“Two of the sponsors first wanted to drop the Lords completely, but Tina talked them into hanging on to the team. They also voiced the worry that I hadn’t been impartial when I suggested you for the solo spot.”
“It’s my fault for getting in a fight with Levi. Everything else is bullshit.”
I realized for the first time why she hadn’t come to me with all this: she was mad at me.
“Is it really such a stretch for them to believe that, though?”
“What do you mean?”
“That you kept insisting, and I kept giving in,” she snapped.
“Fine, I insisted. But what do you think would have been different if I hadn’t?” I snapped back.
“I don’t know. I just can’t believe I’m not learning from my mistakes.”
I felt every muscle in my body go on lockdown. I’d expected her to be angry about my fight with Levi, but this went deeper. For a few seconds, I could only hear her breath mingling with mine. I was afraid of what she’d say next, but she didn’t speak at all.
I just had to man up and ask.
“And now you’re regretting it?”
“Jace, I want to focus on the things I have to fix. I just don’t have the energy for planning vacations or anything else.”
She didn’t have the energy for me.
Fuck, that sounded a whole lot like she did regret it but wanted to spare me from hearing it out loud. And right now, I realized that I didn’t want to outright hear it. I honestly couldn’t handle Brooke saying she regretted it, or perhaps that it hadn’t been worth it.
I was afraid that I was on the verge of losing the woman I loved, but I had no idea how to move forward, what to say to make things better. What if she’d just shut me down?
“And I want to be there for you every step of the way, Brooke. I will be.”
“Jace, you have a semifinal coming up. You need your head in the game.”
I tried to guess if there was more to her words than she let on, but I wasn’t good at interpreting intentions and deciphering deeper meanings.
“Good night, Brooke.”
“Good night.”
Chapter Thirty
Jace
I went to bed much later than usual. We had an early flight the next day. Even though we had no other game until the semifinal in Miami, our schedule was still packed with interviews and promotional appearances through California. I wanted to drop everything and head back to LA, but it wasn’t an option.
When Coach sat next to me, I was fully expecting to get an ass-chewing from him.
“I talked to Brooke this morning,” he began. “Just found out Tina let her go.”
“I found out last night. It’s my fault for getting into that damn fight.”
“Jace, you always keep a cool head on the field. In the rare instances I’ve seen you lose your temper off the field, it was warranted. I might not be close to any of you boys, but if I know one thing about you, it’s that you fight for what you want.”
“That’s true, sir.”
He clapped my shoulder. “So you’ll fight for my girl?”
“Absolutely.”