I knew I shouldn’t have been talking about this here, but I needed to unload on somebody. Besides, Ember was my best friend. I would bury a body for her if she asked me to. The problem was that I was more worried about the advice she would give me.
She poked me in the arm. “Of course, you can trust me.”
I took a sip of my seltzer, hoping it would help the erratic beating of my heart. “I crossed a line.”
She pulled her glasses off her head, giving me her full attention. “How bad?”
“He called me while he was on the road,” I said, staring out at the field. The stadium was getting loud, drowning out my common sense. There was no other reason why I would tell her this.
“Okay, and?”
Heat crawled up the back of my neck. “I was on a date with Rowen.”
She picked up her drink and brought it to her lips. “Did he know you were on a date when he called?”
I licked my lips, trying to find a way to explain this to her. “Not at first, but once he found out, he kept calling and texting me.”
Her mouth dropped open. She made a sound that was half-gasp and half-laugh. “Tell me more.”
I hesitated for a minute. For someone who asked difficult questions for a living, it shouldn’t be this hard to talk about this. “Long story short, he asked me to go on a date with him when he got back.”
“He asked you on a date while you were on an actual date?”
I laughed, because saying it out loud sounded absurd. “Yep.”
“That’s pretty hot, but also a little manipulative.” She tilted her head to the side, assessing me. “What did you tell him?”
I pressed my eyes closed. “I tried to blow him off, but he wasn’t having it.” I still didn’t know what possessed me to pick up his call when I was supposed to be focusing on someone else.
“You know he did that on purpose, right? He wanted you distracted. Mission accomplished. He was marking his territory.”
I sputtered out a laugh. “He wasn’t happy.”
“You made that man jealous. Good for you.” Her smile was smug.
“No. Not good for me because he FaceTimed me when I got home, and things escalated.”
Ember clutched a hand to her chest. “Escalated how?”
“Well. I was in the middle of a hot bath, and like a stupid idiot, I answered.” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “And don’t you dare start.”
Ember’s jaw dropped. “Oh, I’m definitely starting. You—little miss rule follower—picked up a FaceTime call from a hot quarterback while you were naked?”
“I was covered with bubbles.” I crossed my arms as if that would somehow make my explanation more believable.
“Oh, well, I guess that makes it perfectly innocent then.”
I groaned. “You are the least supportive friend I have ever had.”
“Correction, I’m the most honest friend you have ever had.” She laughed, taking some sick enjoyment out of all this. “So, now what are you going to do?”
Whistles blew, and the fans started chanting, but Ember’s gaze stayed locked on mine. “Finish the interview.”
“And when the interview is over?”
I paused, thinking over my options. “I know what I want, but I’m not sure how it will work.”
“Have you talked to him about this?”
