Page 82 of Out of Bounds

It was Dalton’s turn to be stunned, his features now mirroring what hers had moments ago. The question had caught her just as off guard, since everything he just laid out was a dream. He was right, she had worked her ass off to get here, and taking ownership of the team and part of the company had been exactly what she was working for. But maybe Heather had been right, and this was a chance to walk away and figure out something new. It would hurt to walk away from all this, but it would still probably hurt less than having to come to work every day and see the man she loved but couldn’t have.

“What?” he asked.

“I think maybe this is my chance to make a clean break of things. Find something new.”

“You can’t mean that, Flick.”

“I think I do,” she said.

Standing, she turned to walk out of the office, Dalton catching her by the elbow, same as he’d done yesterday. She smiled at him, the tears filling her eyes starting to blur her vision. He looked so much like their father, just younger, except for his blue eyes. Those were their mother’s. ShariLou had passed those beauties down to both of them, and even staring at him now, it was her who looked back. Felicity leaned in, giving her brother a hug.

“Promise me you’ll think about it, Flick,” he said, holding on tight. She could hear the emotion in his voice, and it caused a new wave of her own tears to appear. “Don’t make any hasty decisions.”

Pulling back, she nodded solemnly. She hated saying no to this. It really was an amazing offer, and she owed Dalton more than just a hug as a thank you for doing what was right. It didn’t even bother her that it wasn’t an even split—he could keep the majority share. Just knowing that she was the one he wanted to run the company with meant more than that extra twenty percent. None of that changed the fact that her heart was broken, and no part of being handed all she’d ever wanted professionally was going to change that. What she needed was time, space, and a new life.

If only she knew where to begin.

* * *

“Got a sec, coach?”

Gunnar turned around at the sound of Dalton’s voice, running his eyes up and down the young man. He was dressed in jeans and a button-down, but still looked put together. It was almost weird seeing him dressed down like this, but there was no doubt he could pull it off. Just like his sister. Gunnar’s heart squeezed thinking about Felicity and how she was the Sutherland he’d rather have standing with him on the practice field, but he knew better than to let himself continue down that road.

He blew his whistle, three tweets in quick succession, signaling the end of practice. “Hit the showers, lads! Then home and rest; we got a big weekend ahead of us,” he called, letting them all know they were done for the day. It was a little early, but they traveled tomorrow, so the rest would be good for them. “What’s up, boss man?”

“How’s the team looking? Ready for Sunday?”

“They are,” Gunnar said, letting his boss lead the conversation. “Nerves will hit sometime tomorrow, I bet.”

“I won’t pretend to know what it’s like, but I trust that you’ve got this handled.”

Gunnar nodded, not sure what to say next. He hadn’t seen Dalton since he’d left him standing in the crowd at the country club to run after Felicity. While Dalton had been perfectly understanding in the moment, that didn’t mean that his opinion hadn’t changed in the days since. Gunnar also had no idea what kind of conversations he’d had with his sister—only that it would have been far and away more than Gunnar.

“Here’s the thing—we could stand here and pretend like I’m not here to talk about you and my sister, or we can be cool about it. I’d really prefer the latter.”

“That makes two of us,” Gunnar said, letting out a laugh.

“You care about her?”

“Very much. I know that to many she’s a little…”

“Bitchy?” Dalton offered up.

“I was going to go with abrasive. But underneath all that, she’s,”—he paused, looking for the right word—“special. And I realize that getting involved with her was not the most appropriate thing I could do as head coach of this team, and that you full well could be here to tell me I no longer have that job, but your sister is worth it.”

Dalton threw his head back in a roaring laugh. Gunnar didn’t know what he’d said that was so funny, but something had certainly hit just right.

“Your job is secure, I mean, unless you go and lose every game this season or something. I’m not exactly one to lecture anyone on professionalism. I more than bent the rules in that department when trying to win Zara back,” he said, a look of amusement still covering his face. A wave of relief washed over Gunnar at the news. He really did believe he had something with this team, and he wanted to see it through. Almost as much as he wanted Felicity. “As for her being worth it, she told me the exact same thing about you, pretty much word for word.”

Now there was a hell of a thought—Felicity thought he was worth it. If ever there was a statement that could make him blush, that might just be it. Warmth radiated through him, making him wish he could pull her into his arms and show her just how worth it all this had been.

“When did she say that?”

“A couple of hours ago, as she was turning down the promotion I offered her and telling me she was walking away from Southland.”

“Come again?” Gunnar asked. He didn’t hear that properly. Felicity turned down a promotion? There was no way. That promotion was her dream. Everything she’d done over the last couple of years had been so she could take over this team. He knew she had earned it and that there was no one better for the job than her. So why would she walk away? “I don’t follow.”

“She said she thinks it might be time for something new.”