Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Will and I look at each other in surprise.
“Okay. What’s happened?”
“Turns out, Florence has been betting against the team for quite some time. You weren’t cheating, she was. She’s the reason you lost the championship. She rigged everything. Paid off people.”
“Motherfucker.”
“Certainly,” Alex agrees. “She’s in deep shit. It’s likely the league will make her sell the team. She won’t recover from this.”
“What happens in the meantime?”
“Administratively, things get crazy, but for you, not much will change. I expect there will be a formal, public apology to you. I’ll be in touch as I know more.”
“Thanks, Alex.”
I hang up and stare at Will.
“That’s why she tried so hard to get you to not sign that contract,” Will says. “Why she had ridiculous clauses included. So you’d walk. She never wanted to win.”
“And it really wasn’t my dad.”
Suddenly, arms encircle my waist from behind, and I feel Sophie rest her face on my back.
“Congratulations,” Will says with a smile. “I’ll leave you two to it.”
Pulling Sophie around so I can face her, I take her face in my hands and rest my forehead on hers.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“I hate to see you hurting,” she says softly. “I’m not mad, Ike. No one is. I’m just worried about you. And if you think you can dump me just because I have the best family in the world, you’re an idiot.”
That makes me smile. “It wasn’t my dad.”
“I heard. And I’m so relieved.”
“Me, too. I mean, I don’t want a relationship with him, and I’m still not giving him any money, but it’s a relief to know that he didn’t try to ruin me out of spite. It was eating me alive.”
“I heard that Florence is on the outs, too.”
“Yeah. The whole mess is coming to a close.”
Sophie hugs me tightly and kisses my cheek. “I need you to know something really important.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“I love you. But I also love my family. I know they’re big and loud, and they’re in my business, but I love them. I can’t and won’t see less of them or cast them off for anyone in the world, not even for you.”
“I know that, and I would never ask you to. I’m not the guy who would try to alienate you from the people who love you.”
“I don’t believe you are. If I did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I also can’t feel like I’m walking on eggshells whenever we’re around them, worried that you’re uncomfortable.”
“I’ll apologize to you now, and I’ll go back there and do the same. I’m so sorry for the way I acted. I can usually take a lot of pressure. I work best under pressure. But all this really took a toll on me. I didn’t want to discuss it with anyone, especially not the people that I’m trying to make a good impression on. Although I kind of fucked all of that up on my own.”
“Nah, they’re pretty understanding. Grandma reminded us all that you’ve been grieving.”
Unable to reply, I just push her hair off of her shoulder. “Your grandma’s pretty smart.”
“Smarter than me,” she says, and now she has tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry that I didn’t realize it, Ike. I knew you were angry, and maybe even a little scared, but I didn’t take into consideration the sadness you must feel about your dad. About the whole situation. And then to just parade my functional family under your nose is just rude.”
“So rude.” I laugh when her eyes grow wide. “I’m kidding. I don’t want you to be anything other than what you are. You’re amazing. And I’ll eventually get used to having a big, nosy family poking around.”
“So, I’m not single again.”
My heart stutters at the idea. “Honey, you’re never going to be single again ”
When we return to the backyard, no one stops and stares. No one tries to run over and take me out. Everyone’s just doing their thing, laughing and talking.
But then Liam comes jogging over and claps his hand on my shoulder. “I guess you don’t have to die today. Uncle Caleb looked a little murderous for a minute, but then we decided that burying a body is a pain in the ass and made the decision to let you live.”
“I appreciate it.” I clear my throat. “Hey, everyone.”
I wait while the family turns to me, and I’ve never been so fucking nervous in my life.
“I just want to apologize to you all for the way I acted earlier. I’ve had a really rough week, and I guess it all overwhelmed me today, but that’s no excuse. Sophie is way too important to me to ever embarrass her or treat her badly. It won’t happen again.”
“Oh, so you’re human.” Stacy grins at me. “You don’t have to apologize for that, Ike.”
And, just like that, they all go back to what they were doing, and the matter is seemingly over.