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“I promise I know that,” I assure him. “And I know you have my back.”

“Always.”

It’s been like this for as long as I can remember; inseparable childhood best friends who chased a crazy dream together. Bryce Clark has been one of the few people who have stayed by my side without question. He was the first person I came out to when I was fifteen and he was by my side when I told my family a year later. They were great, but I knew he was ready to intervene if it had gone the other way. That I’d always have a place at the Clarks, and no one was going to question who I am or make me explain myself.

Carter and Bryce. Bryce and Carter. We’d always been those kinds of friends and it wasn’t going to change.

“Katrina has been sending me updates on how everything is going.” I change the subject from focusing on the past and present, shifting it to what’s coming next. “It looks like a completely different place now that it’s all cleaned out.”

“I’m just happy the smell has mostly gone away.” He chuckles. “She shouldn’t be sending you updates, though. I’ve told her how busy you are and that I can handle it. I’ll tell her to back off again.”

“No.” Maybe the word comes out too fast. Maybe there’s too much force behind my insistence, but I can’t take it back now. “She’s not bothering me or asking me a million questions. It’s fine, seriously.”

I don’t want to tell him how out of the loop I’m feeling. How I wish I could just throw in the towel and move to Columbia, let my focus be on what’s coming. I’ve never been good when it comes to staring down a goodbye, and I know this is going to be the hardest one yet. Despite how ready I am, I’d rather just skip past the hard part.

“If you’re sure, man.” He knows there’s something I’m not telling him. I can tell by the way he hesitates, pausing to see if I’ll tell him anything else. “Just let me know if it gets to be too much.”

“Yeah, of course.” I fight against a yawn. “I need to take a nap, Bryce. Morning practice kicked my ass and coach wants us back for a weight session after dinner.”

“There’s something else I want to talk to you about if you can wait a couple more minutes.” Bryce informs me before I can even think of hanging up. “It’s something I’m not going to do without talking to you first.”

Well, that has my attention. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“Remember how Mia offered to help us market the club?” I find myself nodding, despite knowing he can’t see me. “I think we need to do more than just take her up on the offer. We need to hire her.”

Technically, it’s in the budget, but the salary is nowhere near to what she’s making now. “You know Mia will say yes if we offer it to her, and we can’t afford her, man. I’m not making her accept a job she doesn’t want because we’re her friends. That’ll be setting her career back.”

“I know, and I would never take advantage of her like that, but I think she needs a legitimate reason to leave Charlotte and we can give it to her.”

If there’s one thing I know about Mia Sheridan, it’s that she doesn’t run away from anything. If she’s looking to leave, there has to be more to the story. “What happened?”

“Bianca happened,” Bryce replies. “Or, at least, she is happening.”

I don’t know much about Mia’s ex, just that she’d left and hadn’t returned after a fight. Mia was heartbroken, not knowing what to do about the lack of communication. It’d left a strong impact on her. She’d used her own experience to convince Bryce not to abandon someone you care about when things get hard.

“Part of their fight was Bianca wanting her parents to buy them a house and fund a marketing business for them. I’m sure you can imagine how Mia took that.”

I could picture it clearly. Mia believes in hard work and not having anything handed to her. She wants to know she deserves the things she gets. Plus, Josie told me she loves working for the firm she’s at right now. “So, they fought about it?”

“Yup. Bianca got mad, accused her of secretly hating her for having parents who care about her, and left. About a month ago, I guess some of Mia’s clients got poached by a new firm out of nowhere.”

My blood ran cold, anger bubbling up inside me. “No.”

“Turns out, Bianca’s parents still funded that business for her and are helping her offer clients amazing perks for signing with her. In the process of it all, she’s tanking Mia’s reputation and credibility in Charlotte.” The tone in Bryce’s voice tells me he’s clenching his fists, fighting against the same anger I’m feeling. “Since the firm Mia works at caters to local small businesses, they’re talking about firing her because they don’t want to be affiliated with someone who has a bad reputation.”

“What the hell?” I sit up straighter, suddenly feeling wide awake. “That’s so fucked up. None of that is her fault, and they should be focusing on doing something about Bianca. She’s the one ruining reputations here.”

“That would include potential legal issues they don’t want to be wrapped up in.” Bryce’s tone is mocking as he parrots whatever was said to Mia.

“That’s bullshit.” I’ll never understand how businesses can decide what battles to fight, especially at the expense of their employees.

“I know,” Bryce agrees. “Look, Josie doesn’t know I’m telling you this, and I don’t think Mia knows I know.”

“I won’t say anything,” I promise, “but Mia’s not an idiot. Don’t insult her intelligence. She knows you and Josie tell each other everything.”

He laughs awkwardly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. My point is, Mia won’t agree to the job if she thinks I’m offering it to her out of pity. I want to make sure you’re in on it and agree with me before I tell her about it.”

“Of course I am.” There’s not a single doubt in my mind about this decision. Mia would add an element to the club that neither Bryce nor I could bring. Their blog hadn’t failed because they weren’t good, it just wasn’t what the sport necessarily needed at the time. “I don’t have a clue how to market a place like this.”