. No calls or emails missed. I have no documentation that another offer was on the table.”

She never filed the damn paperwork.

I waslivid.

Leopards can’t change their spots after all.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I had a problem, and I needed a solution. Later, I would figure out if I had any legal recourse.

“Has the owner accepted an offer yet?”

“Not yet, we expect another offer to come in tomorrow. We plan to review all the offers at the same time.”

My fingernails bit into my palms. “Will you represent me? I want to make an offer on the house. I promise, it will be competitive.”

I sensed hesitation on the other end of the line. “Technically, you would need to break it off with Ms. Kooney before taking me on as your agent. Professional courtesy and all.”

I belted out a laugh. Professional courtesy my ass. Katie screwed me over. Even before finding out that I shacked up with Jack in his house she screwed me over.

I should have known better than to trust her.

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