“Needs a good woman,” her mom said with a teasing grin. “Like you did?”
“Well, of course,” Gigi said. “Cassian had a good woman.” So much for not ruining a family dinner. “He had me.”
Her dad’s head jerked up, and he looked from his wife to his daughter.
“There he is,” Coco said.
“In fact…” Gigi set her napkin on the table. She was done eating. “Cassian and I had some good conversations.”
Her dad lowered his hands under the table and rubbed his thighs. “Okay.” He faced her. “If you’re looking for an apology, you won’t get one. I don’t regret what I did.”
“Even after you saw how it ruined me?”
“I didn’t expect that…reaction. And I almost changed my mind…but I—”
“We.” Her mom reached for him, and they clasped hands on the table. “I know you want to keep me out of it, but we made the decisions together, so we take the hits together.” She turned to Gigi. “Honey, it gutted us to see you devastated like that. I can’t tell you how many nights we lay awake in bed and considered the problem from every angle.”
“The problem? Mom, it was my problem. I was seventeen. Even if I made the wrong decision, it should’ve been mine to make.”
Her mom looked tortured. “You would have gone to Michigan.”
“I absolutely would have. Do I know for sure that Cassian and I would still be together? No, but we would’ve made our own way through life. You intervening…can’t you see? It was just wrong.”
“You could only see up until that moment, senior year of high school,” her dad said. “But I had nearly three decades on you. And I knew college ball at that level. It’s tough. It’s serious. He wouldn’t have been able to give you the time…” Her dad shook his head, like he’d gotten off-track. “The bottom line is that we believed you’d lose yourself in his career.”
“Or maybe, instead of becoming a Lollipop,” Coco said. “She’d be writing and performing her own music.”
“High school relationships almost never work when they move onto college,” her mom said. “They just don’t. The twenties are for self-discovery. That’s when you learn to live on your own.”
“A lot of temptations, when you’re the quarterback,” her dad said.
“That’s not…God, you’re missing the point. He worshipped you, Dad. It wasn’t about football—it was never about football. You were the first person to pay attention to him.”
“Honey, he had a father until he was fourteen,” her mom said.
“His dad worked on Wall Street. He hardly ever saw his parents. But you gave him attention. You taught him to be a man. And he felt like he owed you.”
“Sweetheart—” her mom said.
She got up. “No. I get that you thought you were doing the right thing, but I’m telling you, you were wrong. You should’ve talked to me, told me your concerns.”
“Gigi.” Her mom got up, too.
But she was already halfway out of the room. She stopped, though, and got a hold of herself, because she had something to say. “You think the course of my life would’ve changed if I’d followed Cassian, but you changed the course of my life.” The truth of it all weighed heavily. “I don’t think you understand what you did to us.”
She grabbed her purse. She needed to get out of the house.
She needed Cassian.
“You think I screwed up?” Cassian sat on a chaise by the resort’s indoor pool.
All around him, his teammates partied. Some gathered around a table with booze and snacks, while others played around in the water.
“You’ve got to stop beating yourself up.” Dean tipped back his beer. “The situation’s not black or white. Don’t you think you’d be just as worked up if you’d let him stay? Look, the kid’s a distraction, and it’s not fair to the others who want to take advantage of their time here. And, not a small point, we’ve got to have zero tolerance for sexual harassment.” Dean let out a breath. “All that said, I obviously don’t like that he’s going home to the environment that created him.”
“That’s what’s grinding through me. I got hot so fast…I should’ve at least tried to work with him.”
Dean sat up, swinging his legs off his chaise and planting his feet on the ground. “You started this camp because you wanted to give kids hope, a way out of their shitty situations. Your goal isn’t to rehabilitate them. Therapy isn’t even in our wheelhouse.”
That’s true. And that made him feel better about his decision.
“Hey, you guys.” Amie strode through the doors in a short, white coverup. “Whew.”
“How’d it go?” She’d gone with Bill to get Walker checked in and settled at the hotel.
She dropped her purse and water bottle on a table and whipped off her dress, leaving her in a bright pink bikini. “It was one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do.” She headed straight for the Jacuzzi and turned on the jets.
Worried about the boy, Cassian got up. “Did he apologize?” Because if he had, Cassian would reconsider. Maybe give him another chance.
“Oh, God, no.” Unscrewing the bottle, she tipped her head back and drank. The water rushed out, spilling down her chin. She laughed, arching her back, one hand brushing the droplets off her chest. “He talked about calling his lawyer. Spoiler alert: he doesn’t have one.” Sitting on the edge of the tub, she stirred the water with her legs. “He had some things to say about you.”
“I don’t need to hear them.” Cassian pulled up a chair next to the Jacuzzi. “Did you feel threatened by him at all?”
“If you’re looking to justify your decision, forget it.” She slid into the bubbling water. “He’s been trouble since day one.”
Dean came up beside him, phone in hand. “You gonna be okay?”
Cassian figured Dean wanted to check in with his girlfriend. “Yeah, sure. Thanks. I’ll see you in the morning.” Normally, Dean stayed with him at his house, but with Gigi coming over at nine, he’d gotten Dean a room at the hotel with the other guys.
Gigi. A zing of anticipation shot down his spine. He couldn’t wait to see her.
Forty-six more minutes.
With a wave, Dean took off.
His teammates laughed and talked, oblivious to the situation with Walker. Cassian stared into the bubbling water. “I just don’t know what he’s going home to.”
Amie patted the side of the tub. Get in.
Nope. He shook his head, not interested in being alone with her in a Jacuzzi.
Leaning forward, she tilted her head and pulled the hair away from her neck. A strand got caught in the ties, and she winced. “I think you have to stay in your lane. Your job is to run this camp, not save children. It isn’t fair to the other campers, who’re working their butts off, to have their one and only session with pro athletes ruined by Walker Lovett.”
“I don’t know his circumstances, but they can’t be good.”