She shook her head. “Fine.”
I expected her to walk away, but she stayed and silently watched the kids with me.
After the kids had left and we cleaned up, Reese and I headed home.
“Chloe, I really don’t know what to say. Today was one of the best days of my life.”
I smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “That’s all I wanted. I knew how important this was to you and wanted to make sure it happened fast.”
“You’re incredible.” He lifted my hand and kissed it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Reese
I was itching to see her. To have her in my arms. After everything she’d done for me with the foundation, I wanted to show her how much it meant to me.
I needed one night to show her how much she changed my life. One night to prove what we had was real.
I woke up with an idea. I just hoped she loved it. I sent her a message to be ready at five and put my plan into action.
She told me her favorite flowers while we were at the gardens, so I ordered those to have waiting for us. I hoped if I included a few little touches from our time together she’d realize how much I cared.
I was a mess standing at her door. I needed to knock. I knew that, but part of me wanted to put it off until I calmed myself down. I’d never been like this before. I’d never been so excited to see a girl. It was like I was experiencing my first crush all over again, times one hundred. I’d never felt this way about a woman, and I wanted to show her…without sweating.
The door opened, revealing a smiling Chloe. “What are you doing?”
I took her in. Her long brown hair was flowing over her shoulders like melted chocolate. She looked so beautiful in a black dress that showcased her long legs.
“I was going to knock.”
“The elevator dinged a while ago.”
She’d heard it. Great. I shrugged and she laughed while grabbing her purse off a table.
“Where are we going?”
Before I could respond, she guessed. “It’s a surprise, isn’t it?”
I took her hand and pulled her into the elevator. “Of course, it is.”
It felt so much better being with her. My nerves disappeared the moment I had her hand in mine.
In the garage, I opened her door for her before getting in. We were heading to her favorite restaurant. She hadn’t taken me to it, but on the tour she gave me she mentioned it in passing. I had to beg the owners to stay open for dinner since they normally only had lunch hours, but it would be worth it when she realized where we were going.
A vibrating sound disrupted my thoughts.
Chloe reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. “Oh no.”
“What’s wrong?” Her expression made me think it wasn’t someone she wanted to talk to.
“It’s Erik.”
Yup, that would make me scowl too.
“Hello?” Her voice didn’t give her away. She sounded happy to talk to him.
“Yeah, I was there.” Silence. “I’m going out to dinner with a friend.” She sighed. “Because they drove…Just some of the girls.”
I knew she wasn’t going to tell him, but it still felt like a punch to the gut that she lied about me. I’d agreed to keep things quiet, but for how long?
When she hung up she looked at me with a frown. “I don’t know how long I can keep lying to him, Reese.”
“Then let’s tell him.”
“What?” Panic filled her voice. “Reese, there’s too much at stake.”
“He’s going to find out eventually.” Wasn’t he? How long could she keep us a secret? Unless she didn’t think we were going anywhere.
“I know, but…” She faded off leaving me to fill in the blank with worst case scenarios. If she wasn’t willing to tell her brother, the person she was closest to, then why were we even doing this?
“Chloe. I can’t live like this anymore. Look what happened after the first game.”
She sighed and tossed her phone into her bag.
“I’m not ready yet.”
“So, you got mad at me for trying to cover it up in front of the team, but you’re doing the same thing right now.” I needed to calm down.
“I told you, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset about that.”
“Well, now I understand why you did. How long are we going to lie to the people around us? You’re an adult, Chloe. Your brother can’t control you. The team won’t care. The front office won’t care. So, what’s stopping you?”
She was silent for a few minutes. Then she whispered something, but I couldn’t hear.
“What?”
“I’m scared.”
That surprised me.
“Scared of what?”
“That they’ll hate me.”
I hadn’t expected that. “Who?”
“The team.”
I looked over at her, but she was staring straight ahead. “Chloe, you care way too much about what everyone thinks. They love you, and frankly, I don’t think they’ll care who you’re dating.”
She turned away from me and looked out the passenger window.
I’d upset her, but it was true. She needed to get over her fear of what other people thought of her and decide if being together was worth it.
I pulled the car into the turning lane and made a U-turn.
“Where are we going?”
I ignored the question. I couldn’t answer her without this turning into a fight. I drove back to her building and parked but didn’t make a move.
“I don’t think I can do this anymore, Chloe.” She turned to me, and I fought to ignore the tears in her eyes.
“What are you saying?”
“I can’t do this secret dating thing. It’s not fair to either of us. I know it’s stressing you out and I hate not being able to hug or kiss you anywhere I want.”
