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“And it’s never going to happen again,” he tells me with no confidence in his voice.
“Fine, but just know that I’m not the only one who fucked up here. You’re no saint either.” With nothing left to say, I turn on my heel and head back through the mass quantities of press to my car.
As I make my way through the crowd, it’s not lost on me that all these individuals have seen me—intimately. Tears sting my eyes, and I don’t even know if they’re from the devastation of the video or the ache in my heart from losing Carter.
On my ride home, tears threaten as my mind tries to wrap around the events of today.
It was hard enough waking up to Abbie’s concerned face looming over mine. When she showed me the video, I just sat there, silently staring at the screen. The private moment gone viral. Intimate pieces of my body on display for the world to see. Maybe not the whole world. The video was released fairly early and taken down pretty quickly. Still, it was up long enough. Enough for Abbie to get her hands on it. Enough for people to see me with my skirt around my waist. Enough for people at the grocery store to talk about it. Certainly, long enough for my father to know.
Shortly after, my father called. He said he had an opportunity for me. Even then, even knowing I was going to the Knights stadium, it never crossed my mind that Carter would be there. Not at the stadium and certainly not in my father’s office.
Even less expected than Carter was the compliment my father gave me.
“Lexie is a therapist, a damn good one atthat.”
For all the stress he puts on me, the refusal to allow me to work for the team, hearing those words fall from my father’s mouth was like a dream come true—until it turned into a nightmare.
A week ago, I would have jumped at the chance. I would have pulled out all the stops and ensured that Carter’s arm was in top working condition. I’m not so sure I’ll get that opportunity now. He may not have any other choice, but there is no way Carter’s going to be okay with me being his therapist. No. He’s going to make this hell for me, regardless that he’ll be holding back his own progress. I could see it in his eyes and in the way he looked at me.
By the time I get home, the tears have dried, but the misery hasn’t.
“So?” Abbie greets me at the door with an excited and hopeful look on her face. “What did he offer you?” Her head turns to the side as she apprises me. “Lex, honey? What is it? What’s wrong?”
Sobbing, I walk into her open arms. Squeezing me tightly she leads me to the couch. We sit there, her eyes on me the entire time as she waits for me to collect my thoughts.
“Did your dad tell you what the opportunity was?”
I nod.
“Is it a good one?”
“Yes,” I whisper. It would be if it didn’t involve Carter and the constant reminder of the mess I made.
“Is this about the… tape?”
“No. Yes. Sort of.” I take a deep breath. “He wants me to do therapy on… Carter.”
“Oh, no.”
“It gets worse,” I tell her. “Not only does he want me to do therapy, but he also wants Carter to lie low… in his hometown.”
“If he does that, then how…” She puts the pieces of the puzzle together. “Oh.”
“So, starting tomorrow, I get to go to some dinky small town with the man of my dreams to meet his parents.”
“Do I even want to know what Carter has to say about all this? I’m assuming he knows.”
“Oh, he knows alright.”
“And?”
“He hates me.” Tears run down my cheeks. “He absolutely hates me.” I wait patiently for her, ‘I told you so,’ but it doesn’t come.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie. What can I do?”
“There’s nothing to do.”
“Does your dad know about the two of you? About the… tape?”
