"Ryder, that's not what I said—"
"Isn't it?!"
I stand up, feeling all those years of history between us crashing down like a house of cards. Every moment, every laugh, every whispered promise in the dark… all of it collapsing under the weight of what's happening right now.
"I came home for YOU, Mia. Not for some executive who's going to abandon everything we've built here the second someone waves enough money in front of her."
"This isn't about money!" she shoots back, her voice rising as she clutches those contracts tighter. "This is about the animals, Ryder! I could save thousands more animals than I ever could staying in Iron Ridge. How can you not understand that?"
"I understand perfectly. What I don't understand is why you're acting like what we have here isn't enough." My jaw clenches so hard I think I might crack a tooth. "The shelter renovations, our house, the life we're building together... apparently none of that matters to you when corporate America comes calling."
"That's not what I said, and you know it!"
"Isn't it though?" I feel my voice getting louder, more desperate.
Logan shifts uncomfortably while Blake stares at the ceiling. Connor's phone suddenly becomes the most interesting thing in the world. The tension thickens until it feels like we're all drowning in it.
"You know what's really fucked up about this, Mia? The entire town just donated over a hundred thousand dollars to YOURshelter. Because of YOUR fundraiser night that I organized. ForYOU."
Her face goes pale.
"Every person in Iron Ridge opened their wallets because they believed in what you were building here. And now you want to hand it all over to some strangers who see nothing but dollar signs. Everyone in this room, everyone at Ridgeview that night, everyone in that arena… you know what they see when they look at your shelter? They seefamily."
"I know that. And this isn't about abandoning anyone," she says, her voice breaking slightly. "It's about doing more, helping more. Why can't you see that this could be incredible?"
I bite my lip but the admission tears out of my throat before I can stop it.
"Because it means you'd be leaving!" I fight back the tears in my eyes. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually you'd have to choose between managing five locations across the country and staying here with me. And we both know which one wins."
Her eyes widen like I've slapped her. "You think I'd chooseworkoveryou?"
"I think you're considering it." My chest feels like it's caving in. "I can see it in your eyes, Mia. The same look you used to get in high school when you'd talk about all the places you wanted to go, all the things you wanted to do that were bigger than Iron Ridge."
"And yet you're the one who left!" Mia fires back, her voice cracking with eight years of buried hurt.
Behind us, I hear Connor whisper "Oh shit" under his breath. Blake is slowly moving toward the door, clearly trying to usher the guys out, but they're all frozen like they're watching a car crash they can't look away from.
"You're standing there talking about family and community, but you're the one who walked away from all of it the second you got a better offer!"
Fuck. She's right.
I did exactly what I'm accusing her of doing.
I left her behind for my own dreams. The hypocrisy burns in my chest, but I know that deep down, every day since I made that foolish choice, I've done everything I can to make up for that mistake.
"I know I left. But I came back, Mia… I saw the mistake I made." My voice breaks. "I thought I'd proved that this could be enough. That I could be enough. That what we're building together could compete with whatever dreams you've been carrying around since we were seventeen."
The room is dead silent except for our heavy breathing and the uncomfortable shifting of one too many professional athletes who clearly wish they were anywhere else.
"I never said you weren't enough," Mia whispers, tears in her voice now.
"You didn't have to say it. You're holding those contracts like they're the answer to all your prayers. While I'm standing here realizing that everything I've done, everything I've given you, still doesn't measure up to what you really want."
Blake clears his throat. "Guys, maybe we should—"
"No. Stay," I snap, my eyes never leaving Mia's face. "You don't need to leave."
Because I'm about to do something monumentally stupid, and I want them to see what happens when everything you've fought for still isn't enough.
