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“No.” His voice is stern. “It’s not okay. I was an asshole to you these last two weeks, and I’m very sorry.”
My lips part but I barely know what to say. This feels like a dream. “I’m sorry too.”
We both stand in silence for a few moments, absorbing this new reality and what it means for us. We’re so close that my face has to angle up to see him, and with every inhale, our chests nearly touch. Neither of us moves away—and when I feel that familiar glimmer between us pull taut, I’m struck with the realization that I never want to be separated from Derek again. I want him to touch me. To put his hands on my hips and tug me to him until there’s zero separation between us. My body is craving a pressure that only he can satisfy.
But now our careers are tangled up together and a relationship could get messy very quickly. Not only that, but I’ve seen the way athletes go through relationships like water. The wayDerekhas gone through relationships. I might still have feelings for him, but I’m not sure I have trust. And I definitely don’t have it in me to just hook up with him and go about life business as usual tomorrow.
So it looks like our only option right now is…
“Can we be friends?” My voice is embarrassingly full of hope.
I see the exact moment Derek’s eyes shutter closed, and I know my hope was misplaced. He takes a large step away from me and rubs the back of his neck. “No. I’m sorry, but…I can’t be friends with you again, Nora.”
Because he doesn’t want to be? Because there’s too much history between us? I can’t bring myself to ask—and furthermore, I get the feeling he’s putting up a boundary by not immediately explaining why.
“Right. And that’s okay. Perfectly good actually.” I shift awkwardly on my feet. “It’s understandable and noble and…other adjectives that I can’t think of at the moment.”
Derek stares at me as he sighs. I would give anything to get inside his head. “But…” he begins, jaw flexing against the word. “I will pick you up before our flight Friday morning.”
I blink, wide-eyed at him. “You’re going to go to Vegas with me?”
He presses his lips together and instinctively I know this choice is costing him. “Yeah. I won’t get in the way of your career anymore, rookie. And I do need help with mine since it seems you’re not going to let me tap out early.” He smiles tentatively. “I’ll sign the deal and go with you to Vegas.”
Bam, bam, bam.
I pound my fist on Nathan’s door. I know all the guys are in there because Nathan posted a story an hour ago with a photo of a stack of board games and tagged the guys.
The door opens and there’s Nathan in his gym shorts and T-shirt looking immediately guilty. “Derek, we weren’t expecting—”
I cut him off when I push my way in past him. “What the hell were y’all thinking messing with my life like that today?”
“Whoa!” he says, throwing his hands up as I storm by. “I guess Nora told you about your plans for the weekend?”
“Yeah, she told me. And she relayed your blackmail information too. That was way too far.” I freeze in the living room at the sight of Jamal, Price, and Lawrence all sitting on the floor around a game. “Monopoly?” I say, in outrage.
Lawrence blinks at me. “Derek…it’s not what it looks like.”
“Oh, really? Because it looks like you pricks have the audacity to play my favorite board game without me while simultaneously plotting with my ex-girlfriend-slash-agent behind my back.”
Price grimaces. “Okay, it’s a little bit how it looks, then. You want to be dealt in? It’s not too late.”
“No. I do not want to bedealt in.I want to know what made you guys think it was okay to side with Nora?”
Nathan sets down his glass of wine. “Simple. You were being an ass and toying with her for weeks. Honestly you deserve more than a little blackmail that forced you to do the work you should have been doing the whole time.”
“I didn’t toy with her.”I pissed her off on purpose.
“You sure as hell didn’t value her or treat her with respect,” says Lawrence, standing up from the floor and using his height to make me pay attention. “You’ve been a huge jerk. And not only to her—but to us too, by not returning our calls or coming around anytime we invite you. It’s hurtful.”
“I didn’t mean to…”To what?Because Ididmean to shut them out. Ididmean to hide away. But I didn’t mean to hurt them in the process. Part of me didn’t think they’d notice or care that much. Is it wrong to say I’m happy to hear they do?
Price scrolls on his phone. “I’m going to order some dinner. What do you guys want tonight?” He looks back at me. “Derek, I assume you’re too full to eat since you’ve got that massive stick up your ass?”
The tension that’s been building in my body all night snaps. I take his phone out of his hand and walk it with me to the coffee table, where I drop it into a full glass of water. It makes a dramaticplopsound. I regret it instantly.
“Pender…” Price drawls ominously as he strides over and removes his phone from the glass. He dries it with his shirt. “You’re lucky this is waterproof, because if Hope tried to call me to tell me she was in labor and I missed it due to you acting like a petulant child, your life would have ended.Apologize.”
Damn, what is happening to me?
