Page 27 of Heal Me, Love Me

His head snapped up. “What?”

“He’s representing me.”

Rowan’s shoulders stiffened just slightly before he schooled his features. I knew that look. The one that said he was doing his best not to overreact, trying to hide how he really felt. “Congratulations. You had a good fight.”

“So did you. I bet you’ll hear from someone soon.”

He watched the water for a moment, then shrugged. “Who knows?”

I swallowed hard because there was more I needed to tell him. “Marcos Silva, my agent, thinks Titan is a good fit for me right now. He said Devon knows how to develop fighters.”

Rowan let out a short, humorless laugh. “Convenient.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Isn’t it?”

I stepped closer before I could stop myself. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Make it sound like I’m choosing him.”

His hazel eyes came back to mine, and I didn’t miss the flash of hurt in them. “Aren’t you?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m trying to make smart decisions about the career I’ve worked hard for.”

He frowned as if that answer hurt too, and I hated that every possible answer had the ability to sting.

I reached for his hand. “I’m not saying I don’t care what this does to you. I’m not saying you should stay somewhere that makes you feel like shit. But I just signed with Elevate this morning, and my agent spent half the meeting telling me how great Titan is for me and thinks I’m building something good there.”

Rowan pulled away. “And I’m telling you I can’t stay there.”

“I heard you.”

“Did you?”

“Yes!” I snapped, then immediately took a breath because anger wasn’t going to help anything. “Yes. I heard you.”

The worst part was that there wasn’t an easy villain to pin this on. Devon had crossed a line, and I was pissed about it. Rowan wasn’t wrong to want out, but I wasn’t wrong either for not wanting to blow up my whole career because of something Devon did.

I shoved my hands into my pockets again. “I don’t know how to make any of this better without sounding like an asshole.”

Rowan’s mouth twitched, but it wasn’t a smile. “You’re walking a fine line.”

“I’m aware, and I’m not trying to tell you how to feel. I’m not standing here thinking this doesn’t suck. It does. I should’ve told you about Devon, and you should’ve told me you’d seen that kiss before you got on a plane and emptied your room.”

His gaze dropped.

“We need to be better about this.”

“Yeah,” he replied. “We do.”

“And you shouldn’t wait to tell me what’s going on in your head untilafteryou’ve already made decisions about us. We gotta talk about shit first.”

He nodded. “I guess we both need to work on stuff because I’m not ready to lose this.”

Some of the tension I’d been carrying finally eased. “Me either.”