Page 117 of Irresistibly Risky

“Joe, you’re fired,” Randolph barks harshly. “If you attempt to become a coach anywhere else in this league, hell, anywhere else in this world, I will make all of this public. You’re finished. Done. You hear me? Carl will be the interim head coach until I can find a replacement. Wynter and Asher, you are well within your rights to press charges, and I will not stand in your way or ask you to keep it quiet if you decide to take that course of action. Both of you have been wronged by him, and his actions are reprehensible. As for the trade, I think we can all safely say that’s not happening.”

Joe storms out of the room, not even sparing me a backward glance, and though I try not to let it happen, the part of my heart he still occupied breaks once and for all. I imagine it will never be fully healed. He has cancer, and he’s alone, but I can’t be part of it. I don’t want him in my life, but more than that, I don’t want him in Mason’s. Mentally, I say goodbye to him. Mourning him one final time. But I’m not sure that sort of ache ever fully goes away. Even when we hate someone, they’re still a part of you.

I sag into Asher, his fingers combing down the back of my hair. “Told you I wasn’t going anywhere,” he whispers in my ear.

“Awesome,” I croak. “I still better not ever hear about you again from a third party.”

He tilts my chin and presses his lips softly to mine. “Never.”

“Tell me you found out all of this, this morning and that you weren’t hiding that from me as well.”

His eyes ensnare mine as he rocks me ever so gently. “I found it out about an hour before I had to be on the field. I was going to tell you everything the moment I could, which meant tonight before everything else happened. Are you okay?”

“Not really, no. But I will be.” It’ll just take time to get there.

“Asher, I’m sorry to break this up, but we have a room full of players downstairs still here waiting on you to say something.”

“I have to go,” he says to me with genuine regret. “It might be better if you leave while I’m in there because I don’t think the press will leave until I do.”

“Great,” I deadpan. “This is going to be a thing, isn’t it?”

“Honestly? Yes. At least for a little while, and then something else will come along and they’ll move onto that.”

I push up on my toes and kiss him. “Good luck. Sounds like you’re going to need it.”

* * *

I manage to sneak out of the stadium undetected. Asher was right, the press was focused on him. My phone is full of texts from my mom and Fallon, but for a few minutes, I just need to be alone with my thoughts. Alone in my car. I need a moment to come to grips with everything, and it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Putting everything Joe did aside, I’ve seen how the world reacts to Asher. Hell, we couldn’t even go out for late-night cookies without it being a problem. What will it be like now that the world knows about me? What will it be like for Mason?

Loving Asher won’t be easy. But I also know he’s worth the risk.

My phone rings, and I answer it using the fancy screen on my new car that I’m still not fully used to.

“Hey,” Asher says, his voice coming through my speakers. “Where are you?”

“On my way home.”

“The guys on the team are in, but… it’s a mess, sweetheart. The next few weeks might be a bit nuts. I’m sorry.”

“We’ll manage. I think.”

He chuckles. “I was tired of hiding the lie. I was tired of pretending you weren’t mine.”

“You sound like Greyson writing song lyrics.”

I can hear the amusement in his voice as he says, “Grey does a way better job at that. But I want alone time with you. Your mom has Mason overnight, right?”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Since when does my mom have Mason for the night?”

“Clearly you didn’t read your texts from her.”

I snicker, turning on my signal to get off Storrow Drive. “Nope. I needed a minute of quiet solitude.”

“Well, now that you’re hopefully more Zen, you should know our building is surrounded by press, and she felt it was safer to keep Mason, at least for a while. I told her about Joe.”

I sigh. “You and my parents are growing very close.”

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