I stepped closer. “I’ll make sure you have one for next time.”
A smile pulled at her lips. “I have no doubt you will.”
The corner of my mouth lifted. “Damn right I will. If you’re going to wear anyone’s jersey, it’s going to be mine.”
She rolled her eyes. “Slow down there, quarterback. You’re getting a little too far ahead here.”
“What can I say? I like to plan ahead.” I loomed over her, keeping my voice low. “Now, why don’t we cut to the chase and tell me why you’ve been avoiding me?”
She swallowed hard and looked anywhere but at me. “I haven’t been avoiding you. I answered your text this morning.”
I wanted to roll my eyes. She had barely sent more than three-to-four-word texts.
“You’ve been short and cordial.”
She took a small step back. “I wanted you to focus on your game. I figured we would talk after.”
Without thinking, I reached out and caught her wrist. “What did your boss say?”
Her eyes widened immediately. “Nate, what are you doing?”
“Trying to stop you from avoiding answering the question.”
She looked down to where my hand rested against her skin. “Can we not do this here?”
I was doing my best to stick to the boundaries we had set, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I would be able to.
I brought my other hand up to the side of her face. “Fine. Let’s go to my place and finish this conversation.”
Becca scanned our surroundings with a look of panic in her eyes. “Nate, please. Not now. I don’t want to draw any attention to us.”
A few players and staff were lingering nearby, but no one was paying attention to us. “We’re not doing anything wrong. For all they know, you’re interviewing me.”
“We are pushing it.” Her eyes were pleading and reminding me that we were still in public. I didn’t want to cause her any more stress, so I stepped back, giving her the space she’d been trying to put in front of us since this conversation started.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. You’ve been dodging me, and I just want to talk to you to see where we’re at.”
Her expression softened. “It’s late. You’re probably tired. Let’s talk tomorrow.”
I wish I knew why she was so hell-bent on avoiding this conversation.
“I don’t care how late it is or how tired I am. If you don’t show up, I’m coming to you.”
She blinked, like she was trying to figure out if I was bluffing. “You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
We were talking tonight, whether she wanted to or not.
Her lips parted, but I turned around before she could say anything. The tunnel swallowed me up as I headed toward the locker room to grab my things.
I meant what I said. We were figuring this out. One way or another.
CHAPTER 19
BECCA
I putthe car into park, looked up at the house for a whole five minutes, pretending I wasn’t avoiding this. My hands gripped the steering wheel while I stared at the stupid porch light that he had intentionally left on, knowing I would show up.
