Page 81 of How to Play the Player

Her eyes widen. “But…you didn’t lose the bet. Neither of us did.”

I shake my head. “Doesn’t matter. What I did to you was public. My apology should be too.”

Before she can respond, I tap the Live button. As the connection establishes, I position the phone so I’m the only one in frame for the moment.

“Wait—you’re doing this now?” Quinn whispers, clearly caught off guard.

I nod, watching as the viewer count begins to climb— one hundred, three hundred fifty, to over a thousand within seconds. “Hey, everyone,” I begin, my voice steadier than I feel. “This isn’t my usual type of post, but I need to set the record straight about something important.”

Quinn watches with total shock.

“A year ago, I made some accusations against someone who was very important to me.” I swallow hard, forcing myself to continue. “I believed that this person had leaked confidential information from my family’s company, and I lashed out bycutting her out of my life and, as some of you probably saw then, publicly trying to damage her reputation.”

The comment section explodes with questions, but I ignore them, focusing only on Quinn’s face as I continue.

“In the last few weeks, I realized I was wrong.” The words come easier now, relief flooding through me at finally coming clean. “I had no concrete evidence against her. But I let pride, ego, and anger blind me to what should’ve been obvious—that Quinn Sanders deserved my trust, my support, and the benefit of any doubt.”

I pause, taking a deep breath, before continuing. “The truth is, with her help, I recently discovered that someone else entirely was responsible for that leak. Quinn was innocent of any wrongdoing the whole time.”

I steal a glance toward Quinn, whose eyes gloss over with unshed tears, and both her hands are covering her mouth. She’s in complete awe of what I’m doing.

I keep my attention on her. “To Quinn Sanders, I’m sorry, baby. Beyond words.” Emotion begins to make my voice rough. “Not just for falsely accusing you, but for everything that followed—the silence, the public disrespect, all of it. Baby doll, you deserved better from me. And I failed you as a man. Asyourman.”

On impulse, I turn the camera slightly, bringing Quinn into frame beside me. “Everyone, this is Quinn Sanders, one of the most talented PR consultants in Dallas, and someone I wronged deeply. If you’re looking for integrity and excellence, she’s who you should call.”

The comment section goes wild, but Quinn’s expression is what captivates me—shock, confusion, and something that might almost be hope.

“That’s all I have to say. Thanks for listening.” I end the live stream, setting my phone down on her desk.

For several seconds, neither of us speak. The weight of what just happened hangs between us, seemingly changing the very air in the room.

“You didn’t have to do all that,” she finally says, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I did.” I take a step closer to her. “I owed you that and more, bet or no bet.”

“Your business endorsement was…unexpected.”

“It was the least I could do. I did tell you I wanted to help.” I reach for her hand, relief flooding through me when she doesn’t pull away.

She studies our joined hands, then looks up to meet my eyes. “But what will the public say about your live feed? You just told the whole world you were an asshole to me.”

“I don’t care about any of that. The only thing that matters to me is what’s right in front of me.” I take both her hands in mine, kissing the top of her small, feminine hands. “You.”

“Me?”

I nod. “Now I’m more afraid of never trying. Of letting you go without fighting for what we had.” I step closer, her lips inches from mine. Her body is so close I could pick her up in my arms and kiss her senseless, make love to her until the world ends. “Unless… unless you don’t want that. If you’ve moved on, if there’s no chance for us, I’ll understand.”

I don’t like saying these words, but I have to. I have to put the ball in her court. There’s no us if she doesn’t say yes to me. To us. And if she doesn’t say yes, I don’t know what I’ll do without her, but I know I’ll have to keep on living.

She frees herself from my hands and rests against my chest, pulling me into a tight hug. “I haven’t moved on. No matter how hard I’ve tried, I couldn’t. God knows I did try for so long. But…”

Hope surges through me, so powerful it’s almost dizzying. “But?”

“But you’re a hard man to forget, Nathan Knight.” A smile touches her lips as tears escape her eyes. “Even when I wanted to.”

I pull back from her to cup her face in my hands. I search her eyes. “Can we try again? Not start over, but…start something new? Something better, built on honesty, trust, and transparency.”

She leans into my touch, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment. “It won’t be easy,” she warns. “What happened between us… It broke something. Something that can’t be fixed overnight.”

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