Page 36 of Rival Hearts

I pinched the bridge of my nose and grimaced. “Leave it with me.”

Kelvin’s elbow dug into my side as Emily, Maggie, and Lila conferred over some master plan in the middle of the table. Tyler was absorbed in his phone, a frown creasing his brow.

“You know people?” Kelvin whispered.

“I know lots of people. Someone willing to come here to choreograph a strip show for free? Probably not. Not exactly a resume builder.”

“I’ve taken hip-hop lessons, if you get desperate. I might be able to teach people a thing or two.”

Before I could respond, the door to the conference room squeaked open, and I tensed.

“Sorry, I’m late, Mags. I went to your office first.”

Trent hadn’t spotted me yet, and I braced myself while his gaze traveled around the room. Our eyes locked, and then his focus flipped to Maggie.

“Are you kidding me?” Trent glared at Maggie. “Can we talk in the hall?”

Maggie weaved around everyone, and as she passed me, I rose.

“I’ll handle this,” Maggie whispered.

“Not fucking likely,” I muttered to her back as I trailed her out the door. I wasn’t leaving her to bear the brunt of Trent’s anger when I’d talked her into letting me help with the event.

“Are you fucking with me?” Trent glared at Maggie, ignoring me. “I asked for one thing.”

“Probably two,” I said. “Help from her and to cut me out. Math was never your strong suit. But that’s two things.”

“Grady, don’t be a dick,” Maggie warned.

Was I being a dick? Trent and I had spoken to each other that way for as long as I could remember. Saying anything else would have felt false. “Truth hurts.” But the lies were so much worse.

“Fuck you. You can’t come back to town, make no effort—again—and expect me to shrug my shoulders and move on.”

“I’m offering my help.”

“We don’t want it.”

“Maggie does.”

“Actually—” Maggie held up a hand.

“Yeah, right. Maggie came to you? Askedyouto help? Bullshit. You caught wind of this and thought it would be a good way to score some points for the election. Everything is always about you. Grady first.” Trent threw up his hands. “I don’t know why you want to be mayor. Makes zero sense. At least Maggie gives a shit about other people.”

I straightened under Trent’s verbal assault. Six years and I’d never considered staying away was creating this firestorm in him. Was Trent wrong? Probably not. I wasn’t even sure why I wanted to be mayor anymore. But I was terrible at backing down from a challenge. It wasn’t surprising Trent thought I was a shitty person; I already believed it about myself.

“Trent.” Her hand was on his forearm. “He’s trying. Would you rather he didn’t?”

Seeing the physical contact, the closeness between her and Trent, made my chest ache. Jealous. I was jealous. So fucking jealous that it felt like it might eat a hole right through me. But I wasn’t sure if it was him or her. Both. Probably both. I rolled my shoulders to ease the tension. When I looked up, Trent was staring, and I met his gaze, defiant.

“I’m trying to be better,” I said. “I want to be better.”

Trent eyed Maggie. “It’s up to you. You think we need him? Fine. I don’t give a shit.”

Her gaze sought mine. “To have the best chance at raising a lot of money, we need him.”

Warmth flooded me at her words and the way her brown eyes scanned my face. She said she’d help me reconnect with Trent, and she was already doing more than I would have expected given the way I’d treated her.

“I’m going to talk to everyone else,” Trent said, brushing past Maggie into the conference room.

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