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“I won’t leave you,” he reinforces. He drops his knees to the floor and grabs my hand. “You understand that, right?”
But that’s the thing. He can’t promise. Sometimes, things happen. Accidents. Trades. Deaths. If this is how my body reacted to hearing that he might have to leave me, what would it be like if he had to?
A sickening pit forms in my stomach. It makes me feel uneasy. Worried. Upheaved. Like a snake is crawling all over my skin and I’m just waiting for it to bite whenever it decides.
Within half an hour, Tab opens and closes the door. She comes straight for my room and leans on the doorframe. “How’s our patient?”
“Better. You got her for a bit? I have to take care of some stuff.”
They share a meaningful look, and she nods.
As soon as the door is closed, Tab grins. “You never said how hot Micah’s friends are!”
I chuckle for the first time since before the interview. “They’re football players. I think that’s a prerequisite. Some of them are taken.”
“Some of them,” Tab says. “But not all.”
“Who all was there?”
“I don’t know all of them, but there was one… Levi?”
I grimace. “I heard he’s a player.”
I move over on the bed so Tab can lie down with me. “Sounds fun,” she says, getting comfortable.
“If you aren’t worried about breaking your heart.”
“I know who won’t have to worry about that.” She turns to the side, propping her head up. “You’ve got a good one, Rae-bae. I think he successfully made every person in that studio shit their pants. Vultures.”
“Thank you for having my back.” I breathe in and look away so I don’t see her face when she answers. “How bad was it?”
“I’d have to watch it back, but pretty sure what got aired wasn’t bad at all. It was everything after they went to break.” She reaches out and wraps her hand around my forearm. “I’ll watch out for what’s said, and if we have to say something, we will. I don’t want you to worry about it at all, though. Micah’s orders.”
Already, the pill’s effects are kicking in as drowsiness hits. I’ll probably sleep the rest of the day away. “Wake me up if he has news, okay?”
“Will do, sweetie.”
24
Micah
“Don’t do anything rash. Wait until I get there.”
My agent’s words linger in the car even after he hangs up. Despite his advice, I’m already on my way to the head office. I’ve been a Wildcat for a long time, and I’ll deal with this bullshit myself. If they want to play dirty, I’ll play dirty. All I needed to know from my agent is if he was contacted about a trade. He said no, so I’m willing to bet this is all a scare tactic and a dick measuring contest.
Which would’ve been fine. Expected, even. Except Raeann got hit in the crossfire.
My phone chirps again as I pull into a parking space. I put my car in Park and turn off the engine before reaching for my phone to scroll through the group chat.
Parker: What did your agent say?
Tipper: This sort of subterfuge screams McNally. Ever since he was hired as GM, it’s all about the front office. It’s like they don’t care who busts their ass every day.
Farmer: Dude. Give them shit. This is not okay.
Levi: Don’t be mad, but I recorded some of what happened. I figured it couldn’t hurt to have.
I play the video Levi sends over, my pulse feathering at my wrist. Raeann was nearly catatonic when I reached her. The video bounces between me helping Raeann and the rest of the guys going after the big wigs on the show. They only care about viewers and ratings, and something like this—Raeann rendered speechless and clearly upset—would’ve had them as top news. They’d show the clip over and over again. All those entertainment gossip sites filled with her face…