It felt final. All of this. The firing. Reese would be in meetings the rest of the morning. I could feel my bank account dipping lower every minute I stayed here. And I hadn’t done anything I’d set out to do. Well, I’d written one night. But the reprieve from reality was gone. Whatever friendship I had with Reese, I’d have to see what happened, but I knew I couldn’t stick around. I couldn’t afford to stick around.

And I had a feeling Coach Winston would find a way to get me kicked off the island if I tried to.

“Yeah. Talk later.” I attempted a smile.

It was enough to appease Reese, more because another two of his teammates were calling his name now. They all walked past us, heading outside and up to the meeting hall. Coach Winston waited until Reese was gone and the last of his team had filtered past us.

“If one of them knew, and if one of them was unhappy with our team, they could leak you and Reese to the tabloids. It’d be that easy. His name’s already being put through the ringer because of his brother. We came here to protect him, and to keep him focused. I know he’s a grown man, but he’s my player. I have to look out for him.” He paused a second. “You understand, don’t you?”

I held up my check. “I came here for two reasons. One, because I’d just gotten fired, and two, to try to get my life back on track somehow because my dementia-boyfriend dumped me during one of his rare lucid moments. He kicked me out the apartment and his life, and I’ve been floundering ever since. That stopped here, because of Reese. And now I got fired again.”

I looked at the dollar amount on the check and started laughing. It barely covered half a month’s rent. It was less than what Keith first promised me.

“Here.” I pressed it to his chest, passing him by. “I’m sure that’s what you make in ten minutes. Have a couple coffees on me.”

I’d gone a few steps outside before I had to stop and bend over.

I was going to throw up.

The world began to swim around me.

I was having a panic attack. I recognized the symptoms, and damn, these were a bitch.

I couldn’t… I had to—one foot in front of the other. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

It hurt. I was moving against cement in the air, but I had to keep going.