Desperation filled her eyes. “I told you. I’ll tell them when I’m ready.”
I rubbed my hand over my face. “I know. But I’m ready to tell people and I don’t know if you’ll ever be.”
Her chin trembled. “Don’t do this, Reese.”
A tear fell down her cheek and I nearly broke. “I’m sorry. It’s just not healthy.”
I reached toward her to wipe away her tears, but she pulled back.
“I care about you, Chloe. I want to be together, but I can’t do it this way.”
“Fine.” She pushed open the door and hurried away.
This was a hundred times worse than opening night. This time I’d hurt her intentionally, but hearing her lie to Erik was my breaking point. We weren’t doing anything wrong, and I was sick of sneaking around like we were.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chloe
This was the worst. I’d felt pain before. My appendix had ruptured in high school. I thought that would be the worst I’d ever experience.
This was worse.
Reese leaving me was a shock. It had torn me in two.
I thought our first fight was bad. If only I’d known what was going to happen. I wouldn’t have answered his call. Why bother apologizing if it wasn’t going to be any different?
He expected me to suddenly be okay with going public?
He knew I wasn’t ready. That didn’t change.
So why had he?
I pushed open the front door and went to my room. I took off my dress and changed into sweats.
There better be ice cream. I had a feeling there wasn’t, but I needed something to hope for.
I went to the freezer and pulled the drawer open.
My stash was gone.
No.
Not okay.
My heart was pounding against my chest. How could this happen?
I should have paid better attention last night.
How could I let this happen?
I blinked back the tears, but they were stubborn.
I sniffed.
I was not leaving my house.
Good thing I l
ived with one of the biggest celebrities in the city.
I picked up the phone and called down to the lobby.
“Yes, Ms. Schultz?”
“Can someone run to the store for me?”
“Of course. What would you like?”
“A pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream.”
“Is that all?”
No. I wanted Reese.
“Make it two.”
“It will be sent up right away.”
“Thanks.”
I hung up and moved to the living room. My favorite blanket was waiting for me, folded on top of an armchair.
It was a blanket I’d made with my mom when I was little. We were supposed to learn to quilt together, but we ended up sewing the pieces together and sending it out to be finished. We promised not to tell anyone we cheated.
I wrapped it around me and fell onto the couch.
I shouldn’t have let him leave. I should have fought for him.
The line had been drawn. He was ready for more—I wasn’t.
The black screen of the TV was a mirror. Disgusted with myself, I turned it on and chose an action movie. I didn’t want to watch myself fall apart.
A moment later, I heard the elevator ding. I waited for the doorbell, but heard keys going into the lock.
Crap.
Erik was supposed to be gone all night.
He walked in, took one look at me, and frowned.
“What happened?”
I shook my head. My throat was swollen closed.
He crossed the room and sat next to me. “Chloe, tell me what happened. Are you hurt?”
I nodded and fell apart. He pulled me into his arms and I soaked his white shirt with my tears.
He rubbed my back, asking me again and again what happened, but I couldn’t speak.
The doorbell rang, so he slipped away from me and answered.
“For Ms. Schultz.”
“Thank you.”
I heard the door shut and Erik returned. “Two pints? Must be really bad if you already burned through your stash.”
I looked up at him, shocked. “You knew?”
“Who do you think keeps it in stock.”
Huh. There was always some in the fridge. Even if I didn’t buy more. I assumed it was magic. No, it was my brother.
He handed the ice cream to me and fished a spoon out of the bag. Those wonderful people had thought of everything. The last thing I wanted was to go to the kitchen after getting comfortable in my pity position.
I dug in while he waited, watching.
After a few bites, he leaned forward and put his hands on my shoulders.
“Chloe, what’s going on?”
There was no point to keep it in at this point. He could get mad, but it wouldn’t change the fact it happened, and it was over.
“I’ve kept something from you.”
His look of concern deepened as his eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Reese.”
“Murray?”
I nodded.
“What did he do?” Anger filled his voice. I had to calm him down before he took off in search of blood.
“We were seeing each other.”
His face transformed into disbelief, mouth agape and all. “What?”
“We went out a few times. I really liked him.”
“How long?”
“Since I took him out that night to show him around.”
“That was weeks ago! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because of this! I knew you would freak out.”
“I’m not freaking out because you were dating Murray. I’m mad you didn’t tell me.”
“What?”
He shook his head. “I can’t believe you would think that little of me, Chloe.”
His words were a punch to the gut. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too. I’m sorry for whatever I did to make you think you couldn’t trust me. That you couldn’t tell me. That you thought I would be anything but happy for you.”
