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Anger boils inside me. I’ve triedso hardto stay level-headed about this, but I’m allowed to be pissed about shitty rules even though I broke them.
“Instead of being an asshole, why don’t you start to fight the league on these horribly restrictive rules they have in place? You put anyone together in the same space and attraction isboundto develop. We’re not the first couple who worked together on a team and fell in love, and we’re not going to be the last, either. The only reason this is an issue is because we got caught. Guess what? We’ve been living together formonths, and it hasn’t jeopardized anything. In fact, Dallas is playing some of the best football of his career. I guess I’m not too much of a distraction.”
Shawn blinks and goes very still. “You’re living together?” he repeats. “Christ. You’re really fucking trying me, aren’t you? You’re an adult now, not some college kid who overslept and missed a class. This is the real world with real consequences.”
“Why are you acting like this is illegal?” I ask, and I raise my voice. “You’re not my father, and you don’t get a say in my love life just because you’ve known me for years. If you’re this strict when you and Lacey have kids, I’m going to feel sorry for them. I wish you’d stop treating us like we’re goddamn criminals and start treating us like people. Being in love isn’t a crime.”
He flinches, and I cover my mouth. “I’m sorry you feel that way,” he says, and I can hear the hurt in his voice.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry. That was a horrible thing to say. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m pissed off and?—”
“You’re right.” Shawn doesn’t look at me. He stares past my shoulder, and my eyes sting with tears. “I’m not your father. I’m just the guy who watched you grow up and spent night after night with you while your parents were working. I’m just the guy who saw you take your first steps and picked you up from prom after your date started making out with someone else. I have no jurisdiction over who you may or may not love.”
“Stop. You know you’re more than that to me.” I knock over a pencil holder when I reach across the desk and find his hand. “I’m just… I’m so mad at you.”
“I’m mad at you, too. This is my job, andthat’swhy I care about your love life. I can’t be in favor of your relationship when I have to face the league’s ethics office—again, for fuck’s sake—and reprimand you on something you knowingly did wrong.”
“Okay.” I sit back and put my hands in my lap.
“I really hate that I have to do this,” Shawn says, and his voice cracks. “I know this job makes you happy, and I wish I didn’t have eighteen people breathing down my neck about how it’s handled, but I do. I do, and I’m sorry.”
He drops a stack of papers in front of me, but my vision is too watery to read it.
“Your job with the Titans will be terminated immediately.” He pauses, and I squeeze my eyes shut. “An investigation will be conducted to verify the means in which your relationship started and to make sure there was no exertion of power by Dallas or any other members of the Titans team.”
“What?” I blurt out. “Are you serious? Shawn, we’re two adults who?—”
“You’ll turn in your badge, and all on-field access will be revoked immediately. You can keep the licensing rights for the photos you took, but you cannot credit the team anymore.”
“Fuck,” I whisper, and I wipe away tears. “Termination?”
“It was preventable.”
“Did you try to stop yourself from falling in love with Lacey?”
He tilts his head to the side and frowns. “Why do you ask?”
“Did you?” I challenge, and he nods.
“Yes,” he admits. “I thought it might ruin our friendship if we got together. And I valued her as my best friend so damn much.”
“And what happened?”
“I fell in love with her anyway.” Shawn smiles and plays with his wedding band. “I’m glad I did.”
“That’s exactly what happened with me and Dallas. I knew the rules, Shawn, but I couldn’t help it. I know I can’t keep both, and I want to keep him because he’s the best thing to ever happen to me. But it still really fucking hurts to have your dream taken away from you.”
“It’s that serious?”
“Forever kind of serious.”
His face softens. “It doesn’t change the outcome of this, but I’m glad you’re happy.”
“Let’s just get it over with.” I grab one of the pens off his desk and uncap it. “Where do I?—”
The door swings open and Dallas comes storming inside.
“Dallas?”
