I wiped the tears from my eyes and dabbed a tissue to my nose. I didn’t know I had this many tears in me. I was crying from the shock. From the humiliation. From the betrayal from the man in my life I had given myself to.

And what did I have left? I had no job. I had no income coming in. And now I didn’t have a boyfriend. Today was terrible and horrible and I wanted to skip over it.

I pulled up in front of the gate. Heather was waiting with her arms crossed. She walked over to my car.

“Hi.” I smiled meekly.

“I tried to tell you.”

I nodded. “You did.” I handed her the uniform and the box that protected the gold boots.

“But I guess he was more important?” She was mad. Her voice cracked.

“It wasn’t that.”

I wanted to explain. I wanted to tell her everything. But I wasn’t sure she would understand. Maybe she did want a love like the reporter girl found with the pitcher, but was Heather really the kind of girl who would give everything to have it? Would she lie to protect her relationship? Would she sneak out in the middle of the night? She said she wanted all the romance, but would she ever put the Warriors second?

“Then what? What could make you risk this? You know there was no choice but to fire you once a picture like that went public.”

“I know. I’m not mad at you or anyone with the Goddesses. It’s my own fault for trusting him. I’m the only one to blame here. I’m not pretending it’s something else.”

I saw the look of pity in Heather’s eyes. We weren’t going to be friends after this. I knew that. I had betrayed her just as Sam had betrayed me. I had lied to her repeatedly and broken my oath to the squad. I felt like an awful human being.

“I thought being a Goddess meant something to you. I saw it. You started to love it. You started having fun. You were becoming one of us. A sister we could count on.”

I wiped a tear with the back of my hand. “I do love it. I did.” I nodded.

“I hope he was worth it.” She swung my uniform over her shoulder.

“Heather, wait.”

She twirled to face me. “Yes?”

“Thank you. Thank you for being so nice to me. I wasn’t the best Goddess and I gave you a hard time. It’s just as important as ballet. And what these girls do is hard work. I’m going to miss it. Especially the gold boots.”

She grinned. “I knew you were coming around. Sad about the boots. Sometimes love wins instead, I guess.”

I felt the pit in my stomach widen. There was no win for love this time.

“Right.” I got back in my car and started the ignition. There wasn’t anything left to say. She would pass my uniform on to one of the alternates.

Someone else would go to practice and fly to San Francisco tomorrow. It wasn’t going to be me.

* * *

I didn’t expect to see Sam’s car when I pulled up to my building. I stormed out from behind the wheel, the rage fueling my steps.

“What are you doing here? I told you not to come.”

He grabbed me by the wrist. “I want you to come with me.”

I tried to wiggle free, but his grip was strong. “No. I don’t want to see you. Or talk to you. Least of all get in your car.” He had led me to where he was parked.

“Get in.” He opened the door.

I sat inside, pissed that I had listened. He locked the doors as he peeled onto the street.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Home.”

* * *

I’d never been so mad at any man in my life. Sam drove like a speed racer. It didn’t take long to figure out he meant we were headed to San Antonio. I looked out the window and refused to speak to him.

“If you won’t talk to me, maybe you can sit and listen.”

“I’d rather not,” I replied.

“Natalia, I did not leak the photo of us. I won’t say it didn’t cross my mind.”

I glared at him. Was he being serious?

“That’s right, I did think about it, but I wasn’t going to do that. I’m not a fucking weasel. I want you. But only if you want me too. This is a two-way street, baby.”

I looked at the road. He was driving as if it we were on a one-lane highway, fast and furious.

He continued. “I’ve never told you about Maddie. And maybe I should have. But there’s a reason I didn’t.”

I waited for his explanation.

“She crushed me. Obliterated all the feelings I had. I was in love with that girl in college. And she cheated on me with my roommate.”

I bit my lower lip. I wanted to say something nice, but I remembered I was royally pissed.

Sam kept talking. “It was at the beginning of my senior season. I had red-shirted so this was my fifth year. It was the most important one of my life. There were scouts looking at me. I had agents courting me. It was my chance to finally get a ticket into the pros. And out of nowhere, this girl who I thought was in my corner, was actually fucking my friend. Sorry.” He winced.

“Anyway, it almost ruined everything. The first game I started dropping balls in the end zone. I was late to practice. I lost weight. It was a nightmare. But then one day I woke up and realized I wasn’t going to let her take my dream from me. She could break my heart, but she couldn’t ruin my entire future. And like that, everything snapped back into place.”

“Wow,” I whispered. “That’s a terrible, yet inspiring story.” I hadn’t meant to say anything.

He looked at me. “Yes, it is. And I haven’t seen her in a few years. She called me when I was at your place in Austin.”

“Wait, is that the call that had you all pissed off?”

“Mmmhmm. She said Todd kicked her out and she needed money and there was nowhere else to turn, so she called me as an old friend.”

“And you turned her down?”

“Hell yes, I turned her down. I wasn’t going to give her anything. So when she showed up a couple days ago, it was suspicious. She had some lame story about wanting to get back together.”

I bristled when he mentioned that part.

“But I showed her the picture of you and told her how insanely crazy I am about you and how you’re my future.”

“You said that?”

He nodded. “I did. I wanted her to see how happy I was with you. How happy you make me. So I shoved the damn picture from the lake in her face. But then she started crying and I left my phone for a few seconds. I guess it was long enough for her to get the photo. Now I realize she was approached by one of the outlets to get the scoop on me. She did it for the money. She doesn’t care about who you are or that she cost you your job. She doesn’t care about what it did to me to see you hurt. She’s always been a tunnel-vision kind of person.”

“And a complete bitch,” I added.

He laughed. “And that.”

“I didn’t want to leave the Goddesses, Sam. Not like this. I was really starting to like those gold boots.”

“I know, baby. But I think I have something that’s going to cheer you up.”

“What is it?” We had been on the road for over an hour and we were getting closer to the city.

“You’ll have to wait and see.”

I felt as if I could finally breathe. I believed him. I believed the entire story about the ex and the picture. The whole thing made sense. Sam didn’t have to drive to Austin to kidnap me. He did it because it mattered to him whether I believed him or not.

“Do you forgive me, Natalia, for putting you in this situation? It is my fault the picture is out there.”

I took his right hand in mine. “I do. I’m sorry I jumped to all of the conclusions I did. It seemed logical at the time, and now I realize I was a crazy person.”

“Nah.” He shook his head.

“Okay, no, I was completely justified and sane.” I smiled. I liked the feel of his hand against my palm. It was warm and strong, just like him.

If people only knew what I knew about Sam Hickson.