Page 50 of Scoring Eden

I wouldn’t know.

I’ve never received a dick pic myself.

The sounds of buzzing conversation and clattering mugs hum around us as she sets her drink down and leans across the table. “It wasn’t a dick pic that made you freak out, was it?”

I don’t know what it is about Brynn that makes me want to confess all my troubles to her. Maybe it’s how free she is with her own words, the warmth that radiates from her like sunlight, or the simple fact that she’s a mother like me, but I find my tongue loosening. If anyone could understand the crippling fear I’m living with every day, I imagine it would be her.

I pick up a napkin and start to shred it. “I don’t know how much Alex has told you about our situation.”

“Just that he needs to reform his image so the stuffy-ass investors don’t have him kicked off the team.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “But our relationship is beneficial to me too.”

She tips her head in a silent question.

“My ex-husband is remarrying, and he’s threatening to file for sole custody of my son. Sebastian, my ex, thinks that because I’m single and don’t have a lot of money, I’m not in a position to raise Macon with the same level of structure and financial security as he can.”

“That’s bullshit!” Brynn winces at the volume of her voice, shooting an apologetic smile to the elderly couple who are sitting at the table next to ours. “But seriously, that’s bullshit. It was him who texted you?”

“Yeah, he wants to talk, apparently.”

“Are you going to?”

“I have to, I guess.” I release a long sigh and sag back in my seat. “The thing is, if I thought Macon would be genuinely happier with his dad, then I wouldn’t fight it. I want what’s best for him, even if that isn’t me. But he hates the weekends he spends there, and he always comes home really quiet and withdrawn.”

Her eyes glisten with genuine empathy as she reaches across to lay her hand on top of mine. “Macon belongs with you. We won’t let your shitty ex-husband take him. I can promise you that.”

I appreciate the resolve in her tone, but I can’t drop my guard enough to believe her. I wish I could, but I know Sebastian. I had to live with his singlemindedness for years. He has never been the sort to back down from what he wants, no matter who he has to trample over to get it.

“He’s probably got all the best lawyers on the case already, and it’ll be a done deal as soon as they see where we live, anyway. I sleep on a futon, for Christ’s sake.”

“Move in with Alex.” She says it like it’s the most obvious solution in the world. And it probably is in her eyes.

But how would I explain it to Macon?

It’s not like I can tell him the truth. He’s a ten-year-old boy. He’d probably tell his best friend, thinking they’d keep it a secret, then they’d go and tell someone else, who would tell someone else, until it eventually got back to Sebastian. The risk of him discovering our public relationship is high enough as it is.

I shake my head. “It would be too disruptive for Macon.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Her lips slant. “It’s something to think about, though. And don’t worry about your ex’s lawyers; we’ve got some pretty good connections of our own, you know? Alex will get you lawyered up, no problem.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “He’d do that for me?”

She throws her head back and laughs. “Honey, my brother is the most overbearing and protective asshole there is when it comes to the people he cares about. Of course he will.”

But he doesn’t care about me. Not really. I’m a means to an end.

Every interaction we have in public is a lie. A carefully curated one to convince the world that we’re in love. Any display of care and protectiveness he’s shown me has been a part of that.

It wasn’t real. It will never be real. But I should take Brynn’s conviction that Alex cares about me as a good sign that we’re selling it well. I must be a better actress than I thought.

Maybe I’ve picked up a thing or two from watching Macon’s performances.

Brynn glances down at the time on her phone and gasps. “Shit, we need to get going. Macon and your sister are meeting us at the stadium, right?”

I nod, throwing on my coat and leaving the lingering unease of our conversation behind me. Sebastian can get fucked. We’ll have our “talk” another time, when I’m not about to step in front of seventy thousand fans and pretend to be in love with the captain of one of the most successful teams in MLS history.

Brynn grabs my arm as we’re leaving and levels me with a look of utter sincerity. “I know it all feels scary right now, but I know my brother. Just keep doing what you’re doing, and let him handle the rest. Everything is going to be fine.”