Chapter 3

Mason’s answer carried from the entrance to the celebration area. I stayed on the bench until the footsteps and laughter faded. Then I sent Brooke another message. [Give me ten minutes. I need to get my coat.] I had left it in the family lounge. Reaching it meant passing the hallway outside the team’s private celebration. I had barely turned the corner when Erin, the team’s family liaison, hurried toward me. She held out her phone, her smile strained. "Hannah, I was looking for you." The broadcast clip was everywhere. People were asking whether Mason and Tessa were together. Some thought Mason and I had already separated. Others had turned the championship family photo into headlines. "The team wants to clear this up quickly," Erin said. "We just need one normal family photo. You, Mason, Tessa, and Oliver." "Why does Tessa need to be in it?" Erin hesitated. "She was already on the broadcast. If we leave her out now, it could look like the team is trying to hide something." "So they want me to stand beside the woman who just kissed my husband and prove there’s nothing going on?" "I know it’s an unfair request." She lowered her voice. "But a lot of people are watching." "They were watching before." Erin didn’t argue. The door to the celebration area opened, sending music and cheers into the hallway. Mason came out, with Tessa close behind him. Oliver wasn’t with them. Mason saw the phone in Erin’s hand. "How bad is it?" "We’re trending," Erin said. "We need a group photo and a short statement." Mason turned to me. "Good. Let’s take it now." He said it the way he called a play on the field. I didn’t move. "Hannah, it’s one picture." He stepped closer. "You stand beside me. Tessa and Oliver stand on the other side. Once people see we’re all friends, this goes away." "Why should I help it go away?" "Because this is our marriage." "You didn’t say that when the whole country was watching." Mason glanced at Erin. "Can we have a minute?" Erin put away her phone but didn’t go far. She stopped several yards down the hallway and pretended to check her messages. Mason lowered his voice. "What do you want me to do? Hold a press conference and announce that my wife left the celebration because another woman kissed me?" "This isn’t about one kiss." "Then what is it about?" "You claimed another family." "I used the wrong words." "More than once." His brow tightened. "Stop making this bigger than it is." Tessa had been standing beside him in silence. Now she spoke. "The photo won’t hurt anyone, Hannah. It’ll stop people from speculating." "You already got the photo you wanted tonight." She met my eyes. "I didn’t make that decision alone." "But you knew Oliver was calling Mason his dad." "Yes." Her answer came without hesitation. Mason turned toward her. "Tessa." "She was going to find out eventually," Tessa said. "I’m tired of pretending tonight was the first time Oliver called you that." My fingers tightened around the gift bag. "How long?" Tessa adjusted the sleeve of her team jacket. "The first time was at Oliver’s birthday last year. Since then, they’ve trained together. Mason came to two school events, and he went on the fall parent-child camping trip." Mason had told me the team added extra practices that weekend. I didn’t ask for the dates. "You knew he was my husband." "Of course I did." "And you knew we were trying to have a baby." Tessa pressed her lips together. "That’s why I thought you would understand. You and Mason have a marriage, a home, and a future. Oliver doesn’t even have a father willing to show up at school." "So you gave my husband the job?" "I didn’t make him do anything. He wanted to be there." Mason raised a hand. "That’s enough." Then he turned to me. "Oliver hasn’t done anything wrong. Don’t drag a child into our marriage." "I’m not blaming Oliver." "You wanted me to deny him in front of everyone." "I wanted you to stop claiming a role that doesn’t belong to you." "To him, it does." At the other end of the hallway, Erin looked up. She had clearly heard him. Mason paused before lowering his voice again. "The priority right now is ending the speculation. We take the picture, then you post something congratulating me. Say you’re proud of me and glad Tessa and Oliver could be there." I stared at him. "You want me to tell everyone I’m fine with my husband kissing another woman?" "No one is asking you to mention the kiss." "You just want to use my picture to prove it didn’t matter." "Because it didn’t." "To whom?" Mason didn’t answer. Tessa looked toward the celebration room. Someone inside called Mason’s name and shouted that it was time to cut the championship cake. I removed the family credential from around my neck. The plastic badge swung from my hand. Mason looked down at it. "What are you doing?" I walked over to Erin and handed her the credential. "Take me off the list for the rest of the championship family events. Transportation, dinners, hotel arrangements for relatives, private celebrations—don’t contact me about any of it." Erin accepted the badge. "Hannah, are you sure?" "I’m sure. Contact Mason directly from now on." Mason crossed the hallway. "You can’t dump all of this on other people because we had one fight." "I’m not dumping it on anyone." I looked at him. "I’m giving it back to the person who should have been responsible for it all along." "So this is how you’re punishing me?" "I’m done holding together a family you just denied in public." Mason’s expression hardened. "I didn’t deny you." "Then you don’t need me in a picture to prove it." He stared at me for several seconds before pointing toward the exit. "Fine. You’re upset. Go home." I walked past him. "Post that statement by tomorrow morning," he called after me. "Don’t let this keep affecting the team and our life." I didn’t turn around. Brooke’s car was waiting outside the stadium. Through the windshield, I saw her reaching for the door, ready to come find me. I stopped near the exit, took out my phone, and pulled up the number for a family-law attorney. When someone answered, I gave her my name. "I’m not ready to discuss property yet," I said. "I need to know what I should protect if I leave tonight."