Page 85 of The Fantasy League
“I’m still your girl?” she questioned, stopping a foot in front of me.
My chest ached at the distance between us. One foot felt like a thousand when all you wanted was for the girl standing in front of you to be in your arms. “You never stopped, Red. Even when you thought you weren’t, you were always mine.”
After reading that clusterfuck of an article that Page Six had posted, I knew that I needed to tell the world the truth about Aera and me. However, there were a fewsmallproblems I had to attend to before I could do that. Like the fact that I hadn’t told Mom and Steve that I had a half-sib I’d been keeping from them for a year.
I wanted Scarlett to hear the words from my lips, but after listening to her gut-wrenching voice mail and reading her resignation, I knew that the last thing she wanted to do was take the time to hear me out.
So, with the help of Lea, I concocted a plan. Lea was reluctant to hear me out at first, as she should have been. But as the team’s PR manager, she was technically obligated to help me since it made it to the public eye. She did, however, take the opportunity to curse me out seven ways to Sunday. But I couldn’t blame her.
“So, it’s true?”
“Yeah, Aera is my sister.”
Scarlett expelled a pent-up breath and her shoulders relaxed as she took a step forward and closed the distance between us.
“Remember when I told you that my dad left on that business trip to Seoul and didn’t come back?” She nodded her head up and down. “Turns out the reason he didn’t come back was because he’d met someone there. They got married and moved back to the States just after Aera was born, but he never told his new family about Mom and me.”
She gasped. “How’d you find out about each other then?”
“According to Aera, Greg was a serial cheater and an even shittier father. He cheated on Aera’s mom when she was ten. They moved out shortly after and they haven’t heard from him since.” I was proud of my sister and her mom for leaving a man who was never going to prioritize them over his own selfish desires. “Neither of them knew how long it had gone on, but Aera always had a feeling that Greg had been hiding something, so she did one of those family ancestry tests last year to see if she might have any other siblings.”
“And you had the same suspicion?” she asked.
I nodded, pulling her closer to me.
“Wait, so if she’s your sister, then why didn’t you just tell me instead of kicking me out of your house when she came to stay with you?”
“Aera and I had only found out a few months earlier that we were siblings and neither of us had told our parents yet. By that point, we’d only seen each other in person twice, so it was still new for us too. Both of us wanted to tell our parents in person, but it was hard with them living out of the country.” I sighed. “I didn’t know you well enough then and I couldn’t risk you potentially spilling something to the tabloids before we told our parents.”
The truth was, my sister wasn’t as much of a bitch as she might have seemed.
If anything, I was the dickhead for blowing her off for months because I was too afraid of upsetting my mom with the truth. My sister wanted the world to know so we could stop hiding out in the Malibu house and do things together as a family.
We’d already lost out on twenty-five years together, and because ofmyselfishness, we’d practically lost another one.
When Aera’s mom came to visit from Korea last winter, her visit somehow coincided with the team’s bye week. So, I flew out for a few days to meet and hang out with her. Aera’s mom was so happy for us and deep down, I knew that my mom would be happy for us too, but I also knew that in a way it would hurt her to get the answers as to why he left us in the first place.
And the idea that I might hurt her held me back.
“So, the dress? Your sister sent it to you?” Scarlett’s eyes widened and her fingers toyed with the front of my suit jacket.
I nodded. “I called Aera the day before and asked her to overnight me one of her designs. Green because it’s your favorite.”
“And the recent tabloids?”
“Hugging my sister because she got engaged to her longtime boyfriend? Not exactly a crime.” I chuckled.
Running her hands lightly down my back, Scarlett went still. “But… your mom. You haven’t seen her in a year?”
“That’s part of the reason I haven’t spoken to you in six days…” I started. Fuck, I hated not talking to her. I’d picked up the phone countless times, but she blocked my number so it wasn’t like I could call her even if I wanted to. Some things were better said in person anyway. “Aera and I flew to Iceland to tell her and Steve in person. Mostly because it was time that they knew, but also partly because I couldn’t risk losing you over a fake fucking article.”
She wasmy sister,for God’s sake.
I’d never forgive that sleazy reporter for only snapping pictures once Aera’s now fiancé had left the table.
Fucking idiot.
Just as I’d suspected though, Mom had been happy for me and opened her arms for Aera without a single hesitation. She told me later, over a late-night snack, that she felt relieved to finally know the truth about why my father had left.
