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It was on the tip of my tongue to say that I’d had, but when Orion had been apologizing the other night, all I’d seen was Cap standing in his place. The entire time that Orion had been begging me to give him another chance, all I’d seen and heard was Cap Aldrich doing the same. So, had I moved on? Was I still playing the victim? I mean, I knew that I no longer had feelings for Cap, but could I honestly say that I had moved on from what he’d done to me?
“Even if I believed you, Cap, nothing excuses you attacking Orion with our past,” I said, still really not wanting to know the details. “That’s not the actions of someone that’s genuinely sorry for his behavior. That’s just being an asshole.”
“I know,” he quickly rushed out. “I know, and I’m sorry. I was jealous.”
This conversation was blowing my mind. “You don’t have the right to be jealous, Cap.”
“That doesn’t change how I feel,” he argued, giving me a headache.
I shook my head again. “I think you need to leave,” I finally said. “There was no point in coming here, and I am not going to let you make me the other woman in your marriage.”
“That’s not what I’m doing, Sinclair.”
“Cap-”
The door to my office flew open, Harley barging in, inadvertently saving me from Cap’s nonsense. “Sin-” Harley immediately scowled. “What in the fuck are you doing here?”
“We’re having a private conversation,” Cap answered, starting to piss me off.
“No, we’re not,” I corrected. “In fact, Cap was just leaving.”
Cap looked back at me. “C’mon, Sin-”
“You heard her,” Harley cut in. “Don’t make me throw you the fuck out, Aldrich. I give two fucks that you have five inches on me.”
Recognizing that it was two on one now, Cap wisely took his leave. “We can talk later, Sin,” he said, trying to save face.
“No, we can’t,” I told him. “Don’t come here again, Cap.”
With one last glance at Harley, Cap left my office, and it was like I could breathe again. Whatever Cap had been trying to accomplish, he never should have shown up here, and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for his wife now. I also wanted to be over Cap Aldrich and his bullshit; I really did.
“What the fuck, Sin?” Before I could answer, Harley was waving his question away. “Forget Cap Aldrich. Did you hear about Orion?”
My stomach automatically tightened.
“No,” I answered. “Is he okay? His shoulder-”
Harley shook his head. “There’s a rumor that he’s retiring after this season.”
His words hit my chest like a two-by-four.“What?”
“There’s a press conference scheduled for five o’clock, and it’s rumored that he’s going to announce his retirement.”
I placed a hand on my chest, trying to keep my heart inside my ribcage. “He…he can’t do that,” I stammered. “He has two more years on his contract.”
“I don’t know, Sin,” he said. “That’s just the rumor.”
As arrogant as it was, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was retiring because of me. I’d been very clear about refusing to ever date an athlete again, so was this his way of solving that problem? I felt like I was going to be sick with that possibility. This wasn’t what I wanted. Even if Orion gave up his career for me, that didn’t mean that we were going to work things out. He’d be giving up his career for nothing if I couldn’t get past his mistrust of me.
“He can’t retire, Harley,” I told him. “He…this is hislifethat we’re talking about.”
“Maybe he really does love you,” he replied softly. Just like after our argument, Harley had been my first phone call when I’d gotten home after seeing Orion again.
“I can’t let him do this,” I said, voicing the craziness in my head. “He can’t give up his career for me. That’s…that’s insane.”
“Then you better get to that press conference,” he suggested. “Because I’m pretty sure that the man is giving up his career for a chance with you, Sin.”
“How can he do that?” I asked, emotion clogging up my throat. “That’s not…no sane person would do something like that. I mean…even Cap hadn’t given that up for me.”
