Page 98 of Ruled Out

“Shut up!” I shout back. “Just shut the fuck up, Graham. You spent that much time focused on my stats; you didn’t stop to think about why they had been dropping. Or what I was trying to hide when I skipped massages and went home.”

We’re practically eyeball to eyeball when I step up to him.

“Do you know who didn’t fail me, even when I was failing myself? Mia.”

Silence stretches across the room. I give him a chance to speak, but he chooses not to.

“While you were busymaking me,she was spending her life trying to makeyouhappy. All she’s ever wanted is to make you happy and proud of her.”

“I am proud of her.”

“Are you?” I prod my finger into the center of his chest. “Are you, Graham? Because you sure have a fucking funny way of showing it. All I see is your patriarchy.”

More silence.

“Years ago, I walked away from the girl I loved. The girl who didn’t know what I was going through, but somehow got me. She wanted me for who I was. In the moments we had gotten together, I had fallen so fucking hard for her. My parents had stolen my childhood, and then I let you go and steal my girl too.”

Bringing my hands to the top buttons on my dress shirt, I undo the first few, and Graham’s eyes fall to the dove. “I got this the week I arrived in Seattle. For her, for me, for us. Maybe she did turn up in Seattle, hoping to find me; maybe it’s possible she has the same level of feelings for me that I do for her. But let me tell you one thing I do know, Mr. Jenkins: as soon as I get a chance to put a ring on her finger and make her my wife, you’d best believe I will. With or without your blessing. So, I’ll say it again. I love her. There is no one other thanher. From the second my hazy, fucked-up brain laid eyes on your daughter, I wanted to know more about her.”

I step back and give us both space, my shirt still open at the front.

Graham swipes a palm over his mouth and looks back at me. “Is it true about your dad? Were you abused, Jessie?”

I hold up a hand. “I had a childhood I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and my dad is someone I work to keep as far out of my life as possible. The only person who looked out for me as a child was my papa.” Tears fall more freely from my eyes.

“I’m s?—”

“I don’t want to hear your apologies right now because I won’t be able to accept them. I just want to get back to Seattle and my girl.”

I turn to leave, my hand on the door handle, ready to walk out and find a flight, when I pause and swing back around. “Call your daughter and apologize to her. She’s just been betrayed by her friend and roommate. The least you can do is give her your support.”

“Wait. Roommate? What are you talking about?”

I spin back around and face him. “Tara. The only person who knew about us. Fuck knows how she knows you, but she just went behind Mia’s back and betrayed her trust.”

Graham pulls his phone out of his pocket. “It wasn’t Tara.”

My brows shoot to my hairline. “What?”

“I have a player on the program who is in her class and actually made friends with her. I asked him to keep an eye on Mia and make sure she was doing okay. I won’t name him, but he’s one of my most trusted, and when he saw you outside her dorm building last night, he sent me a message asking if I knew she was dating you.”

I look up at the ceiling and blow out a single harsh laugh. “You really are a fucking idiot at times, aren’t you?” I step back into the room, a smile spreading across my lips.

Who the fuck does he think he is, keeping tabs on his grown-ass daughter?

“I don’t need you to give me a name. I already know it. Leo.”

Graham’s eyes grow wide for a second time.

“If I were you, I’d be really fucking careful who you consider to be your most trusted. Last time Mia saw Leo, he tried to get in her pants.” I thumb over my shoulder to the hallway. “So, yeah, I’m gonna go and be with my girlfriend now. Right after I punch your latest prodigy square in the face.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

MIA

Jessie

I’m heading back to Seattle. I’ll be with you ASAP. Stay with Kate and don’t go back to campus. Tara isn’t the one who told your dad, and I want you nowhere near that son of a bitch.

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