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“I’ll stay away from you if that’s what you want. I respect whatever you need to do.”
“You respect it?” Her sad gaze roved over my face. “So clinical and composed all the time, Dr. Forster. Does any of this affect you?”
I swallowed. “Yes. It affects me.”
It’s breaking me.
She snorted. “It doesn’t look like it.”
She wrapped her hand around the door handle, then she turned back to me, her hands clenched stiffly at her sides. “There’s a transfer opportunity. Gabe wants me to go and play in LA.”
Ice spread through my chest. LA? She wouldn’t go, would she? I kept my face level. “Oh?”
She rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s a temporary thing. One year. Maybe two.”
“Is that what you want?”
“It would be amazing for my career, and maybe I need something different after everything that happened with Sean.” She fiddled with the bar in her eyebrow and stole a glance at me. “If I said I wanted to go, would you even care?”
More than anything. Please don’t go.
She regarded me with impassive coldness, but tears glimmered in her bright eyes. I’d hurt her. I was continuing to hurt her. This had to end. There had been a power dynamic between us. To enter into a sexual relationship with someone who had trusted me was wrong.
I kept my voice soft. “It doesn’t matter what I think. You need to do what’s right for you.”
“But what do you think? Do you want me to stay?”
A pregnant silence wrapped around us. I had the sudden sense that everything hinged on my next words. I wasn’t selfish enough to ask her to stay. Love is sacrifice. I’ve always known that. I’d given up so many things for my family because I loved them. I had no regrets about that. No resentment. It’s what I wanted to do. I had to put Skylar’s needs before my own. Being with me wasn’t the right thing for her, no matter how much I wanted her. I’d never been right for her. I had to let her go. We’d been hurtling toward this point since the moment I’d let her drop to her knees in my office. The only way to make this better was to let her go. This was all my fault.
My heart shattered into a thousand pieces, but I kept my face level. “It sounds like a great opportunity. You should think about it.”
She flinched as though I’d slapped her. “And what about you. What will you do if I go? Will you stay at the club?”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be fine. I have my family and my… garden.”
Her voice was quiet and distant. “Your garden?”
“I like gardening. I like to watch beautiful things thrive and know I had some small part to play.”
Her eyes met mine and her expression was thunderous.
So powerful. So beautiful. So wild.
Blood pounded in my temple, and a deep, desperate pain made my chest ache. I longed to pull her into my arms. I’d wanted to help her heal, but instead I’d made her hurt like this. I’d only made things worse. I’d fucked everything up, but I’d only ever wanted the best for her. I fought every urge to drop to my knees and beg her not to go.
Brushing away tears, she rolled her shoulders and stood taller. “You’re right. Maybe this is what I need. A new beginning. The LA Halos are an amazing team. This could be great for me. Maybe I do need to do something completely different.” Her voice was thick and unsteady, her mouth twisted into a thin-lipped smile. “And you… I need you to stay away from me. I have to get through this final match. I’ve got too much to deal with.”
Wild grief tore through me. She nodded woodenly and flung the door open.
I held my hands up and kept my voice low. “Miri and Gabe will be downstairs. Let me check that they’ve gone to the annex, please…”
She bowed her head and her shoulders shook. With her back to me, I couldn’t tell if it was with rage or sobs. “Fuck the annex. Fuck your garden. And fuck you. We’re done.”
Then she was gone.
Chapter 34
Skylar
