by Natalie Lux
When he was done and I was so sweetly sore I couldn’t walk, he turned to me, planting a soft kiss on my cheek.
“Don’t make any decision until after the wedding. If you want to go back to Hollywood by yourself and just keep this a happy memory, I’ll understand. I just want you to be happy.”
I had to force myself not to cry. When had this side of Reid Mannix been born? During our time together or before?
I put my hands around his neck and returned the kiss.
“Being with you makes me happy.”
24
Reid
The next afternoon, I packed my best suit into my car along with my football gear. I didn’t know what Eva’s stepmom’s problem with me was, but I wanted to look as nice as possible for her dad, who seemed pretty cool.
I’d be driving straight from practice to the wedding, which was fortunately close to the college. I hoped my mind would be more focused today since it was the final practice until the championship game next week. But for the first time, it was hard to think solely about football. Eva had completely taken over my mind—a fact which coach seemed to be fully aware of.
“Dammit, Mannix, I told you to pass the ball, we aren’t running it!” he threw his hands into the air. Coach looked apoplectic as he screamed at me for what felt like the tenth time today. “Everybody start running. You can thank your quarterback for the extra laps!”
The whole team groaned and started the long jog around the football field.
“Mannix get your ass over here!”
I groaned silently and jogged over to him, taking my helmet off.
“What’s up coach?”
“Are you trying to fuck this team over? Do you think that because you didn’t get an agent like half of this fucking team, you can just pussy out on me and throw the game? You got money on it or something?”
Now, I could take verbal abuse pretty well. After all, that was my dad’s specialty and I’d spent a bit of time in the national guard. That wasn’t the problem I had with Coach Tanner. The thing was, I hadn’t had a bad practice. I’d only missed a few assignments which worked out anyway, and I’d thrown to Dom for five touchdowns against our defense. What the hell was his problem today?
“Coach, I don’t think you’re being fair,” I said calmly. “It was one missed assignment during that run. I—”
“Son, if you want to make it to the pros, there should be zero missed assignments.” He looked me dead in the eye.
“You haven’t been on your game lately. You’ve been missing more assignments and getting taken to ground more and more because of it. You aren’t showing up for practice and all the coaches have noticed it. Why did you suddenly turn to shit for me, Mannix? Do you want to make it to the pros?”
“Of course, Coach.”
“Did you know I’ve been contacted by two agents about you in the last week? You didn’t even notice one of them at practice the other day. We were waiting for you to come by and introduce yourself, but you were distracted. Why do you think that is?”
My head was reeling. Coach had never talked to me like this before, even when we had that losing season my first year here, and then the heartbreaker in the conference championship the year after.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the agents?”
“Because it’s your job to stay on top of these things. You didn’t, and you missed your chance. Now you’ll have to go to the combine without an agent and pray half the quarterbacks there are injured, or you won’t have a chance in hell the way you’re playing.”
“I’m sorry coach, but what the fuck? There’s no problem, I—"
“No, Mannix, I know the problem with you. It’s that bitch that started coming to our practices. You’re distracted because of some goddamn pussy and you can’t get your head in the game.”
My hands were balled into fists. Coach knew football players had relationships. Coach was always understanding of us having a good time—that’s what made him a good coach all these years. He was able to understand his players. But why was he being such a major asshole about this? What made this any different?
“Coach, she’s just a friend.” Hearing the words from my own mouth made pierced my heart, but anything to get him off my back. Eva didn’t have to know.
“Really? That broad seems to be the root of all your problems. Some Hollywood bimbo whose career is just about to go down the toilet, and some college football player who’s too shit to even get an agent.” He laughed meanly. “A match made in heaven I’d say. It’s a shame, Mannix. Maybe if your head was in the game more instead of in between her legs, you’d be on your way to the NFL instead of janitorial school.”
The look on coach’s face was not one I recognized. He looked almost smug, as though he was daring me to punch him in the face or something. He was trying to provoke me for some reason, and I was happy to oblige.
“My head is in the game, coach. I threw for five touchdowns today and we still had ten minutes to go. Maybe you should get your head out of your ass and take a look at the field once in a while.”
It was almost worth talking that way to coach to watch his face turn beet red. He was a good eight inches shorter than me and his playing days were long behind him. But goddamn if he still wasn’t intimidating when he was pissed. He really wasn’t used to his players talking back to him like that.
At this point, I didn’t care. Not only was he being unreasonable, but he’d touched a nerve bringing up Eva. Who the fuck was this guy I thought I’d known for the last four years? Coach had been with me through thick and thin, and though he wasn’t exactly a father figure type of guy, he was always good at understanding his players. Was there something going on with him that no one knew about?
Whatever it was, there was no excuse for him to be such an asshole. It was all I could do not to knock him in the fucking dirt.
