Quarterback Keeper (Fall Lake Ballers #1)

Chapter Twenty-Four

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

GIA

I t shouldn’t bother me. My fingers curled, nails biting into the skin of my palms. It did. Kylian is going to date someone else.

I’d sat up and moved so my back rested against the headboard. He’d turned the light on, and now I wished he hadn’t. The moonlight would have been enough. I didn’t want him to scrutinize my every reaction for this conversation.

“I don’t think it’ll come to me having to marry her.”

I snorted a laugh. “You believe that? It won’t be a neat little contract like we have.” I had to take a beat. Calm down until my features were schooled to hide the absolute turmoil in my mind and body. How did I let myself catch feelings for him? “I saw her reaction to you in the school’s blog video. That woman will not let you go without a fight, and I suspect she has the means for a ruthless battle.”

His firm lips pinched tightly together, and a muscle jumped along his sharp jawline. “I don’t want anything to do with her. The problem is my dad. Mom is in an experimental treatment program that insurance doesn’t cover. I don’t have enough money to keep paying for the appointments. My dad will only continue to help if I do what he wants.”

“Oh.” The argument left me. His father was terrible, and I could understand why Kylian felt backed into a corner. “I’ll, um, I’ll go to the boat in the morning and get the rest of my stuff. You don’t need to worry about me or the contract. We can just forget it.” He had bigger things than the deal we’d made. I wanted to say that sleeping with him was a mistake, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t.

“No.” He growled. “I want you to stay. I can uphold that end of our agreement.”

Anger whipped through me. “I’m not staying there. Your dad or that woman will find out and kick me out anyway. I would much rather leave on my terms. And if I go early enough, I won’t have to deal with any photographers hanging around in case your dad leaks anything about me.” That was one thing solved.

“I won’t let them.” Steel infused his voice, and his eyes flashed with determination. “Trust me, there is no way they’ll kick you out, especially if I do what my dad wants.” He moved closer, but when I shook my head, he stopped. “If you left, I would worry about you. Please stay on the boat for as long as you need.”

It was a touching offer, a good one even. But I couldn’t let Mad-Scientist Barbie toss me out—I recognized the danger there. And I had too much pride to let that happen. I knew he would assume I’d agreed to stay, but I just said, “Thank you.”

His features smoothed, some of the tension leaving his body. The muscle along his jaw stopped jumping. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“That would be best.” I uncurled my hands and tucked them under the sheet to hide the tremor that ran through them.

In my head, I counted down from ten, trying to ignore how his presence saturated the room, making it seem smaller than it was. He filled the doorway as he let himself out. I waited, needing him to be farther from the room before I let the first tear fall.

It hurt that he was throwing away… what? I lay down and punched the pillow. We weren’t anything other than a business agreement that had gone too far. I never should have slept with him. It had blurred the line we were trying to maintain, muddying it with feelings—probably only on my part. Maybe I should just look at it as though I’d dodged a bullet.

Stupid feelings. And why does he want me to keep the ring if his sights are on Blondie? I curled into a ball, hating how alone I felt. One night. I swiped the wetness from the corners of my eyes. I would feel sorry for myself for one night, then I had to do what needed to be done, since the only person I could rely on was myself. Something Kylian had made very clear in that conversation, despite how much I’d softened and let him into my traitorous heart.

I willed my eyes to shut, but it didn’t do much good. I tossed and turned most of the night.

When morning rolled around, I dragged myself from the bed and tiptoed to the bathroom to get ready. I had everything packed, which wasn’t much. Ignoring the dark circles under my eyes, I entered the family room and found Kylian waiting for me on the couch.

A dark-blue T-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, highlighting the sculpted muscles of his chest and abdomen. When I met his gaze, I was mildly appeased by the circles under his eyes too.

“I left Mom a note.” He stood, towering over me. “I’ll drive you to the boat.”

I nodded, not wanting to prolong staying there and risking her waking. I’d had fun hanging out with her the previous day, and I could easily see myself doing that often. But he’d tossed me aside for a better deal. I didn’t blame him for protecting his mom, but it still stung.

Kylian opened the door and motioned for me to precede him. I waited for him to lock it behind us, then we walked the hallway to the stairs in silence, my thoughts whirling the entire way. Tense silence hung thickly between us as we navigated the stairs then outside his mom’s apartment building.

The days had run together. I could barely keep track of where we were in the week. But I knew he had somewhere to be. It was a game day. A big one, from what he’d told me. “You have to be at the stadium soon?”

“Yeah.” He glanced at his phone while holding the passenger door open for me. “I have some time before I need to leave.”

I got into the SUV and tossed my purse and bag on the floor at my feet. As he went around the side and got in, I looked out the window, needing space between us in any way I could find. Traffic wasn’t bad due to the early hour. The Ferris wheel loomed high in the skyline as we neared the harbor.

He parked in the lot reserved for boaters, and we got out and headed toward the dock where the Quarterback Keeper was tethered. The carnival was still set up but hadn’t been opened to the public yet that day. People milled about, getting the booths ready. A shiver ran down my spine, unease lingering from who I’d thought I’d seen the previous day.

Enough people filled the space that we had to weave through them. I moved faster, dislodging his large hand from my back. I couldn’t stand to have him touch me or be too close. The last thing I wanted was to break down. I was stronger than that. I had survived so much that his nearness shouldn’t bother me—but it did. I was barely holding it together, which didn’t make sense. He shouldn’t mean that much to me. It was a business deal. I had to remember that.

I tucked some hair behind my ear and let him help me onto the boat. A shiver traveled down my spine from how close he was behind me. I punched in the code and frowned when it appeared as if it was already unlocked. Maybe it was just me. I didn’t trust my perception with how blindsided I felt by Kylian bowing to his father’s demands—even if the reason was justifiable.

I hurried down the stairs then stood for a moment. That was it, the last time I would be on his boat. It had felt like a home, someplace I could rely on, and it had become that even more when he’d stayed with me.

Movement pulled my focus, and I turned toward Kylian, who sat on the edge of the banquette. “You don’t have to stay. I know you need to get to the stadium.”

“I don’t feel right about leaving things this way, Gia.”

I shivered, not just from his deep voice but because something felt off. My eye shifted to the counter. Didn’t I leave the chips out? “Did you put the chips away?”

“Huh? No.”

I scanned the galley. Everything was where it should be, but it seemed different—touched somehow. I wrapped my arms around my waist, an unwanted memory rising to the surface from the first time Dayton had cracked me across the face. He’d left the milk out, and I’d bitched at him about it. It was my first mistake. He was so furious that I’d spoken to him that way. According to him, it was my job to keep things tidy. I cradled the side of my face as if still feeling how hard he’d hit me. My lip had bled, and a bruise had formed soon after.

Cleaning up after him had been my job, and I’d had to be damn perfect about it. I absently rubbed the phantom pain in my wrist—the same one Dayton had broken for me not going to the client lunch with him like he wanted.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Kylian’s snarl had me whirling to face him, my heart in my throat. His fierce gaze was caught on something over my shoulder. That hated minty smell wafted over me. My body locked down hard, fear crawling like angry fire ants over my skin. I felt him behind me, close enough that his breath disturbed my hair. My eyes closed, and my mouth opened slightly on an uneven exhalation.

How did Dayton find me?

“You should ask who Aurora is. I’m dying to hear the story she tells people.”

Pain exploded across the back of my scalp from the brutal grip on my hair. Dayton shoved me, and I fell into the seat opposite Kylian. The pain meant nothing. There would be more. I scrambled to see Dayton. I knew it was better to keep him in my sights. But when I did, my blood ran cold. He had a gun pointed at us.