Once Upon A Half-Time 1(86)
“That’s not true.”
“You’re the woman who saved me from the car.”
Did the good Samaritan get in this much trouble when he helped someone on the side of the road?
I looked away. “You remember?”
“No, but there’s only so many black women with legs to their chin and red streaks in their hair popping up at practices.” He shrugged at me. “Hand me a pipe and call me Sherlock, Red. I think I cracked the fucking case. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it…wasn’t important.”
“You saved my ass from turning into roadkill. If the roles were reversed, I’d have lorded that over you every damn day for the rest of your life. You’d owe me big. Blowjob Tuesday. Steak and potatoes Wednesday. Spanking Saturday. So why did you keep it a secret?”
“It wasn’t intentional. There’s just some things I haven’t shared with anyone.”
“I know that feeling,” Lachlan said. “Difference is, I’ve confessed everything to you. I’ve told you about Bast. About hiding him. How terrible it felt. Why I was working so goddamned hard.”
“I know.”
“I trusted you, Elle. Why won’t you trust me?”
“I do.”
“That’s a shitty way of showing it. You didn’t tell me about the baby. You won’t even say why they canned your ass today. What am I supposed to think?”
I slowly stood, hoping my stomach could tolerate the altitude change. “I’m sorry.”
“We shouldn’t have any secrets. We’re a team, Elle. Jesus, you’re pregnant with my baby.”
“And that’s exactly why I’m trying to be careful. Why I had to do all of this.”
“All of what? What’s going on?”
This was getting out-of-control. I needed air. Space. A minute to think. At some point in the afternoon I had concocted a relatively reasonable story to explain it all, but the morning sickness stole it as well as my confidence. I escaped from the bathroom, but I didn’t make it very far.
Lachlan forced me to face him again. “You saved my life, and you didn’t tell me it was you. You got fired today for a bullshit reason, and you won’t even defend yourself. Something is wrong. What is it? Why did they lie? What do have on you?”
Fuck it. I couldn’t handle the sharpness in his voice, the hurt from all the secrets and lies. Every second that passed broke my heart, but I couldn’t let it steal his away from me.
“Lachlan, they weren’t lying. I did steal something.”
His eyes narrowed, the sea-foam churning dark. Stormy. “You wouldn’t.”
“I did. I had to. I tried to handle this myself, but I don’t think I can protect all us anymore.”
“Stop.” He cupped my cheeks. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“If I tell you what happened, they’ll cut you.”
“What?”
I twisted away, searching through my desk drawer for the hidden cubby. The SD card rested on top. I showed him the card before stuffing it into my laptop.
“Coach Thompson has been working with Peter to spy on the other teams in the league. Last season, they photographed our rivals’ practices and walk-throughs so they could anticipate what to use in the game plans. They cheated.”
He stared as I scrolled through photo after photo of offenses, defenses, and formations. His face paled, and he sunk onto the couch.
“Jesus Christ. This is from last season?”
“It’s why the Rivets won the championship.”
“No.” His voice hardened. “The guys wouldn’t. Jack wouldn’t do this—”
“It wasn’t Jack. The players don’t know. Coach Thompson controlled the information. He was the one who analyzed the photos and developed a game plan to counter the other team’s installations.” I shrugged. “To the league and media, Coach Thompson looked like he had amazing instincts. They called him an offensive genius for a reason.”
“And you knew?”
“I’ve been trying to find a way to subvert it. I couldn’t let it keep happening. The team is innocent, but if anyone found out, the league would probably suspend our entire season. I had to be careful.”
“You should have come forward. No one would have blamed you.”
I took a shaky breath. “Lachlan, if I had said anything, they would have cut you.”
“Fuck me.” Lachlan sucked in a harsh breath. “How could you not tell me?”
For the same reason I didn’t tell him about the nudes or the pictures they had of the other players. I couldn’t let him get upset, not when I was already on the verge of panic.