“Kid, you have a lot to fucking learn. Fuck that wedding, you’re staying behind, and you are running laps, suicides, and whatever the fuck else I feel like. Then you’ll clean up the goddamn locker room. You are not seeing that girl at all this afternoon, you understand me?”
“Coach, that’s not—”
“I don’t care, Mannix. You’ll stay or I’m pulling you from the team.” His eyes glinted with malice I’d never seen before. “And I’m taking your phone. You aren’t gonna contact this chick until you’re done with practice, understand? No distractions. Maybe that'll help get your head in the game and take out some of those unnecessary distractions that are holding you back.”
“Coach—”
“Best start running, Mannix. Before I make you stay longer.”
25
Eva
“You look great, dad,” I said, distracted. I’d just finished sending off what felt like the tenth text to Reid. He was supposed to have texted me when he got out so we could meet at the venue in an hour. I didn’t have Dom’s number so there was no way of finding out how long the practice was going on for, even though Reid was supposed to be out almost thirty minutes ago.
“Thanks, honey. Everything all right with you?”
Dad and I were in his room getting ready while Sheila set things up at the gardens where they were going to say their vows. She’d been strangely polite to me today, as though she knew I’d accepted she was going to join the family and there was nothing I could do about it.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m going to finish doing my makeup,” I lied. I needed to get out of here before Dad saw how upset I was. Reid wouldn’t stand me up again—he knew how much I trusted him now. He wanted us to be together just as much as me and he knew it.
So what the fuck was the deal? He could at least answer his damn texts. They had all been read, so I knew he was receiving them. It wasn’t like him to completely ignore me like this, even back when were together the first time.
Reid, what’s up? I need you to answer me. I’m about to drive over there myself and drag you to this damn thing. You know I can’t do it alone.
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I jumped as my phone buzzed with a response. And my jaw went to the floor.
This is his coach. Reid keeps coming to practice with a couple of girlfriends and decides to spend the whole time chatting with them instead of focusing on his practice. He won’t be able to make it because I just caught him hooking up with one of them under the bleachers. Stop texting him.
A picture of Reid in his uniform with his arms around a couple cheerleaders formed quickly in my mind as my fingers grew numb. Surely, I’d read that wrong. “Coming to practice with a couple of girlfriends… hooking up with one of them under the bleachers.”
My heart seemed to turn to ice.
Stop texting him.
It couldn’t be true. But why else would Reid’s coach keep him behind? And what reason would he have to lie about Reid bringing a couple of girls to watch him practice? It sounded like something the old Reid would do.
I stared at the floor for what seemed like an eternity. Reid was done with me and my worst fears were confirmed. I knew he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. I knew he couldn’t be faithful to me. He was just another football jock and even though he acted as though he loved me, I was just another girl in his life.
“Honey? You just about ready?”
My dad was knocking on my door. I was so shocked it didn’t even register that I had tears running down my face and I could barely talk.
“N-not yet,” I sob, trying and failing to keep my voice even.
“Honey?”
My dad pushed the door open, his face full of concern. Before I knew what was happening, I was sobbing into his shoulder and telling him everything. From the time Reid and I started seeing each other to today, to all my reservations. Through it all, dad just kept hugging me, telling me it would be okay.
“I know, I know,” he said, hugging me for what felt like the millionth time. “How about we hear his side of things? Maybe there was some kind of misunderstanding.”
I shook my head, the tears finally stopping.
“You don’t understand, dad. This is exactly what he does. This is what he did back in high school when he blew me off for some other girl and I left him then. This is his MO.” I shook my head. “And I was stupid enough to give him another chance.”
7 Years Earlier
Where the hell was he? I’d just gotten out of rehearsal and I knew the only plans he had involved picking me up for our first anniversary. So what was going on?
He’d never been late for this type of thing before even though football practice at the beginning of the school year always got out a bit earlier than my theater rehearsals. But high school football season was over—we’d won the championship and he’d be off to college next year and I still had no idea where I would be.
Maybe he was at the basketball courts watching the guys practice? We had the same coach for basketball and football so maybe he was talking to the coach about his college prospects—as good a player as he was, he’d gotten scholarships from a couple different colleges around the area despite his father trying everything he could to keep Reid from leaving his farm.
I waved to a couple friends who stayed late for chess club as I jogged over to the basketball courts, a little concerned. It wasn’t like him not to even let me know where he was going to be. Maybe he and his coach had finally picked a school and he was so excited he forgot to tell me?
As I approached the gym, I saw the team filtering out, covered in sweat and looking like they’d just ran a million miles. I waved to some of Reid’s friends I recognized and jogged over.
“Hey, is Reid in there? I haven’t seen him all day.”
They snickered and exchanged grins. “Oh, he’s in there all right.”
Heart thumping, I forced a nervous laugh and walked through the doors.
Everything after I stepped into the gym seemed like a dream.
