Page 142 of Blindside Sinner

“What are you doing here, Viv?”

“I’m here to accompany you on this road trip.” She smiles broadly, her veneers flashing in the morning sun. “I’m your assistant for this weekend.”

“I have an assistant. Fairly sure you’re aware of that.”

Her smirk has a nasty gleam to it. “She called in sick. I’m taking her place.”

“If Sloan isn’t going, I don’t need an assistant. Believe it or not, I can get myself from Point A to Point B without someone holding my hand. I sure as hell don’t need you.”

What I need is a fuckingexplanation. Not from Vivian, but from Sloan.

“Sorry not sorry, but I’m coming. We’re gonna be late. Shall we get going?” She holds out a hand for me, rings glistening on every finger.

I look at her, then back over my shoulder. Sloan’s room is out of sight, but I can feel her presence in the house like a second heart beating in time with mine. Less than twenty-four hours ago, that made me smile.

Now, it just makes me sick to my stomach.

There are lies between us. Secrets that need unraveling.

But the more I think on it, the madder I get. And the madder I get, the crueler I get. And the crueler I get, the more I realize that if Sloan is going to try to burrow her way out of this shit, there’s one surefire way to force her hand, one surefire trick that I learned from my old man: hurt her.

Thanks for all the lessons in that department, Pops.

So I bend down, scoop my bag from the floor, and step out onto the staircase with Vivian. “Fuck it. Let’s go.”

My resolve lasts all weekend. We lose every game, though, so by the time we’re flying home, I feel like absolute shit and I’ve got anger radiating from every pore. The only upside is that Viv got called back to Seattle to deal with some rockstar she manages, thank fuck, so she isn’t on the last leg of the journey.

“What is up with you?” Dix asks from the next seat over on the team plane. “Sloan trouble?”

I grimace. Dixon knows enough about my family, but I’m not super keen on filling him in on this latest development. “She was talking to… a guy at the game. Said she wasn’t. It turned into a fight.”

He nods sagely. “Jealousy is a fickle bitch, my friend. One minute, you think you can handle it; the next, it’s in your blood and you’re a monster.”

“Yeah, but it was more than just being jealous. I’m… fuck, man. I think I’m falling for her.”

He cackles hysterically. “Youthink?You think you’re falling?My dude, everyone with eyes knows youfellfor that broad a long time ago. And I mean ‘broad’ in the most respectful way possible.”

He’s still laughing, but for a change, I don’t feel like swatting him in his thick skull. The more I say, the more I want to keep saying. “Falling, fell, whatever. I want to be with her. I want it so bad I can barely breathe, man. I can’t stop thinking about her. And…and… and if that means that she needs to keep a few things to herself, then so be it.”

Shit—I didn’t know I felt that way until I said it out loud just now. But it’s true. I can feel the truth of it vibrating in my bones.

He grins again. “My little boy is growing up right before my eyes. Mama’s so proud.” Wiping a fake tear away from his eyes, he says, “Well, I’m glad you chose me to share this epiphany with. I’m going to take a nap while you sit here and wallow in your feelings. Wake me up when we get back to Seattle.”

He reclines his seat and tips his baseball cap over his eyes.

The more I think of her, the clearer it all is. She’s the woman I want to be with. I want to be with Sloan, and once this plane lands, I’m not wasting another minute.

Fuck my past.

Fuck my father.

And fuck her past, too. Fuck Sloan’s secrets and her fears.

None of that matters. All that matters is that, when I kiss her, it feels like coming home. Everything else is secondary.

By the time the plane lands, I’ve worked myself into a frenzy. I have to see her. I could probably run there faster than my driver is driving. “I don’t want to be the guy who gets into a wreck and puts Beckett Daniels out for the season,” he explains.

“Dude, I appreciate your concern and your diligence, but right now, I would appreciate your speed much more.”

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