Page 166 of Never In My Wildest Dreams

“How’s that?” Declan asked.

“My partners won’t change the terms of our contract, so I can’t work remotely.”

“And Lorelei doesn’t want to do long distance?” Jaime asked.

He wished it were that simple. But the truth was so much worse. “She doesn’t wantme.”

Not enough.

She wanted a father for her child. Which she had. Nothing would keep him away from his daughter. But it would kill him to see his hellcat in love with another man. To hear about Stevie’s dad—who’d deserve the title more than he would if he was only dropping in for visits now and then.

“I’m sorry,” Declan said. “That surprises me. I saw the way she was looking at you.”

“Yeah, well, we rushed into things. The bubble popped. And now it’s time for me to get back to the real world.”

“So, what does this mean for your daughter?” Cole would ask that, considering the fact he had four of them.

“I’m not walking away.” He saw from their expressions that he might’ve sounded defensive.

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Declan said.

“I’ll be there as often as I can. I’ll talk to her every day…” What else could he do?

“You could quit your job,” Jaime said.

“And do what?” Booker asked, his voice rising in frustration.

“You know what,” Cole said.

“You own the Renegades,” Declan said. “You work with us.”

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to know what matters,” Cole said. “And it’s not your career or money. It’s your family. Your daughter.”

“And the woman you love,” Declan said.

“She doesn’t love me.” Booker turned his back on the window.

“Maybe you haven’t known each other long enough for it to turn into the kind of love you want, but we all saw you together,” Jaime said. “If you walk away right now, it’ll never grow into something deeper.”

“But what if it’s one-sided?” he asked. “What if it’s not real?”

“Real is something you make,” Declan said. “It’s something you work on and fight for. If you walk away, you’ll never have a chance.”

ChapterThirty-Two

Driven to clear his name,Booker spent the flight working on his pitch to the Marchaud family.

This meeting was his last shot, and he had to nail it. He had to find a way to speak the truth without using derogatory language toward Marcus. It was critical to lead with the facts and not emotion. He’d share his perspective on agenting and why some of his most successful athletes chose to leave the bigger firms for the more advisory role he offered.

After that, he’d leave the decision in their hands.

He had a good argument. He felt confident.

And yet, nothing felt right. The seat was uncomfortable, the water tasted funky, and the words swam on the tablet’s screen.

Halfway through the flight, he figured out why. It took that long for the truth to worm its way up from the depths of his mind.

He’d walked away from hisfamily.

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