Page 105 of Off the Mark
“Allof them?”
“I was.” She frowned. “Until I wasn’t. But I got what I deserved, since I was dating quite a lot of them. At the same time.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And you’re giving me shit because Rowan’s making me glow?”
“Just a teeny bit. But it’s nice, Charlie. Seeing you happy. Likelegitimatelyhappy.”
She shook the ice in her glass, a line forming between her brows. “Can you come with me tomorrow morning to meet with Bettencourt? Some of the reps are in town for the championship, and they offered a face-to-face for both of us.”
The sweet, sultry pleasure of the last two days vanished in a surge of anxiety. “A face-to-face? Is that good or bad?”
She lowered her voice. “The video of you and that reporter, James, is going a little viral. Within the community, but I’ve seen other athletes sharing it too. The guy was clearly proud to be flaunting his love of the double standard in pro sports, and you called him on it. I think it’s great, and you come off looking like a queen.”
“But?” I asked, stomach dropping.
“Afamily-friendly image,in Bettencourt’s mind, is probably less combative. Their perspective, not mine.”
“Ah, okay. Women should just shut up and take it, huh?”
She studied me closely, and all I could see were eviction notices and dwindling bank accounts. “You did the right thing. If we were able to go back in time, I’d tell you to do the same thing, all over again.”
I sniffed, toeing my boot against the floor. “If I was able to go back in time, I wouldn’t have saidyeah, who cares?And then gotten drunk in all those bars the night before my first race here.”
“Oh, Charlie.” Her face contorted in sympathy. “It’snotconfirmed. But when I saw the email request come through, I don’t know. It felt ominous to me.”
I nodded, releasing a long, shaky breath. “I’m glad I know we’ve got a battle ahead. At least tomorrow we won’t be walking in unprepared. I, uh…didn’t tell you, but my dad’s being evicted. I technicallyalwaysneed money, but I need more money now and a significant source of it to keep him in his house. Our house.” I blew another breath. “It’s been a lot of pressure lately.”
She studied me over her glass. “You’ve been here before with him, haven’t you?”
“Sure, yeah. Off and on, from when I was a teenager. It’s been hard on him, all the changes.”
“Hard on you too. Harder if you believe you have to fix all these problems by yourself,” she said simply. “I adore your dad, Charlie. He’s one of the best of us, and I learned so much, training with him. And heloves you.”
I pressed the heel of my palm to my right eye before a tear could escape. “’Course he does.”
“And also…that’s a lot of responsibility for a kid. I don’t think it was fair for all of it to fall on you.”
She found my hand again while I composed myself—why I was crying, in public, about money was beyond me. Whenwasn’tI stressed out about money?
“Do you want to work with Bettencourt?”
My gaze snapped back to hers. “Yes. Why?”
“It’s okay to use them for money. It’s even okay to use them for money and not like them very much. Plenty of times I had to wade through that murky gray area.” She glanced back at Riley and Quinn and her lips curled into a secretive smile. “I pushed you to sign with them, Charlie. And you haven’t seemed happy since. Not happy like you’ve been the past three weeks.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that—except she was right. Hadn’t I admitted to Rowan that I’d been flustered and out of it on the racetrack since Bettencourt came on the scene?
Hadn’t I felt uncomfortable about working with a sponsor whose values didn’t align with my own?
“It’s a lot of cash,” was all I said. In a tone of voice that would convinceno one.
“And you and I have cozied up with worse people for less. Bills are bills. But you’ve blossomed here, babe. Yelling at shitty reporters, winning races again, gettingpositivepress?” She tapped my nose. “It’s something to think about.”
The compliment had me smiling. “Did you say I blossomed like some kind of…flower?”
She pursed her lips. “Like a muddy, badass, dirt bike flower.”
“Decent save.”
