The Crush (4)

“I’m gonna regret this,” he muttered.

“What?”

He turned his head to the side. “They broke up a couple of days ago.”

“What?” I shouted.

The family in the corner went quiet, and I cleared my throat. Breathe, Ward, just breathe. Yeah right. My heart was trying to crack an escape route through my ribs.

“Smooth.”

“Shut up, Parker.” I dug my hands into my hair and tugged uselessly. “Does she still have the same phone number?”

He laughed.

The asshole slid back in his chair and laughed.

I gave him a steady look as he finally calmed down.

“I’m glad you find this funny.”

He slapped my back. “Emmett … I give you credit. You’re good for so much more than wins and touchdowns and the most chiseled jaw in the world.”

I closed my eyes, slicking my tongue over my teeth. It was the only way I’d stop myself from smacking the shit out of him.

“You’re not going to ask what I mean?”

“No.”

“Excellent. I’ll tell you anyway.” He cleared his throat. “They broke up sometime within the last forty-eight hours.” Parker paused to let that sink in. “They dated for four years. Maybe, just maybe, you could give her some time to deal with that before you go barreling in with your”—he waved his hand toward my face—“intense eye thing you’ve got going on. My sister isn’t fragile by any means, but I hate to remind you that you are the one who told her you didn’t want a relationship.”

“Then don’t remind me,” I growled. “I didn’t…” I paused, the words crowding my throat until I couldn’t get them out anymore. I took a deep breath. “It felt impossible to start something five years ago. She was in Seattle. Everyone knew I was going to Florida.”

“Trust me, I know. I heard all about it when she came home the next week and cried to Greer about it.”

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath. “Does that feel helpful right now?”

“Completely.” He gave me a wry grin. “I’m not saying don’t go after her. Just … give her a second. The last thing Adaline needs right now is another pushy athlete trying to take over her life. She just got rid of one of those.”

Waiting.

It was, admittedly, not my best quality when I decided I wanted something.

It’s what served me so well on the field. In school. I was able to take that impatience to achieve my goals and harness it into something amazing.

And I knew, because I’d always known, that Adaline was something amazing.

Finally, I nodded. “Okay. I can do that.”

He slapped my back. “Atta boy. Hope she doesn’t ruthlessly shoot you down.”

Parker was saved by the arrival of Gabriela, who hopped right back up on my lap. “Can we finish my castle?”

I took a deep breath.

“Absolutely, G. There’s nothing I’d rather do.”





Early March

Emmett



“I just want it in writing somewhere that I’m doing this under duress.”

I snorted. “How? I never even see you anymore. You’re the jerk who transferred teams after the season.”

“I transferred teams because I was a free agent, and our new owner is the poster boy for idiotic nepotism. He wanted to bring strippers into the locker room to make us all celebrate his birthday, Emmett.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I know. He’s the worst. I miss his dad. He actually left us alone.”

“Either way”—Parker sighed—“you’d have found a way to punish me if I didn’t help.”

I snorted. “Punish you how? Your ass will be playing in Portland next year.”

On the other end of the phone, Parker made a thoughtful noise. “True. Makes me wonder why I’m helping you at all.”

“Because you love your sister and know we’d be great together.”

“I do love my sister, but I don’t know anything of the sort. I’ve literally never seen you two interact, and until I do, I’ve gotta do the protective brother thing because Sheila and my dad would have my ass if I didn’t.”

“I’m ignoring you, Parker.” Before I thanked the driver and left the car, I adjusted the collar of my starched white dress shirt. “Besides, this was your idea.”

“This was not my idea. I’m just the chump handing you my ticket because you begged. My sister will kill me when she finds out what I did, and I make it a very specific point not to piss off my sisters.”

“She’s not going to kill you,” I said. “She wanted to see where things could go with us, Parker.”

“Five years ago.”

Like I needed him to keep reminding me. Waiting for an opportunity to come see her, to take my chance, had been the longest six weeks of my life.

When I didn’t say anything, Parker kept going. “I’ll give you an itemized list of her reasons. First, my sister hates surprises. Second, I lied to her that my flight was delayed. I lied to her that the ticket was going unused to the event tonight. If she knew that you were showing up, she’d freak out. Hence the killing.”