Page 35 of The Long Game

I bet she could. Any other day, maybe. Right now, Adalyn was a shadow of the woman who had been busting my balls since her arrival in town. “Odd way to say thanks,” I told her, earning a slightly harsher look from her. “Not that I should explain myself, but it wasn’t about you.”

I had a low tolerance for bullies, which had gotten me in more than a few scuffles that had made the press rounds throughout my career, and that mother had been a step away from turning into one. I didn’t care that she was just a concerned parent and not some cocky winger or forward running in my direction and spitting ugly words about mynonna.

Adalyn gave me a curt nod, leaving it at that. “I guess we should address the elephant in the room then.”

“Those impractical shoes you’re wearing?”

“I can pay you,” she said, ignoring my jab and looking at her feet again. “For your time. The budget is smaller than what I’d like andI’m not exactly on good terms with the… CEO of my club back home, but I have resources. I could—”

I watched my hand land on her forearm. The warmth of the skin beneath the fabric of the blouse seeped into my palm. Her head snapped up. “What in the world are you talking about now, Adalyn? You don’t even want me here.”

“What I want doesn’t matter,” she countered, and I retrieved my hand with a huff. “Apparently, there’s no me without you. The parents won’t trust me without you here to interact with the girls. That is, if Josie convinces Diane not to start a crusade against me or something.”

My jaw clenched.

She continued, a new emotion fleeing in and out in record time, “The girls are terrified of me, Cameron. But they like you. They listen to you. Can you please forget I said that thing about firing you?” Her voice did an off thing. “You’ll be doing them a favor, not me.”

My teeth were pressed so tight, I could feel them gritting against each other. I let my gaze roam all over her, trying to get a goddamn read on this woman.

“This whole thing the parents were so worked up about,” I finally said, piecing some of what I’d heard together. “Does it have anything to do with your banishment?”

She gave me a nod. And I was surprised, almost impressed by the fact it wasn’t a shy one. There was nothing but determination in that nod.

What the fuck had she done to land herself here?

“I breached the conduct clause of my contract,” Adalyn said, providing me with the answer. “I… got physical. With someone. I messed up.”

I considered her words for an instant. “Were you provoked?”

Her brows knotted.

“Was there a good reason for you to do it?”

That determination wavered, but when she said yes, it was a firm, curt word. “There was.”

“All right.” I turned around, spotting a mostly empty field, andthe few girls behind already with an adult. “Let’s go, I have something in the boot of my car for you.”

We started toward my parking spot.

“So does that mean you’re in?” Adalyn pressed, catching up with my pace. “Also, you really need to work on your social skills, the line about the boot of your car was a little creepy.”

I ignored the pang of relief I felt at seeing her snark was back. “Sure thing, darling.”

“Still not your darling,” she quipped.

“Still don’t care.”

I was speed-walking at this point, and she was almost breaking into a jog, but even in those silly shoes, she was still keeping my pace. I was impressed.

“So?” she insisted, as we crossed the lot outside the Warriors’ facilities. “Cameron?”

I headed for my 4×4, throwing open the boot and extracting the box. “Where’s your car?” I turned toward a wide-eyed, and a little out of breath, Adalyn. Her lips bobbed. “I would love to finish here and finally jump in the shower, so if you don’t mind.”

Adalyn blinked at me and when I started moving, deciding I didn’t need her to find her car, she stopped me with a hand. Just like I’d done earlier, her palm settled on my forearm. Only this time I couldn’t really feel the warmth of her skin through the fabric of the fleece I had on.

“Cameron,” she said slowly, making me realize I’d been looking at her hand. I met her gaze. “What’s this?”

“A box.”

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