“I didn’t walk out on her,” I snarl, slamming the shake down on the counter. A few chocolate-colored droplets spill out onto the counter. I’m seeing red, and suddenly, six years worth of secrets start bubbling to the surface. “It was Dad. He was the one who made that deal with Renata’s old man. Rollins Young came to Dad and said he’d extend the debt over ten years if I got away from Kinley. That I wasn’t good enough for her, and he was willing to stake the fate of his farm—of both our farms—if I got the hell out of the picture.” I lift one shoulder and shrug again, like everything I said is no big deal. There’s a pulsing pain behind my eyes, and I think of the tens of thousands of dollars I send each month—pay back plus interest, plus enough to maintain the pigs and cattle and the corn production. And for what? This life?
I look over to Wingate, and his mouth is hanging slightly open. “But your brother Jared… Renata called me right after, and she told me everything he said. And you were nowhere to be found.”
“You’d run off too if you were caught between two families. Dad and Mom would have been homeless. Rollins was threatening to sue us, to call the police on us, have Jared and Dad taken away. Rollins even threatened… you know what? It’s all done. It’s in the past. And right now, I have the chance to be with Renata for a little while before she decides to go back to her big life in California. If that pisses off Kinley or anyone else, I’m very, very far from caring.” I sigh and clean the specks of protein shake off of the counter with one of the fluffy white towels my designer picked out. Suddenly, this house seems oppressive in a way it hasn’t before. For all of my time in professional football, it’s been a tribute to my old relationship with Renata. But here we are on the cusp of a likely disaster. All caused by me, by Renata, by the secrets and miscommunication and the history that stands behind us.
“Jesus, Mack. It’s your career on the line. It’s not just yours—it’s mine too. And if this all falls through, it could be Renata’s. You picked a fine time to go chasing after all this. And a fine time to tell me all this.” His voice goes quiet, and he scoots his skinny self up to sit on the counter. “I spent years hating the part of you that left Ren behind, you know. I loved you all the same because you’re my cousin and my best friend—”
I look down, chest clenching tight. “Don’t go getting all sentimental now.”
“I’m not. You’re still an asshole. You kept all that hidden from everyone to protect your family. That’s noble and all, but you threw a big part of yourself away. No wonder you slept with all those women—”
“I’m not anymore. I made up my mind. She’s back. And if she gives me any sliver of a chance, I’m with her and only her.” I look up at Wingate and take a long swig of my cooling cup of coffee. “For the rest of my life, if she’ll have me. We’ll work up to that, of course. But there’s nothing that won’t make me try.”
Wingate hits his head against the front of the kitchen cabinet. “Macklin, you’re engaged. There’s a solid contract that says you’ll stay engaged for the first five months of the season. There aren’t stipulations in the actual contract, but Eddie’s made it clear to both me and Renata that you’re gone from the team if it doesn’t go through. You know Kinley’s been sleeping around, obviously. But you don’t know how long or with whom, do you?”
I shake my head. “Nope. Don’t care either.”
“You should. She’s Eddie’s son-in-law’s sister. She’s been sleeping with every roadie and any fan who asks. And she’s been drinking her way through the tour. Because she’s around the team all the time and always over at her brother’s place, it was beginning to reflect on Eddie. It took me a while to dig this shit up, but this is why they’re both so hell bent on this engagement. And when I say you’ll get fired, you will get fired. I don’t think that’s sunk in. That means no money to funnel into this big ass mortgage, or into the mortgage on the apartment in New York, the one you never go to. It means the death of my career. And if you care about Renata like you say—well, you don’t want her mixed up in this. You do this engagement thing for the full time, and then you let her go back to Cali. If she’s still interested in you by the end of the season, maybe you can get to Cali and woo her back here or whatever you intend to do. But for God’s sake, don’t screw this up for all three of us before then.”