Page 75 of Flag On The Play
I blink.
I step back. “That’s it?”
He looks up, confused. “Nova.”
“That’s all you have to say?” My voice is rising, cracking. “They just slut-shamed me in front of the entire country, and your reaction is that?”
“You’re blowing this out of proportion.”
A sharp, broken laugh leaves my throat. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I being dramatic about being labeled a whore in the national media?”
He runs a hand through his hair. “It’s a trashy gossip site. People will forget it in a week.”
“I won’t forget it,” I snap. “My mom might read that. My landlord. People I care about. People who don’t know me.”
His tone hardens a little. “Nova, this is what happens when you're in the spotlight. You can’t let it own you.”
“I’m not you, Finlay,” I shout. “I didn’t sign up for press, or cameras, or to have my entire existence reduced to a headline because I have a job that people like to judge.”
He exhales slowly. “So quit.”
The words hit me like a slap.
I freeze. “What?”
“Quit,” he repeats. “Come live here. You don’t have to dance anymore. You hate it half the time anyway.”
My heart cracks.
“That’s your solution?” I whisper. “I give up my job, my independence, and you hide away the whore in your penthouse?”
His face falls. “That’s not what I meant.”
I step back. My voice is trembling now. “But it’s what it feels like. Like you’d rather erase that part of me than stand next to me through it.”
“Nova, that’s not fair…”
“No,” I cut him off, storming toward the door. “What’s not fair is being treated like this for being with someone I love.What’s not fair is you standing there with that blank expression while I’m drowning in humiliation.”
I pull the door open.
“Nova, please, just stop,” he says, stepping forward.
I turn around, one tear sliding down my cheek.
“I expected more from you, Finlay. So much more.”
And then I leave.
CHAPTER 22
FINLAY
The roar of the crowd is deafening, but all it does is make this headache worse.
My helmet is pressed tight against my skull, as I hunch low behind the center, my eyes scanning the defense. None of it registers. Not the formation. Not the time left on the clock. Not the fact that this is a critical down. Not the fact that if we win this game, we’re in the Victory Bowl.
All I see is Nova.
