BooksBarbecue
Back Hard to Lose
Chapters (55)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
  3. PRAISE FOR K. BROMBERG
  4. ALSO BY K. BROMBERG
  5. COPYRIGHT
  6. PROLOGUE
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. EPILOGUE
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. COMING SOON
  55. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I hate the idea that comes to mind but think it might just be what I need to do.

It worked once before.

It’s time to pull the Band-Aid off.

It’s the only thing I know how to do right it seems.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Chase

MY PULSE RACES AS I stare at the envelope on my desk.

It’s not orange this time, nor is it faded and tattered at the edges, but it’s the same penmanship addressed to Kincade Sports Management.

The only difference is under KSM, it says “Attn: Chase Kincade.”

My hands shake as I pull the letter out and read it.

Dear Ms. Chase Kincade,

Thank you for your time. I just recently learned of your interest in me. Maybe if you had been honest from the start, we could have made this work. At this time, it’s best if we both move on as if we never met. To let dreams we might have had go. To accept that life has changed forever.

-Gunner Camden

I reread the letter over and over till my tears blur so much that I can’t see the words.

And then Dickman, our sarge, said we should write letters to those who mattered. To say goodbye to our dreams because life as we knew it was over.

He wrote me an “If I Die” letter.

He wrote me out of his life just like he did the sport he loved and the life he lived.

If I thought there was any hope of us figuring things out, this just basically annihilated it. Every single ounce of it.

“Chase? Honey?”

I startle at the knock on my door and my father’s voice. I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here staring out at the world beyond our high-rise with the letter clutched in my hand.

“Yeah?” I croak.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks, moving into my office.

I shake my head. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Okay.” He sighs with a helplessness I feel deep in my bones. “I’m sorry you’re hurting. If there’s one thing a parent hates more than anything in the world, it’s seeing their child hurting. Part of being a dad is trying to protect your kids from the hurt. Kissing a scraped knee. Defending you from monsters under the bed. Stealing some of Finn’s business for cheating on you. But I know I can’t fix this. I know a broken heart is way stronger than the tools I have in my arsenal, but God, how I wish I did.”

“It’s okay. I deserve this. I lied. I’m paying the consequences. There’s no one to blame but me.” I meet his eyes for the first time and force myself to give him a smile.