“Reid? I—”
I dropped the books I was holding. Because in front of me stood Reid with his hands on a girl’s shoulders, lips locked and eyes wide open on the other side of the gym. I only caught a glimpse, but that was more than enough. I took a second to recover as I heard him shout something unintelligible and start to run towards me.
I didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t deserve the chance to explain himself. He was making out with another girl and got caught. Simple as that. I quickly gathered my books and raced out of the gym, into the parking lot, and I must have run all the way home because I didn’t even remember how I got there.
It’s a shitty thing, being cheated on. You never know when it’ll happen, but once that door is shut, it can never be reopened. I didn’t want to hear his excuses—the tears would come later. I was lucky that we had no classes and I didn’t have to see him at all if I didn’t want to. And that’s exactly what I did. I didn’t want excuses, apologies, or explanations.
All I wanted right now was to pretend Reid Mannix never existed.
26
Eva
Once again, I ignored the buzzing of my phone as Reid started to call, presumably having gotten his phone back. He’d be wondering what the hell his coach had told me and try to offer up some explanation. Just like all those years ago, I didn’t want anything from him ever again.
“You don’t have to come today if you aren’t up to it,” said Dad soothingly. “I’ll understand.”
I shook my head and hugged him again. “No, I’ll go. At least it’ll give me an excuse to drink a little bit,” I said with a shaky chuckle.
Before I could say or do anything else, there was a loud pounding at the front door.
“I’ll get it,” said Dad. “You take as much time as you need, we don’t need to leave for another hour or so.” He smiled at me. “No matter what happens with Reid, I’m proud of you honey. You’ll find someone who deserves your love.”
I smiled at him and fought to keep myself from crying again as I heard him shuffle down the stairs. As much as I hated the idea of Sheila being around, there was no way I could let my relationship problems affect whether I went to my dad’s wedding. I knew how important something like this was to him.
I couldn’t hear who was at the door and I didn’t care. It could have been my agent for all I knew. I picked up my phone and quickly deleted Reid’s messages. I sent a brief text telling my agent I’d be back in LA tomorrow and let myself collapse on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I wanted nothing more than this day to be over.
“Honey?” my dad was knocking on my door. “There’s someone who wants to see you. I think you ought to listen to what he has to say.”
It was him. I knew it. It wasn’t enough that he had to break my heart twice, but to show his face to me again? I almost had to admire the balls on him.
“Fine,” I said in a strained voice, my heart pounding.
“Eva,” breathed Reid, his face full of concern as he stepped into my room cautiously. My dad stood in the hallway as sort of a sentinel, his expression odd. As though he was having an internal struggle.
“You’d better have a good fucking reason for coming here,” I whispered. I knew if I tried to talk normally the tears would start to flow and the hurt would wash over me all over again.
“Listen to me, I know how this looks,” he began. “Just like last time, when you saw me and Sydney in the gym all those years ago.”
I said nothing, glaring daggers at him. The only reason I hadn’t slammed the door in his face was because my dad was standing there.
He took a deep breath.
“I never got the chance to tell you because we kind of stopped talking after what happened. Sydney had always been jealous of us. Especially when I became more popular as a football player. She stayed behind and cornered me that day, asking me to go to prom with her.
“I said no obviously, and she said she wanted to kiss a football player before her high school career ended. You know how she quit cheerleading in high school and stopped being the popular girl? Well, she wanted me.”
My mind was a whirlw
ind. Could I have been wrong this whole time?
“B-but what about your coach? He said—”
“I saw the text. I know what he said,” replied Reid, his face twisting in anger as his fists clenched. “He’ll be out of a job soon. You know how I told you about how he’s been riding my ass lately? And how your stepmom seemed to hate me the second she saw me? Well, there’s a good reason for that. She came to some of our practices at the beginning of the season this year. I wondered how the hell he knew what time the wedding was when I hadn’t even mentioned it to him.”
Reid glanced behind him at my father, who nodded stiffly, his face still showing the same, almost pained expression.
“Turns out, he’s been sleeping with her since the beginning of last season. He told me after I threatened to call campus police on him for stealing my phone and using it to text you.”
I looked at my father again.
“But, what about the wedding?” I said numbly. “Do you think his coach is telling the truth?”
Again, my dad gave a stiff nod as he looked at the floor.
“The wedding is off. As soon as Reid mentioned his coach was involved, everything clicked into place. I’d seen him in the salon chatting with her more times than I could count. I always assumed his wife was getting her hair done every time, but who gets their hair done four days a week? That and the late nights, constant texts… well, it’s become clear her heart isn’t in our relationship anymore.”
“I’m so sorry, dad.”
The only time I’d ever seen him look this upset was when Mom died. He tried to force a smile and moved to shut the door.
“I’ll leave you two to sort things out. I’ve got some calls to make quickly.”
He shut the door behind him quietly, leaving me and Reid alone.
