His brow furrows. “What do you mean that doesn’t mean anything? It means everything.”
“No, it doesn’t. We’re going in different directions, Ryot.”
“Myla, don’t be stupid,” Nichole says from the bed. “You’re not moving here.”
“Yes, I am,” I say while stepping away from Ryot. “I’m not leaving you alone here. As much as I might be mad at you, that doesn’t mean I’m going to leave you to fend for yourself. For fuck’s sake, Nichole, you passed out and had no one to help you. I refuse to let you do this by yourself. You’re only going to become weaker and weaker, and you’ll need someone to drive you to appointments. Not to mention”—I motion toward Ryot—“you’re starting a new job with ESPN that requires you to be in California. So yeah, I might love you, but that means nothing.”
“I’m not taking the job,” Ryot says.
“Ryot, stop,” I say. “Of course you’re taking the job. This is a huge opportunity that everyone is counting on. You don’t have a choice in the matter. You’re taking the job.”
“I’m not,” he says. “I already told Banner.” He takes a step toward me. “I told him there was no way I could take it because things were up in the air with you, and I will do anything, and I mean fucking anything, to keep you in my life, Myla.” Another step forward as the air ceases to filter into my lungs. “I’m resigning from The Jock Report and setting that part of my life to the side because what we have, Myla, it’s way more important than anything else in my life. I’ll be damned if I let it slip through my fingers again.”
My jaw shivers as tears descend my cheeks. “You . . . you can’t do that. You worked too hard.”
“At the expense of losing you,” he says, now only a foot away from me. “Do you know how fucking ashamed I am for being so blind to how I was treating you? Treating our marriage? It eats me alive at night, Myla.” He closes the rest of the space between us and moves his hand to the back of my neck, right at the nape. “You are what I care about. You are my goals. You are my dreams. You are my future.”
I shake my head. “No, you . . . you can’t.”
“Can’t what? Put you first? Because I am. I’m putting you first, I’m putting us first, and if you think I’m going to let you just slink away, drive a wedge between us because you’re scared, then you’re absolutely fucked. That’s not going to happen. I didn’t let it happen when your dad passed away and I won’t let it happen now.” His thumb rubs over my cheek, wiping away my tears. “I know I have a lot to make up to you, and I know that getting back to a new normal will take some time, but it’s time worth spending because you are my life.”
My lip trembles, and before I can stop it, a sob escapes, and my legs give out on me. Ryot pulls me into his chest, wrapping his strong arms around me and holding me tight. He scoops me up and carries me over to a chair where I sit on his lap and cry into his shoulder. He clutches me tightly, his hand soothing my back as he whispers to me.
“I’m here for you, baby, and I’m not leaving you. As much as you want to push, I’m not leaving.” He kisses the side of my head. “I’m loving you for the rest of my goddamn life. There will never be another woman, another human as important to me as you.” I break out into another sob as I clutch his shirt, holding on for dear life so I don’t feel like I’m drowning.
“I need you, Ryot.”
“I know, baby.”
I lift from his shoulder to look him in the eyes. He wipes the tears away, and from Nichole’s bed, where she’s been watching the entire thing, she says, “Can you kiss her, please? I’m dying over here.”
It’s a small moment of levity.
But just enough to tip the corner of my lips up as I lean my forehead against Ryot’s and move my nose along his. He lifts my chin, and my lips connect with his in a soul-searing kiss that steals my breath and fills me with a chance of hope.
His mouth parts, and so does mine as my grip on him grows tighter and my need even stronger than before. I don’t need him to give up his job for me, especially now that I understand where his idea for The Jock Report stemmed from. Me. His love for me, his desire to protect me. He never gave up protecting me. And he’s been showing me that for years. He’s shown me that I’m worth loving for years too. He signed the divorce papers because he thought that would make me happy. Who does that? This precious, loving, kind man.
I pull away and stare him in the eyes. “I appreciate you wanting to resign from The Jock Report, but I can’t let you do that.”
“And I can’t let you leave Nichole, so it looks like we need to figure something out.”
“Myla, can I please have a conversation with Ryot, alone?” Nichole asks from her bed.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because I said so,” Nichole says in such a mom voice that it makes me smile.
Turning back to Ryot, I smooth my hand up his chest to his cheek, where I cling to him. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“For what?” he says quietly.
“Everything,” I answer. “For doubting, for pushing you away, for acting like you weren’t worth trying for, even though you have shown me that I’m worth the effort.”
“Myla.” He dips his head to get a better look at me. “When I took my vows, I said that you would come first in my mind, always. And I broke that promise. You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I need to thank you for the wake-up call, for the second chance, because I’m not sure I would have snapped out of it unless you did something drastic.” He presses a sweet kiss to my forehead. “You have nothing to apologize for. All I ask is that you keep giving me and us a chance. Keep loving me, and we’ll figure this out. Okay?”
I nod and then press my lips to his one more time before I stand from his lap. Just as I start to move away, Banner knocks on the door.
“Hey,” he says, looking shy and awkward in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, his hair completely disheveled. When his eyes travel over to Nichole, I notice the shock in them.
“Banner, what the hell are you doing here?” Nichole asks in a teasing tone.
“Uh . . . I heard you fell.”
“I’ve fallen many times, but you’ve never come to see me before.”
He pulls on the back of his neck. “Yeah, well, this is different.”
She rolls her eyes and then shifts on her bed. “Banner and Ryot, line up at my bedside. Myla, can you please go find me some apple juice? And don’t come back until I tell you, you can. I need to talk to these men.”
“Why can’t I listen in?”
“Because I love you very much, but I need your comfort, not your decision-making. Now go on.”
Sighing—because I know she’s right—I go back to Ryot and whisper, “Can I borrow your wallet? I don’t have my purse with me.”
He pulls it from his pocket and hands it to me right before pressing a kiss on my lips.
I turn back to Nichole and ask, “Do you need anything else?”
“Just for these guys to take their shirts off. I’m sick after all. The least they could do is give me a good show.”