Page 103 of Goalie's Obsession

“She finally let someone in,” I say quietly. “You know how big that is? Youknowwhat it took for her to trust again?”

He swallows hard but doesn’t speak.

“She’s spent her whole life building walls, Ethan. Youbuiltsome of them.” My voice breaks, just for a second, but I keep going. “And now she’s finally letting someone love her. Lettingmelove her. And I’ll be damned if I let you be the reason she builds those walls back up.”

I pace once, raking a hand through my hair.

“She deserves more than this bullshit. More than late-night phone calls and cleaning up your messes and pretending she’s fine when she’s unraveling.”

Ethan’s hands are knotted in his lap now. He won’t meet my eyes.

“I’m not asking you to fix it all tonight,” I say. “But youhaveto stop lying. Stop pretending this’ll blow over. Because it won’t. Not this time.”

He exhales shakily. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“Yeah,” I snap. “But you did. Again. But you know what's different this time? She’s not alone.”

I drop down to the arm of the couch, elbows on my knees, staring at the floor for a long second before looking back at him.

“I don’t care if you hate me for it. I don’t care if we never go back to how things were. But if you love her—really love her, like a brother’s supposed to—you'll help me fix this mess before it ruins her."

Ethan slumps forward, defeat written in every line of his body. "Tell me what to do."

"Start by telling the damn truth." I lean back, crossing my arms. "All of it. Every bet, every debt, every lie. No more half-truths or deflections."

"It'll take hours."

"Then it takes hours. We're not leaving this room until I know exactly what we're dealing with."

He nods, rubbing his face. "Okay. Where do you want me to start?"

"The beginning. And then we work out a plan-"

My phone buzzes in my pocket. Lucy's name lights up the screen, and my chest tightens.

I answer immediately.

"Connor?" Her voice is small, tight with panic, like she never got the chance to relax with the book I bought her. "I just got home and… and he's not here. I checked everywhere, even the pool house, but Ethan's gone and his car isn't here and I don't know what to do-"

I stare at Ethan, fury rising in my throat.

Even now, even after everything, she's upset because of him. Worried about him.

Her voice cracks on the other end of the line, and I want to shake him until he understands what he's doing to her.

"I know, sweetheart," I say, my voice hard as steel. "That's because I'm standing right in front of him."

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lucy

Ihangupthephone from Connor and I’m halfway down the stone steps when the sound of tires crunching over gravel makes me stop cold.

A sleek black Mercedes glides into the circular drive, polished and perfect—just like its passengers.

"No," I mumble under my breath. "Not now."

The door opens and out steps my mother, her hair flawless, pearls gleaming, those thin lips painted the same blood-wine red she wore to my high school graduation.

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