Page 118 of Big Stick Energy
“Yes, but…” He bites his lip. “I was trying to ask how you felt about me meeting your dad for lunch.”
“Today?He was in New York?” And I can’t stop my voice from going high with confusion. It’s the age-old sound of heartbreak. As if I’m sixteen again, and my father has forgotten to call me on my birthday.
Eric looks wary. “Yes. I’m sorry. I got the feeling it was a last-minute thing. He said he wanted to chat. And, um, Tessa was there. He introduced her as his new assistant.”
I make a face. “Okay, I get it. I’m not sure I even want that lunch invitation. This was about your sponsorship?”
“Yeah,” he says slowly. Like the word costs him a lot.
“And?” I demand. “Did he give you a contract?”
The wariness in those clear gray eyes only increases. “Look, I’m torn,” he says, cupping the non-injured side of my face. It feels so good, I want to close my eyes and lean into his hand.
But I don’t. “About what?”
He sighs. “I willneverlie to you. But it’s really fucking tempting right now.”
“Why?” My heart rate doubles.
“He gave me a contract, and I turned it down. It wasn’t a good fit after all. I wasn’t comfortable.”
“Why?” I ask quietly. “And don’t sugarcoat it.”
He closes his eyes briefly, like the question is causing him pain. Then he wraps his arms a little more tightly around me. “I’m glad you’re getting along a little better with your dad these days. But he made a request that didn’t feel right to me.”
“And you really don’t want to tell me what it is,” I say dully. Then I lean my head against his shoulder because it’sright there.
“No,” he whispers. “I don’t.”
“Please,” I whisper back. “Just tell me what pissed you off. It can’t be anything stupider than he’s already said or done.”
He kisses my temple. “He said that since Tessa was working with him now, she’d be around a lot. And since the two of you don’t get along—his words—it was better if I didn’t bring you with me when I went to any of our Wayfair photo shoots.”
I take that in. And I was right—it isn’t anything worse than he’s already done. Just favoring Tessa’s feelings over mine. “You know what’s weird?”
“Um, everything about your family?”
I smile against his shoulder. “Well, yes. But I was going to say—I don’t think my fatheractuallyloves her best. I think he’s just used to tiptoeing around her explosive personality. Because when Tessa misbehaves, he has to reckon with his own bad parenting.”
He takes a breath. “That’s some high-level analysis, Kendrick. But I just couldn’t get past the part where he offered me a beach vacation in one breath and then followed it up by saying I couldn’t bring his own daughter with me.”
My heart clenches, and the sensation is awfully familiar by now. “We’re not actually dating, though.”
“He didn’t know that, and it shouldn’t matter. Besides—yousaywe’re not together, and yet you’re stuck to me like a sloth in a mango tree.”
“Really? I had no idea that a mango tree could kidnap a sloth and carry it across the rainforest to the sofa. I missed that onNational Geographic. And I thought we discussed this—you weresupposed to take the sponsorship even if my dad is an asshole. They’re just going to give all that money to a golfer now.”
I expect this idea to land hard on him, but it doesn’t. Instead, his gaze gets all soft and lazy, and his hand rubs a slow circle on my back. “The thing is, my priorities have changed. I thought a sponsorship would make me happy. That it would be, like, a capstone on my career. But then it didn’t. He literally handed me the contract of my dreams, and I couldn’t hand it back fast enough. I just wanted to race home and bribe Zoe into telling me when your exams were done, and your apartment number.”
“Huh. How much money did she take you for?”
“She gave me the info for free, because—and this is a direct quote—she wants us both to stop looking so miserable all the time.”
“You don’t lookthatmiserable,” I insist. I’ve just spent a couple of weeks watching him slay at practice and smile for a million photos.
“The captain has to fake it. The truth is, I miss you so much that it’s killing me.”
My stomach does one of its flips. “Really?”
