Page 113 of The No Try Zone
Colin growls as I glare at the asshole’s back. When they round the corner he turns to me, his eyes wide with concern. All the rage is gone. “Are you okay?” His tone is gentle as his hands slide up and down my arms, inspecting me.
It’s not until he grips my hands in his, their steady warmth seeping in and grounding me, that I realize how badly I’m shaking. “C’mere.” His voice is low and comforting as he curls me into his chest, banding his thick arms around me and holding me close. My ear presses against his heart. It thumps wildly as I inhale a choppy breath.
“Yourwife?”
Even cocooned against Colin’s body, there’s no mistaking that voice.
Frank.
Chapter41
Colin
THERE’S A POETIC kind of justice in the team’s head of PR being the one to uncover us. The fact that Neesha stands on one side of him and Sullivan Adams, phone raised and almost certainly taking video on the other, is simply icing on the cake.
I could lie. But in that moment, with Sam in my arms, my knuckles throbbing with each heartbeat, I am done. Done being a coward. Done hiding. Done denying myself the one person I want more than anything else in this world. So instead of lying, I’ll fight.
Frank repeats himself. “What the fuck is going on here?”
Neesha steps forward and holds her hand out for Sam, the look on her face making me release my tight hold.
Sam breathes slowly and looks up at me. I meet her gaze and stroke her soft cheek, hoping the small gesture is worth something.
I open my mouth to speak. The words really are there this time, but her lips thin as she looks away, stepping out of my embrace and turning to Neesha without another word.
Neesha, still staring at me with a look that I can’t decipher, wraps her arm around Sam’s shoulders and leads her away. Frank’s eyes cut to Neesha’s, and the sharp shake of her head has Frank looking back at me.
When the women are gone, Frank turns fully to me and crosses his arms. “Now might be a good time to start talking.”
Ignoring Frank, I turn my attention to Sullivan, who hasn’t stopped recording. I have a new plan. “I’m going to speak to the press tomorrow at nine. I’ll give you an exclusive after that, but for now, feel free to break the news that Coach Thicke has been secretly married to the team’s new head of physical therapy for months.”
Frank’s eyes bulge. “Turn off the phone,” he growls.
Sullivan’s attention stays on me.
Frank stalks into the phone’s view, adopting a threatening position. “Turn off the fucking phone.”
“Nah,” Sullivan says.
Frank’s hand shoots out, knocking the phone out of the man’s hand. “Take one step toward that phone and it’ll be the last thing you do as a reporter.”
His mouth pops open in shock. “You can’t be serious.”
“Deadly.”
And that’s when I’ve had enough. “Frank,” I snap.
He turns to me, practically snarling.
“You’re fired.”
“You can’t fire me.”
I smirk as Sullivan picks up his phone behind Frank’s back and trains it right back on us. “You’re right. Technically, I can’t. But I’ve got express permission from Scott to do it the second you step out of line. I’d call threatening a member of the press ‘stepping out of line,’ wouldn’t you?”
Frank scoffs. “I’m not fired. If anyone is, it’s you.”
I raise a brow. “Good luck with that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some things to attend to.”
