Be Mine (Jackson Boys 2)

“The team can fine me.” I hold out my hand but Chip doesn’t hand over the material. I try to close the door, but the man blocks it with his foot.

“This is a nice room. You don’t like what the team reserved for you? I mean, granted, our rooms don’t come with girls,” he smirks.

I’m so done here. “Get out. You can tell Coach whatever you want. We both know nothing’s going to happen to me.”

Chip’s lip curls up. “Only while you’re winning.”

“Then I’ll just have to avoid losing.”

“Good luck with that,” Chip sneers. “Lainey, I know you’re in the bathroom. Come out and share your story with your boyfriend or I will,” he bellows.

I hear a half-sob and realize that this dude’s problem isn’t with me, it’s with Lainey. A chill settles into the base of my spine as the pieces of Lainey’s past slowly knit together. The day I met Lainey in the parking lot at Stacks, Chip was there. Lainey hates football players. Cass has a deadbeat dad. Chip thinks Lainey is a low-class tramp who tried to trap him for money. Now that he’s no longer on the field, he’s miserable and wants everyone else to be miserable.

Not on my watch. “When the season is over, I’ll see your ass out the door.” I slam the door shut.

“This doesn’t end here,” he says from the other side.

I don’t bother answering. Instead, I head for the bathroom and throw open the door. “Want to tell me about what’s going on?” I demand.

Lainey’s sitting on the toilet. Her shoulders are hunched as she cradles her knees close to her chest. She looks vulnerable and scared and alone.

“Chip and I grew up in the same town,” she says, her eyes pinned to her feet. “Our moms are friends. When I was sixteen, Chip Peters signed with Detroit and the whole town celebrated. He came back one night and I ended up at a party with him. He…I was not a popular girl. He paid attention to me and I thought that made me special. When he asked me to do things…no matter how sick they seemed, I went along with it because I was afraid that if I didn’t, he’d stop liking me. So when he shared me with his friends or took pictures of me, I…didn’t protest. At least not hard enough.”

“You were so young.” I’m torn between wanting to comfort her and chasing after Peters to beat the shit out of him.

“And stupid. Don’t forget stupid.” She lowers her feet to the floor and sweeps a hand through her hair, still avoiding looking in my direction.

“He took advantage of you.” It’s clear as day to me.

“No, I wanted it. Or at least I wanted the intimacy. The feeling that I was someone important to him.”

She doesn’t want to be the victim, which I understand, but she is. An older guy abused her and now is still holding it over her head.

“Is he Cass’s father?”

“Yes. Two years ago, he paid me to leave Dallas because he didn’t like looking at his mistakes and now…” She trails off.

Sitting on the hotel toilet with only the robe, she looks as innocent as Cass. It hits me that Lainey, a mother of a five-year-old, is only twenty-two years old. She’s a baby herself. I approach her cautiously, like you would a wounded animal, and crouch down by her feet.

“It might be hard for you to believe, but none of this matters to me. I wasn’t a saint growing up and you don’t hold that against me. Your past is your past. What’s important is that you want a future with me. If that’s what you want, put your hand in mine. If you don’t want it, I’ll walk away.” It kills me to say this, but I can’t take away her choices. It would make me no better than Peters.

She doesn’t speak. There’s no sound in the room but the faint drone of the air conditioner. My calves become numb from squatting. Goosebumps pimple her skin. My outstretched hand feels like it weighs two tons. And still the silence grows.

Finally, she raises her head. Glassy eyes meet mine and then drop to my extended palm. Slowly, she lifts her arm and gently rests her small fingers on top of mine.

I close my fingers around hers. “I won’t let you down,” I swear.

“I’m afraid of letting you down.”

I pull her into my arms, tumbling back against the tile floor. I’ve never been more uncomfortable or happier in my life. “You could never.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Nick

As Chip walks across the bar, his eyes catch and hold on every reflective surface. He loves looking at himself, which is consistent with his selfish attitude. It’s kind of amazing that he was able to last in the league as long as he has. From what little I gathered from other teammates before meeting Chip today, no one really cared for him.