Page 77 of No Easy Catch
“What?” He tilted his head and frowned. “No. We focused on wanna-be athletes and parents who enable them.”
“You said on the phone you helped me get into this school when I didn’t have a lot to offer.”
“Amber.” His voice broke and he shook his head. “I never paid a dime for your acceptance. Yes, I bought you gifts because your mother is selfish and superficial and I wanted you to feel loved, but no, I never touched your education.”
“Then why would you say that?”
“Because I know your weakness and used it to scare you.” He hung his head again and wiped his palms on his pants. “Will you ever forgive me?”
“I can’t really say yet.” It was the truth. There were so many emotions and thoughts about him, what he did, what he said he didn’t do, and right now, I needed to focus on getting through the week. “It’s not a yes or no. It’s a maybe.”
“I understand.” He stood and looked at me with warmth. “I won’t keep you. If Tony is watching, he’ll think I followedthrough. Be careful, Amber. There are a lot of moving pieces to this system and once your name is on the article…”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“You brave girl. If I separate myself from it all, I’m filled with so much pride in what you did. Learning so much when we thought we were covering our tracks. You’ve always had an edge to you and I wasn’t sure where you would land, but this… You did good.”
“Thank you,” I said, tears finally spilling down my cheeks. “I’m not sorry for uncovering everything but I am sorry you were involved.”
“I know. It was my choice and I’ll deal with it.” He moved toward me and pulled me into a hug. It would probably be the last hug for a long while and we both held a little tighter than normal. “I’m glad that young man is on your side. Whatever happens now, please know I’m still rooting for you.”
“Thanks, Uncle Martin,” I mumbled to his chest. We ended the hug and he left, leaving me in an even more confused state. Heartbroken over Jeff, heartbroken over losing the one family member who loved and supported me, and worried about who else was involved beyond the handful of men we’d found. I rubbed my chest with my hand, taking deep breaths and trying to settle my heartbeat down, when Jeff came back from the kitchen.
“Is your uncle gone?”
“Yeah, he just left.” My initial happiness of him being here started trickling away when I took in how hard his expression was, and how he seemed to move closer to the front door and away from me. “Thank you for coming here to defend me.”
He sighed and asked without changing his expression. “Did he threaten you again?”
“No.” I leaned against the doorway and longed to touch him, to comfort him and to have him give me some of his strength. Myeyes stung at how much I wished I could be with Jeff and with the combination of my uncle’s admittance… my emotions took over.
“Why are you crying?” He furrowed his brows but made no movement to comfort me. It was pathetic how much I missed his touch.
“Because…he apologized for hurting me, threatening me, just being involved in the entire thing and shattering our relationship. The associate dean forced him to threaten me last night on the phone?—”
“You believe him?” he asked, his voice rising. “He’s a fucking con artist.”
“I know, Jeff, but I think I do believe him. He looked broken.”
Jeff made a sarcastic face and shifted his weight from the left to the right. “You’re fine, then?”
“Not really.” I sniffed and laid it all out on the table, something I never did, and it was more terrifying that posting the article live. “Jeff, can we please talk upstairs? It’s been killing me thinking about us not hanging out anymore. You have to know I did everything with the sole intention of protecting you.” My voice broke, but his face remained unmoved. “Through all this time, I’ve grown to care about you more than I imagined and… I don’t want this to end. You and me. I think we’re good together.”
“I can’t get over the fact you comforted me, used your body to distract me, when you fucking knew the truth.” He shook his head and looked at me with so much disappointment, I knew, this was it. He was a strong-willed person and he’d made up his mind. “I just… I’m glad you’re safe. I wanted to make sure when I saw your uncle here, but nothing more.” He removed his hands from his pockets and backed up toward the sidewalk.
This is it. He’s gone.The brief restraint I had on my emotions broke at the expression on his face and I stopped holding it in.A sob escaped me and I covered my mouth with my hand. Two people who’d snuck into my life, helped me grow my confidence and showed in different ways how they loved, had left me. Jeff met my eyes one last time, the tortured expression in his almost giving me a sliver of hope, but Laney came outside and pulled me into her arms. “Sweetie…you can’t fall for a guy who doesn’t understand you’d doanythingfor the people you love.”
She shut the door, closing off whatever response Jeff might’ve had, and I wanted nothing more than to sleep and cry for a week.This. This is why I don’t date. The heartbreak isn’t worth it.
31
JEFF
My goddamn left arm hurt and I made a couple of arm circles, stretching it for a full minute and trying not to wince. My game had never been better, but my muscles and mindset could use some work.Stop thinking about her.
“Maddow, my man, you are the definition of beastmode,” Brandon said, clapping his hand on my back and speaking way too loudly. “Throwing out two runners and almost hitting a cycle…dude.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, wishing I was back home in my bed away from everyone. We’d won our first game and I’d played great—yet celebrating with the team was the last thing I wanted to do. They would want to talk aboutit, the article, and ask questions. It had been a full week and the buzz remained. Losing a dean and an assistant coach was a huge deal, and other coaches from other teams getting suspended while a real investigation took place was huge fucking news. Our school name had appeared in the news no less than a million times in the past seven days and because of her article, that meant people were talking about Amber—something I was not ready to do.
