Even then she’d known not to complain. But her heart had always yearned for more family. And when she and Leo became an item in their high school days, she became a fixture at the Trevi table. She was sitting, in fact, in the very same seat that she’d had in the past—the one nearest the napkin holder shaped like a sailboat. Whenever there’d been a spill, she’d been the one to leap into action. There were frequent spills, because when the Trevi siblings argued they used their hands.
Stepping back into this room was like a window on everything she’d once given up. Meanwhile, she felt Leo sneaking worried looks at her from one seat away. And when she finally looked into his waiting eyes, all the warmth there made her heart do a pirouette of joy, followed by a sudden face-plant.
He was beautiful. She loved him. And he was probably going to live four thousand eight hundred miles away (thank you, Katt Phone) by the end of next week.
She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. But instead she sang Happy Birthday, including the mandatory verse about smelling like a monkey in a zoo. Vi had actually put fifty extra-thin candles on the cake, and Mrs. Trevi complained that it was going to set the house on fire. But her eyes shone when her kids sang to her, and Georgia could hardly bear to watch while she blew them out with a big smile on her face.
Leo ran out to the car for the gifts he’d brought. The jersey was a huge hit, except with DJ.
“Great. The family’s professional athlete brings Mom a jersey with our fricking name on it. You’re making the rest of us look like assholes.”
“Where’s mine?” Violet demanded.
“It’s not your birthday,” Leo reminded her.
“Just don’t get sent down to the minors before I turn twenty-one,” she grumbled.
“Your faith overwhelms me,” he returned.
And then all of a sudden it was time to get going. “I’ll check the traffic,” Mr. Trevi said, leaving the table to grab his iPad. “I think you’ll be okay on the LIE.”
People in other parts of the world talked about the weather. On Long Island, traffic was the subject of choice.
Georgia went to the front hall to find her coat, and DJ followed her. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she said quietly. Though apparently she hadn’t hidden her discomfort very well, damn it. “It’s been an overwhelming month.”
“I bet it has.” DJ wrapped her into a hug. “I’m always happy to see you. If my bonehead brother isn’t treating you right, there’s room in my harem.”
She pinched him.
“Ow.”
“Are you and Lianne coming to the game tonight?”
“Of course. You can expect a full critique of the music in the morning.”
“Awesome.” She gave him one more squeeze.
“Call me,” he said in a low voice that betrayed his concern.
“I will.”
She and Leo got into the car after another round of hugs and well-wishing. “We’ll be right behind you! And look for us in section three!”
“I don’t even know where that is,” Leo confessed, kissing his mother good-bye. “So yell loudly.”
They pulled out of Huntington and Georgia watched the familiar sights pass by. When they’d made it onto the expressway, Leo said, “Okay. Now tell me what’s got you so upset.”
Georgia fiddled with the zipper on her jacket. There were several good reasons preventing her from telling him what she’d overheard. Eavesdropping in the C-suite endangered her own job, and if he did something with that information, it would endanger his. But Georgia had come to realize that the phone call from Vancouver was only a wake-up call. If Leo did well for the Bruisers, there would only be more calls like that. He’d spent much of his twenty-four years trying to arrive at this moment, when his fledgling pro career was just about to launch.
A week ago, being with Leo had seemed as easy as falling into bed in their conjoined hotel rooms. Now it seemed impossibly complicated.
“Gigi,” he prompted. “I need to know what you’re thinking so hard about over there. What’s this bullshit about taking it slow?”
He sounded a little angry, and she didn’t blame him. Once upon a time things were always easy between them. They played tennis and Scrabble and gave each other orgasms. In the past few weeks she’d given him lots of tears and indecision instead.
“Things are going badly for me at work,” she said, and it was true. “Hugh is interviewing someone on Monday that looks a lot like a replacement for me.”
A mile or two went by before Leo spoke. “That sucks, baby. I’m sorry. But I don’t see what that has to do with you and me.”
Good question. “This job is really important to me. For two years it’s been my whole life.” That sounded a bit pathetic when said out loud, but again it was true. “I need to concentrate on keeping it.”
“I get that you’re afraid . . .”
“I’m never afraid,” she argued before she could think better of it. Maybe it sounded petulant, but she really did hate that word.
“Right.” Leo’s voice was frosty. “So you’re saying I’m a distraction, then.”
“True.”
He switched lanes and passed two tractor trailers. A few miles later he spared a glance in her direction. “Distractions are good things. They’re supposed to be, anyway.”
Of course they were. He wasn’t going to buy the bullshit she was selling. But there was no way out of this hole that she’d dug for herself. She couldn’t tell him about the trade. And she couldn’t pretend that it wasn’t going to happen. After the game tonight, Leo would want to see her. He’d want to peel off her clothes and make love and make plans for the future. She’d have to nod and smile and pretend that it wasn’t all for nothing.
Georgia wasn’t that good of an actress. And faking things with him was the very last thing she wanted to do.
More miles slid by. The lights of Brooklyn were in view when Leo spoke again. “The thing is, Georgia, I love you. A lot. I don’t know what the hell is bothering you, or why you won’t level with me. But if you ask me to leave you alone for a while, I’ll have to abide by that. Under one condition.”
“What?” It came out as a scrape.
“You’re honest about why. The way I see it, there’s only two reasons you’re pushing me away. Either you’re scared . . .”
“I’m not scared,” she argued reflexively.
Leo surprised her by pulling over into a parking lot. They were a few minutes from home. He put the car in park and turned to face her. Reluctantly she met his big brown eyes. “I loved you when I was sixteen, and I told you when I was seventeen. When I was eighteen, you cut me loose. But I never stopped. If you’re not scared, then maybe you don’t feel the same way. Tell me right now. I can take it.”