“You knew your dad was behind this, didn’t you? You stood there in your office today and lied straight to my face. You told me to wait.You told me to trust.”
She swallows hard as her eyes blink rapidly. I shake my head and push through the door.
“Jake, listen to me!” she cries, trailing me through the humid night air to the driver’s side of my truck. As I reach for the handle, she grabs a fistful of fabric from my T-shirt, tugging hard.
“You have to understand . . . I had to be sure.”
I spin around, staring down at her, my jaw clenched so tight it aches.
“They’re sending me to Texas,” she blurts out, her voice cracking.
That stops me dead. The words cut through my anger, leaving a strange, strangled quiet between us. I hold on to her gaze, my chest heaving, and before I can open my mouth to accuse her of taking a corporate bribe to stay quiet, she holds up a hand, her eyes blazing with fierce determination.
“I’m turning it down.”
I blink once, then continue to stare at her.
“You have to believe me. I was always going to tell you when I knew for sure. I couldn’t just accuse him without proof. My father doesn’t operate under normal father-daughter rules. It’s all a court case to him. Our relationship is more like litigation. I needed to be armed with details, to know what his role is, how long he’s been involved, his motives.”
“You’re turning it down?” Something about this definitive rejection of being offered her dream hits me square in the chest.
I walk a tight circle on the asphalt, running a hand over my face, searching for the anger that drove me a minute ago. I can’t find it, and it’s because I believe her. More than that, I trust her.
My gaze snaps to hers as she waits anxiously near the side of my truck, both hands once again clutching the laptop and papers against her chest. I breathe in and out, my pulse racing, my heart rather terrified. The only move that makes sense is to kiss her. I march right back up to her, weave my fingers into her hair, and cover her mouth with mine. It’s a desperate kiss, coming off angry and forceful, so I tear my lips away and take a step back as I run the back of my palm over my raw lips.
Campbell blinks up at me, her chest heaving. “What . . . what was that all about?”
“I don’t know,” I mutter, shaking my head. “I’m just mad. But also . . . I don’t think I’m mad atyou.”
She lets out a shaky breath, a half-hearted challenge in her eyes. “You don’t think?”
“I don’t know,” I repeat, looking down at the ground before bringing my gaze back to her beautiful, exhausted face. “I just know . . . fuck, Campbell. I know things in my life got a whole hell of a lot better the second you entered it. And I don’t think you’re feeding me bullshit.”
“I’m not,” she fires back, her voice echoing in the empty parking lot. “I swear to you, I’m not,” she adds in a softer tone.
A long, heavy pause stretches between us as we just stand there, staring into each other’s eyes, the dust settling around our boots. Finally, I clear my throat, the reality of what she says sinking in. The weight of her decision.
“You can’t give up your dream job, Campbell. If Texas wants you, you have to go. That’s the big show.”
“I already wrote my resignation.” There’s a finality in her voice, and she doesn’t flinch.
I shake my head, completely baffled by her, by the sheer scope of what she’s walking away from. I reach up, my hand tenderly tracing the side of her face, my fingers smoothing over her arm.
“How can you be so sure? I mean, this business is brutal. I know how bad you want to go to the big leagues.”
“Yeah,” she whispers with a nod, cutting the distance between us in half. She peers up at me with big round eyes. “As bad as you want to.”
“So go.”
She shakes her head and lets out a soft, stunted laugh.
“Jake. If you had an offer to go to the majors right now, but you knew it wasn’t because you deserved it—that itwasn’t because your talent warrants the shot—but because someone is paying to get you out of the way, would you still take it?”
I turn my gaze toward the stadium lights, flashes of my incredible night replaying through my mind.
“I don’t know,” I admit, my voice dropping. “I’m afraid I might. Take the shot, then prove myself once I get there.”
I meet her gaze, and she shakes her head, a small, knowing smile touching her lips.