He started to stand, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. “I’m sorry. I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“That you would be mad. That you’d take it out on him. That it would mess things up for the team. That the guys would be mad at me. That the guys I’d turned down would call me a hypocrite. That the office would find out and fire me. That people would find out and call me a jersey chaser.”
He stayed silent. I’d unloaded quite a bit on him.
“I can’t believe you would think so little of everyone around you. Everyone on the team loves you. Everyone in the office loves you. I love you.” He stared me down until I started crying again. “Hey.”
He wrapped his arms around me and took the ice cream from my trembling hand. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you. I’m just a little shocked.”
He rubbed my back until I calmed down. “You can tell me anything. I don’t want you to keep secrets. I know I hadn’t been easy on Reese, but I wanted to push him. I wanted him to prove to us and to himself that he has what it takes to be on the team.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I know I was hard on him, but he’s a good guy.”
I blinked away the tears and sighed.
“So, what happened?”
“I didn’t want to tell anyone about us. When you called and I told you I was going out with the girls, he wasn’t happy. He didn’t want to keep lying to you.”
He smirked, and I punched his arm. “This isn’t about you.”
“I know. I’m just glad to hear that. It means he respects me.” I glared at him. “But it’s more about you. He probably knew how hard it was on you.”
I nodded. “He did.”
“He was trying to do the right thing.” He paused. “Wait! That was why he kissed you!”
I giggled and nodded.
“Son of a—"
I swatted at him. “Hey. Be nice. He lied that night, and I got hurt.”
“That’s why you left early?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you turn around and do the same thing to him?”
When he said it like that, it was pretty stupid.
“How do you feel about him right now?”
I looked down at my lap, wishing I could take my ice cream and run to my room. I didn’t want to talk about how I felt about him. It hurt.
“You love him?”
“What?” There was no way.
“I don’t think you’d be this upset if it were just casual for you. And I don’t think he would have been upset about what you said to me if he didn’t care as much.”
“We’ve only known each other for a few weeks.”
“It can happen in less time.”
“I told myself I wouldn’t end up with a player.”
“We’re not that bad.”
I nudged him. “No, you guys are pretty great.”
“Then why are you sitting here eating garbage and crying to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“You should be going after him.”
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“Why?”
“He doesn’t want to be with me anymore.”
“I don’t think that’s true. I think he wants to be with you so much that he doesn’t want to keep it a secret anymore.”
“Really?”
He nodded.
“What should I do?”
“Give him the night to cool off. Plus, you’re not looking your best.”
I stuck out my tongue and he laughed. “You just proved my point.”
“Go to bed. Things will look better in the morning.”
I stood and narrowed my eyes at him. “Since when are you the wise one?”
He smirked. “Since you lost it. One of us has to be sane.”
“Whatever.” I reached for my beloved ice cream, but he brushed my hand away.
“I’ll clean up out here. Just go to bed.”
I eyed him but gave in. I
didn’t have the energy to argue.
“Thanks, Erik.”
He nodded and pointed at the hall. “Go.”
I followed his orders even though part of me hated letting him boss me around. It was nice to have the roles reversed. I’d spent most of my adult life taking care of him. I’d let him do it for once.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Reese
I drove around the city for hours until finally heading home. I wanted to go back to her house. I wanted to run up the stairs and take her in my arms. I wanted to kiss away the hurt and confusion. This wasn’t something we couldn’t work through. I could be more patient. I could wait to tell everyone. I was willing to do that. I wasn’t willing to lose her.
I’d give her the night. I’d give us both time to recoup and calm down. Time to think.
I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling until four in the morning. Since sleep wasn’t an option, I got up, changed, and headed to the area for a workout.
No one was here yet. Obviously.
I racked a squat rack with weights and got to work.
Two hours, and hundreds of reps later, a water bottle hit me in the side of the head. I pulled out my headphones and looked around.
“Hey, idiot.”
Erik.
Great.
I turned to see him standing directly behind me.
“I figured you’d be here.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why?”
“You weren’t home, and you don’t really know anyone else in the area.”
I shrugged, not wanting to admit he was right. If I wasn’t at home I was here. Or with Chloe, but I wasn’t going to admit that.
“Wait, how did you know I wasn’t home?”
“That was the first place I checked.”
“Why were you looking for me?”
He didn’t seem angry, mostly annoyed.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“About?”
“Chloe.” He knew.
“What about her?”
“You’re an idiot.”
I couldn’t argue that.
“You never should have let her go.”
“She told you?”
He sat on the bench next to me and began curling a dumbbell. “Yeah. While she was crying and eating ice cream last night.”
Puck Drop: Utah Fury Page 15
