Our flight does have WIFI. I turned my phone off so I could sleep.
The chat bubble comes up, and then disappears. I stare at my phone for a couple of minutes and then text her back as we pull into the stadium parking lot.
I’ll call you when I get to the hotel and we can talk.
I ignore the rest of the texts, even though I’m curious what Maggie wants. The only thing I have to say to her is that she needs to get her friends under control because this kind of shit is unacceptable. Kelsey doesn’t deserve to see fake fucking images of me and other women.
As soon as we get off the bus, I hear Noah mumble a long line of expletives.
“Dude, do you need some soap for that dirty mouth of yours?”
“No,” he huffs. “Fucking douche.”
I follow his gaze and my mouth drops open. Peyton is being hugged by another guy and it’s not a friendly hug, it’s one of those where you can tell the huggers like each other.
“Who’s that?”
“Kyle Zimmerman.”
“QB?”
Noah nods.
“What’s your beef with him?”
“He’s the reason Peyton was in the car accident.”
“Wait, what?”
“Yep, he was driving the car. He walked away with a broken leg and my wife . . . well, you know the extent of her injuries.”
Noah’s close friends know how they’ve struggled with infertility, which the doctors have said is because of the damage she sustained. He doesn’t talk about it much, but I know he wants to have kids. A whole team of them if he had his choice.
“I thought he was in Chicago?”
“Traded to Carolina two weeks ago.”
“Oh, shit.”
“For the first time in my life, I wish I was an outside linebacker because it would be my mission to take him out.”
Noah has an entire team of defensive men who would do anything for him. All he would have to do is ask. “You know—”
“No,” he says sharply, cutting me off. “I’m not that type of player, and I’d never jeopardize someone else’s career because of a vendetta I have against another player. That’s not who I am. Besides, Peyton would never ever forgive me. They’re friends and I have to accept it.”
“That’s tough.” I watch as Peyton and Kyle continue their conversation, and it’s clear there’s an affection which is more than friends for one of them. “He likes her.”
“I know. Thankfully, she loves me otherwise I’d have to go all alpha and piss on her leg or something.”
“Gross. Lick her face, it’ll stink less.”
Noah cracks up. His laugh is loud enough that Peyton turns around and leaves Zimmerman there. It’s totally shady that he just happened to be here when our bus pulled in.
Peyton comes to us. I don’t care that she’s my best friend’s wife, she scares the crap out of me. Her calm demeanor is a front for the evil that lives in her pint-sized body.
“Hey,” Noah says as nonchalantly as possible. I don’t know if I could be him right now. I’d have to know what the fuck that dude was doing here during our practice time.
“You can ask,” Peyton tells him. He shakes his head, leans down and kisses her.
“I love you, P.”
I know I should be used to seeing them like this, but I feel like I’m in the middle of something I shouldn’t be. I grab my bag and head toward the facility. Inside, Coach is yammering about something and tells us we have five minutes to get our asses onto the field. This, coupled with the anxiety I feel over the images isn’t going to make for a very good walk through.
I’m fucking exhausted when we finally get to the hotel. Once I’m in my room, I flop onto the bed and sigh dramatically enough that Riley asks if I’m okay.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I gotta go downstairs and make a phone call though.”
“Want me to leave?”
While that would be ideal, it was my choice to room with the kid and it would be unfair of me to ask him to leave because my life took a sudden turn.
“Nah, man. I appreciate it though.” I pull my phone out of my bag and see that the notifications haven’t stopped. “Jesus,” I mutter on my way out the door. Instead of taking the elevator, I use the stairs, and head right outside. Thankfully, it’s warm out, which is definitely a benefit of being on the southern side of the East Coast.
I put my earbuds in and then press Kelsey’s name on my screen. It rings three times until she picks up. “Hello.”
“Hey, Kels. It’s me.”
“So says the caller ID.”
I shake my head and inhale. “None of that sassiness, okay? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
She breathes in. “I know. I’m sorry. The articles are worse now than this morning,” she says. “I don’t know why I keep looking, but I do. Some keep repeating the same story and using the same image of Maggie with an engagement ring on.”
“It’s not from me,” I tell her. “I never proposed to her. You know this. I thought about it, but things changed, and looking back now, it would’ve been a mistake. I wasn’t happy with her. Not like I am with you.”
“We barely know each other,” she says quietly.
“That’s not how I feel, Kels. I know you spend your day reading romance, and all those happily ever afters might leave you jaded, but I have some big feelings for you. Sometimes, the media can be assholes, but most of the time they’re cool. I honestly think this is all spearheaded by Estelle. She has a lot of connections, and she clearly had an agenda last night.”
“I didn’t do anything to deserve this.”
“None of us did. But it happens. You have to ignore it and not let anyone see that it bothers you. If they know they get to you, they’ll be relentless.”
“I’m not Maggie. Being in front of the camera isn’t my job.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I’m not asking you to be Maggie. I want you to be you, Kelsey. I’m not trying to replace my ex nor am I asking you to be someone you’re not.”
“I know. This is just unexpected. I wasn’t prepared.”
“Neither was I. It’ll get better.”
“Promise?” she asks quietly.
How can I promise her something that I can’t control the outcome of? “I promise,” I tell her. “Because we’ll be together.”
We hang up and I finally read the other messages. My mom is curious about Kelsey, so I fill her in and tell her how much I like Kelsey and enjoy spending time with her. My sister, on the other hand, is concerned about Maggie. That is, until I tell her about Kelsey and how she’s my girlfriend, and that I need her to be on my side with this.
When I get to Maggie’s message, I read each one and don’t feel the need to answer them until I get to the last.
Maggie Gardner
Well since you haven’t called, I’ll just tell you here. I’m coming back. I’ve accepted a job as director of philanthropy at the hospital. Looks like we’ll be spending time together again. Can’t wait to see you. I miss you, Alex. I miss us. Xoxo