“I know. And I’m sorry I did that. You were right. I should have known. I should have listened the first time you told me.”
“I need to communicate better without getting all worked up.”
“I truly believe that it would be a good move for you, and not just for the money or the term, but because of the fit with the team. I think it would be an opportunity for you to shine.” I shake my head. “But I shouldn’t be pushing you to do something you don’t want to do. You know yourself. I won’t talk to the Bears anymore. We’ll find something else.”
He sits silently for long moments, chewing on his bottom lip. Finally, he says, “Okay. I appreciate that.”
If there’s a twinge of disappointment deep inside me, I push it away. I guess a small part of me was hoping he’d try to get past this. But it’s okay. I’m a good agent and I’ll figure this out.
“We both got emotional last night,” he says. “I’ll try to do better.”
“Me too.”
* * *
HUNTER
* * *
We go to a sports bar to watch a playoff game. Kate’s friend Soledad and a few other friends of theirs join us. I bring Hakim and Disco Dan with me. It’s a festive atmosphere in the bar, with all the TVs playing the game, lots of cheering, groaning and yelling.
“That was fucking hooking!”
“Oh, come on, offside, man!”
“Get off your knees, ref! You’re blowing the game!”
That one gets a roar of laughter from everyone in the bar.
“I have to remember that one,” I say to Kate.
“Sure. That’ll get you a misconduct.” She shoots me an amused glance and we both laugh.
I haven’t experienced a game in this kind of atmosphere and it’s fun. Also fun because I’m with Kate.
During an intermission, I say, “Hey, I talked to Vern today.”
“Oh! Did you? How is he?”
“He’s doing okay. I told him you had things under control.”
She grins. “Yikes.”
“His wife wants him to retire. He wants to keep working.”
“He’s not that old.”
“Yeah. Anyway, we talked for a while. It was good to hear his voice.”
“I’m glad you talked to him.”
“I guess I didn’t even realize how worried about him I was. He sounded more like his old self, complaining about his low-fat diet and not being allowed to drink Dr. Pepper. I’m so glad he’s going to be okay.”
I watch Kate talk and laugh with her friends. I chat with Soledad, happy to meet her after all I’ve heard about her from Kate. I watch Dan and Soledad flirt.
Kate and I have been hanging out, even working out together once at her gym and once at mine. We’ve gone for walks and she introduced me to a bunch of dogs—Rosie, Milo, and Lucky—at Washington Square Park, which was unexpected but cute. Not many people introduce you to their dog friends. We’ve talked about all kinds of shit and had a lot of laughs. I still struggle not to touch her and yeah, sometimes I fantasize a little at night when I’m alone, but that’s harmless. Right? When I slip up and make some kind of dirty innuendo, she just rolls her eyes. Although sometimes she blushes.
Life feels good.
We take an Uber back to her place.
“That was fun tonight,” I say, sitting in the back seat of the car.
“Mmm. It was.”
“It reminded me of college.”
“Yeah. Except you never partied with us in college.”
I snort. “Yes, I did.”
She smiles. “Not at first. You weren’t very friendly.”
I think about that. I remember how hard it was starting college. “I wasn’t unfriendly. It was just…hard.”
“Was it?” She shifts to face me better.
“Hell yeah. I was nineteen, a year older than the other freshmen. I’d already lived away from my parents for years, but that was a whole new environment. And after what I’d been through, everyone seemed young and foolish. I wasn’t into partying. I was there to prove to myself I could still play hockey.”
Her lips push out in a tiny pout. “I didn’t understand that at the time.”
“I know.” I nudge her shoulder with mine.
“For the record, I did realize you weren’t an asshole fairly quickly.” She pauses. “I may have had a little crush on you.”
I don’t move. I gaze into her gorgeous blue eyes, shadowy in the darkness. I clear my throat. “You did?”
One corner of her mouth lifts. “Yeah. I almost asked you out once.” Her eyelashes lower. “But you were going out with Tandy.”
My heart squeezes. “Ah. Fuck.”
Her eyelashes lift again. “Why?”
“Because…I liked you, too.”
Her eyebrows pull together. “Then why did you go out with Tandy?”
“I thought you were with Bryson.”
Her lips part. “We were just friends!”
“Yeah, I found that out later.”
“Oh my God.” She stares at me.
“Then…that day we went to Bingo’s, after I found you in the gym…”
“Blubbering.”
I roll my eyes. “You were overwhelmed. I hated seeing you cry. You were always so strong. It killed me.”
She blinks.
“I was going to ask you out…but I found you in the kitchen kissing that architecture fuckface.”
She chokes and lowers her forehead to her hands, her shoulders shaking. “Henry.”
“Yeah.”
Then she lifts her head, sobering. “You know…I sort of hoped you were asking me to that party because you liked me…but I thought we were just friends, and…”
“I know.”
“And then you started dating Colette.”
“Yeah.”
“Another puck bunny you didn’t really care about.”
“Yep.”
Her eyes widen and her lips part. “Hunter…”
My smile goes crooked as she puts things together. “Yeah.”
She swallows. “You broke up with her because of me. Because she didn’t want you to be friends with me.”
I nod sadly. “You were right. She didn’t like you. But it was because she was jealous. She thought I had feelings for you.”
Her breath catches.
The words are on my lips. I shouldn’t say them. But hell. We’re confessing all kinds of shit. I hold Kate’s gaze and brush my fingertips over her cheek. “She wasn’t wrong.”
She stares at me, her eyes growing shiny. The silence between us stretches out. “Oh, Hunter. Really?”
“Really.”
“Oh my God. How could we have been so stupid?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. It happened. And then…”
“Cancun,” she finishes for me.
“Yeah.”
“But…you left. You didn’t even tell me you were going, or say good-bye, or…” She stops. Her chin quivers.
“I know. I didn’t have a lot of time, though. The only flight that day left early and I had to get to New Jersey.”