I stare at my phone, wondering if I should reach out. My thumb hovers over her name. Something in me says to wait, to let her make the next move. But another part wonders if that's just my pride talking.
The real question is: what do I want more—to protect my pride or to find out if what we have could be something real?
CHAPTER 19
AVERY
He wants to date me.
I can't swallow this. It's been two days and I just cannot go there in my mind. This is Jax Carter, playboy off the NFL field, drop-dead gorgeous—yeah, that guy.
Memories of Dad just up and leaving when I was a kid haunt me still. For the first time in a long time, I wonder where my father is. Even when I lost Mom, I never reached out to him, never let him know about the funeral.
Last week, I saw a man at a coffee shop who looked just like him. Same salt-and-pepper hair, same tall frame, same slight limp from that old college football injury he used to complain about. It wasn't him—I got close enough to be sure of that—but it stirred something in me. What if Dad had reasons I never understood? What if, like Jax, he was protecting something or someone in his own misguided way?
I don't feel sad. I feel…okay. I'm okay not having a dad. Aren't I?
The monitor in the NY Sports Magazine's conference room is lit up with gorgeous story board images for the YouTube series. Ann is beaming at both the screen and me, in equalmeasure. She's happy with my work, even if the part about Jax's past is a little shallow. Juan gives me a thumbs-up as if he's the proud father of my work.
Then, everything changes. Ann's phone buzzes and she takes the call. Two seconds later her eyes are locked onto me, bright in that way only hard-nosed journalists have. She has a scoop! I can feel it.
I sit up, eager to hear it as she says "uh huh" and "I have just the journalist for a piece like this" and then she ends the call, hands on the table, bending toward me gleefully.
"Jaxon Carter has a secret little sister!" she punctuates each word as if I need help in understanding her.
My high turns into a low, panic setting in. Who told someone about this? How did this leak? Was it me? No, I didn't even tell Pen! Then, I remember my online journal – was I hacked? This is red alert territory.
"Whoa—that sounds speculative," I say weakly, my heart hammering against my ribs.
That puts a damper on her for a moment. "True. That's why I need you to dig. And fast. Someone leaked an audio file of Jax admitting he has a sister. It's hard to hear, but it sounds like his voice."
Okay, so it wasn't my journal. I almost break my neck leaning in to Ann's phone as she plays a three-second clip:
"…she wants to go to ballet school in London. My kid sister, sixteen going on thirty. Wanting to travel and…"
Jax's voice sounds muffled. My heart feels shattered for him. It's so painfully obvious that he is doing everything to protect Riley, but now it's out in the news that he has this huge secret.
"Damn it," I mutter.
Ann is on her laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard. "Word is out already, Avery." She looks disappointed. "The girl's name is Riley. She's sixteen. She takes ballet and attendsa prestigious private high school. Gossip magazines are all over it, so we are already behind."
Her accusing eyes lift to meet my shocked gaze. I can't believe it's already out there, everything I know about Riley now the whole world knows.
"I can't lie and say I'm not disappointed in you for missing this."
I feel my cheeks flush bright red. I'm not a great liar. "Oh, well…" My nerves are shot. What can I even say?
Ann's jaw dropped. "Wait. You knew? Youknewand didn't include it in the articles or in the web series? Why on earth would you hide this from me? This is a huge deal and we could have been first to break this to the world, Avery!"
I feel like she's yelling at me, even though I know she's not. I remember the sweetness Riley showed the older lady both times that I saw her. I remember how Jax's gaze lingered on his sister as he watched her walk away the other night outside of Restaurant Week. I meet Ann's gaze.
"I did know. I've seen Riley with Jax. And I didn't say a word." I feel anger rising in me, the protective kind.
I stand to my feet. "Why? Because some secrets are too precious to reveal, and some trust is too important to betray. Jax has gone to the ends of the earth to keep Riley a secret, I assume to keep her safe from people like us always looking for a scoop. If keeping his secret makes me a bad journalist," I pause, weighing my words before I say them, "then so be it. I won't write about this. Not today. Not ever."
I can't stay in that office one second longer. I march out and drive home, shaken and hurting for Jax. I regret turning him down, now. But the fear in me at the thought of him betraying my trust the way my dad did was too strong for me to say yes.
As if she can read my mind, Pen calls.
