Grumpy Cowboy (Single Dad Collection)

She smiles and waves, and I can’t even find the strength to force my lips to do anything but stay in a firm line.

My jaw clenches as I start the engine, and without hesitation, I take those two envelopes from Leah Levee and shove them both in the center console of my truck and let the lid slam shut.

If she was too much of a fucking coward to say goodbye to Joey and me in person, then I’m going to be too much of a prideful son of a bitch to read whatever bullshit she probably wrote down.

And to think I thought we’d actually been on the same page.

That she’d been feeling about me the way I was feeling about her.

It’s almost like she pulled a fucking Anna and just walked right out of Joey’s and my life without saying goodbye. Without a single fucking thought of how it would make us feel.

Maybe Leah isn’t the woman I once thought she was.

Maybe she’s just like everyone else—selfish as fuck and not worth my time.

Leah

“Lenny said you wanted to talk to me,” I greet as I step inside Frank Kaminsky’s office at the Slammers’ main headquarters in downtown Salt Lake.

He grins at me from behind his fancy desk. “C’mon in, Dr. Levee. It’s good to see ya. How are ya doing? Was the flight in this morning okay?”

Seeing as this is my boss, normally, I’d feel pressure to keep my thoughts to myself.

But with the way this day has gone since I got out of bed this morning, I don’t feel like beating around the bush. Frankly, I don’t feel like doing much of anything but keep trying to get ahold of Rhett.

“Well, to be honest, I’ve been better,” I answer honestly. “Getting woken up at five in the morning to head back to Salt Lake several days early wasn’t the best way to start the day.”

“I apologize for the last-minute change, but Dr. Hall had to take a short leave of absence late yesterday to handle some personal medical issues, and we needed to make sure we had a doctor on the court because, as you know, the guys are in the middle of their most grueling part of preseason training. Not to mention, we had too many injuries pop up in the preseason last year. We couldn’t take any risks, Leah.”

All I can do is nod.

“Everything go okay with the Jameson family?” he asks with a knowing grin. “The men behave themselves?”

“Uh, yeah.” I shrug. “It went well.”

A little too well, even.

Because the instant I stepped foot on the plane this morning and it went wheels up out of Shaw Springs Ranch, I’ve had a knot in my chest the size of a boulder.

And I’ve cried three times.

Felt sick over leaving the ranch without getting a chance to say goodbye to Rhett and Joey.

Haven’t been able to eat a damn thing.

“Tex still doing okay after the heart attack?”

I nod. “He’s doing great.”

“Good.” Frank taps his fingers against the desk. “Well, I just wanted to bring you in here and make sure you’re all settled in, but I also wanted to talk to you about taking over Dr. Hall’s position. He’s going to be phasing out of his place here with the Slammers. He’s reaching the age where he wants to retire and spend the rest of his days relaxing at home with his family, rather than dealing with six-foot-five, smartass basketball players.” He smirks. “And I’d like to see you take over his position.”

My mouth falls open. “You want me to take over Dr. Hall’s position?”

“This is lookin’ to be his last season with us.”

This news should bring me joy.

Hell, it should make me want to jump out of this chair and scream for joy.

But there is nothing joyful about this.

If anything, I just feel even more sick to my stomach.

And numb. I feel so fucking numb right now. It feels like everything that was important to me was ripped away from me the second I got on that plane.

“Wow,” I mutter and look down at my lap. “I…I don’t know what to say. Or what I want to do.”

“Are you having doubts about your position in this organization?”

“Honestly, Mr. Kaminsky, yes, I think I am having doubts about working for this organization.”

The words just shoot from my mouth before I can even think about them.

Oddly enough, though, I don’t want to take them back.

When I realize Frank is gawking at me with shock and that my abrupt delivery might’ve been pretty fucking harsh, I try to smooth it over the best I can. “Shoot. That didn’t come out the way I meant it. What I’m trying to say is that I thought this is where I wanted to be, working for your great organization, but I don’t think this is where I belong.”