Page 138 of Renegade Ruin

Willow winces as I slip from her and immediately a shiver wracks her body. I tug her up into my arms and situate us at the head of the bed.

She snuggles into my chest and lets out a weighted sigh.

Worry claws at my chest, and I fear that might have been too much for one night. “Talk to me, Willow.”

“I just—that was a lot.”

With two fingers, I lift her chin to look at me. “Good a lot or bad a lot?”

“Good. Definitely good.” She glances away, and I know she’s holding back. I’m about to press when she lifts her head and asks, “Are you really all in?”

It hurts that she feels the need to ask after what we just shared, but remembering what Leigh told me, I try not to take it to heart. Willow needs action—reassurance—and I’m sure this won’t be the only time.

I brush away my favorite stray curl and smile. “Willow Mae York, I love you. And I’m yours as long as you’ll have me.”

“You might get sick of me.”

“Not possible.”

She chuckles, and I take it as a sign we’ll be alright.

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

WILLOW

Last night was…perfect, magical, everything I’ve hoped but never dared to dream.

I can’t help the way my lips twitch upward every time I think about every delicious moment.

Bishop loves me. He’s all in.

After we cuddled, we showered and talked some more until we eventually fell asleep in each other’s arms.

It still doesn’t feel real, like I’ll wake up and the other shoe will have dropped. Maybe that’s because I was forced from our little cocoon where reality couldn’t touch us. What I wouldn’t give to go back and crawl into bed beside Bishop and live in make believe a little longer—the place where we aren’t a forbidden pairing and the world isn’t falling apart around us.

But the Earth keeps spinning and scandal waits for no one.

I left a note explaining I was called in to an emergency meeting with the executive board, and promised Bishop I’d make it up to him if I didn’t see him before the team meeting later this morning.

Now I’m sitting to the right of the commissioner at the head of the table, feeling as though I’ve been pawned off for him tobabysit as the rest of my board sits at the opposite end of the conference room.

Vaughn and Patrick Kincade lead the firing squad, much like they did at the last meeting, quick to comment on every point of evidence Nikki presents against my father.

It sucked to hear about them last night. It sucks even more to see the photos taken at various league parties of my father talking with the umpires who went to the press, saying he bribed them to call games in the Renegades’ favor. That’s howThe Foul Lineknew about the scandal before we did. The photos themselves aren’t damning, but paired with the slew of texts from a burner phone the umpires claim belonged to my father and a multitude of monetary transactions from an offshore account, it's bad.

They’re saying it’s an open and shut case and Commissioner Falco agrees. As a result, pending the official investigation, the Renegades will be fined five-million dollars and will be forced to give up our first and second round draft picks for the next two years. In addition, anyone found to have knowledge of the cheating will be penalized accordingly.

So much for building the team of my dreams.

Not that any of them hold a flicker of a chance anymore. It’s also been decided that all my plans will be put on hold until we’re able to do damage control and assess our standing within the league.

Never mind that, now more than ever, we need to solidify our trust with the fans and the general public. We need to create a space that’s welcoming and indicative of turning over a new leaf. We need to show we are a new team and not to be punished for the sins of our predecessors.

But I don’t say any of that. Even if I did, the board has proven it would fall on deaf ears.

I sit quietly with my hands in my lap, well aware that this isn’t a battle I’m going to win. They’ve insinuated more than once it’s my father who landed us here and I’m not to be trusted. Which is fine. I’ll bide my time. Especially because I have a bigger battle ahead when news breaks of my relationship with Bishop. I can only hope that when it does, we’re able to come out unscathed.

Wishful thinking, I know.

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