Page 84 of The Game We Played

“No, gorgeous, it’s not. Did I ever tell you about how I got drafted into the NFL?”

“You got drafted into the NFL straight out of college. You’re not making me feel any better here.”

“I got dumped from the team that drafted me.”

My eyes widen. “You did?”

“Yep. The offensive line coordinator and I did not get along. He screamed at players. I don’t respond well to someone screaming obscenities at me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

He squeezes my neck. “I’m not telling you this because I want your sympathy. I’m trying to point out how my getting cut from the team wasn’t a failure on my part. The coach and I weren’t a good match. It didn’t have anything to do with my ability to play football.”

“And you’re saying…”

“This magazine not accepting your article doesn’t mean you’re not a good writer or you’re a failure. Maybe the article wasn’t a good fit for their magazine. Maybe they had too many submissions.”

“Or maybe my dad didn’t contact them,” I mutter.

His brow wrinkles. “Why would your dad contact them?”

My cheeks warm with my shame. The secret I haven’t told a soul. Not even my dad knows I found out what he did.

“Gorgeous, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

I stare into his green eyes and decide to take a leap. I don’t want to keep secrets from the man I love. Even if he doesn’t know I love him. Even if he thinks this relationship is fake. Even if a relationship with him scares the mermaid out of me.

“My dad got me the job with theSmuggler’s Gazette.”

“Explain.”

“I overheard Mike, the editor-in-chief, on my first day of work. He didn’t realize I was there already. He was complaining to the receptionist about being forced to hire me because of who my dad is.” I inhale a deep breath and fight back the tears threatening to escape. “My only real job in journalism, and he didn’t want to hire me.”

“Gorgeous, he might not have wanted to hire you, but he obviously loves your writing.”

I snort. “Yeah, right. More like he’s afraid my dad’s going to go all pirate, conquering an island on him if he fires me.”

He frames my face with his hands. “I don’t believe it. No newspaper can afford to keep a journalist on staff who isn’t a good writer in this economy.”

“You have a point.” Especially considering theGazetteis probably shutting down at the end of the summer. “But it doesn’t change the facts. I would have never gotten the job without my dad helping me out.”

“We all need a little help sometimes. I never would have been able to keep Sam as my agent without Knox.”

“You might have a point – again – but obviously I’m not a good writer. Why else did the magazine reject my article? No one else has been able to get an interview with Coach Knox before.”

“What did the letter say?”

I dig my phone out of my pocket. I unlock it and open the email before handing it to him.

He kisses my nose before reading the email. I bite my lip as he reads. What am I doing? I’m exposing the man I love to all of my failures. This is stupid. I’m an idiot. I should—

“Wow. The editor loves you.”

I rear back. “Excuse me.”

He wags the phone at me. “Didn’t you read the email?”

“Of course, I did. Multiple times. It said they couldn’t use my article.”