Page 37 of Renegade Rift
“But you paid them.”
I nod. “We protect what’s ours.”
Respect shines in his gaze as he returns a nod. “Exactly.”
Bishop gives me a soft punch on the shoulder and takes his leave, heading for the clubhouse so he can shower and dress for the game.
I wish I was doing the same.
Instead, I’m lost in my thoughts as I head to the small media center off the press room to check for emails regarding testimonials for Mercer. My chest falls when I find there aren’t many. Two, to be exact, and even then they’re halfhearted at best. It’s not the first time I’ve been left questioning the ass backwards loyalty of people in this league.
I’m in the middle of organizing the meager responses to send to Willow when my phone buzzes.
JULIET: Are we still good for tomorrow morning?
FORD: Absolutely.
My thumbs hover over the keyboard, and I debate if I should bring up everything I just learned.
On the one hand, it truly doesn’t matter. She’s free from the chains of debt. On the other, I want her to know she can trust me with everything that happened.
The words my mother used to tell me echo through my mind.
Trust isn’t gained by giving help. It’s earned by asking for it.
There was a time I’d disagreed wholeheartedly. How could you possibly gain trust by asking for help? But then I found my mom, cheek caved in from where Marcus hit her. Anger doesn’t even come close to describing how I felt. But what hurt the most was that she didn’t feel like she could come to me. She said it was because she didn’t want to burden me, but I didn’t understand how she could believe that to be true. I lost a piece of the trust I had for her for a long time after that. Questioned everything she said. It wasn’t until she started being forthcoming with me I began to relax. But that took time.
Something I haven’t given to Juliet.
I came barreling in like the damn Hulk, demanding she give me the trust I thought I deserved for helping her.
I let loose a sigh, swallowing every ounce of pride and comfort.
FORD: How do you feel about setting aside a few more days while I’m on IR to go through each room in my apartment and come up with a plan to make it less cluttered and more organized chaos?
JULIET: Is that an official term?
FORD: Yes.
JULIET: I think I can make that happen.
Relief floods through me, giving just an ounce of hope to every cell in my body. I’m not sure what it is about this entire situation, or why it matters so much to me that Juliet knows she can count on me, but I’m not about to examine it too closely. For now, I’ll just take the win.
CHAPTER TWELVE
JULIET
I’ve had many awkward cleanings in my line of work. The ones where men are a little too enthusiastic about seeing boobs. Or the ones where they ask a million questions, thinking they are going to be the ones to make you see the errors of your ways and realize you can do so much better than cleaning topless.
This one, though…this one is by far the most awkward.
Ford doesn’t watch me. Not that I expect him to. It’s not like I’m topless and bending over to organize his piles ofDungeons and Dragonssourcebooks. But he doesn’t even look up from where he’s currently standing at the kitchen island, over beating the poor eggs he just cracked. I might as well be in another universe entirely with the way he’s avoided me from the moment I stepped into the room.
Unlike him, I can’t stop myself from sneaking a look at him every chance I get.
He’s an anomaly. Everything he shouldn’t be. The revelation has sparked a never-ending battle between guilt and hope. I’m not even sure why I feel guilty anymore. Is it because my presence here, in his apartment, is a clear betrayal of my husband, who hated him? Even though the reasons for his ire have more holes than a piece of cheesecloth. Or maybe because I never thought to question if everything Tyler told me was true.
That thought strikes an invisible chord that reverberates the ugly truth of how complicit I was in the making of my situation. Not that I knew it at the time. But hindsight being what it is, I could have done more to stand up for myself.
