Page 12 of Full Strength

“That’s always been at your house or mine.”

“So, we’ll finally eat at a restaurant rather than getting everything to go.”

I dropped my eyes to the floor. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

He laughed. “You’re not ready to dine in?”

“Grant, I’m not sure I’m ready to go public.”

I may have been making assumptions, but a date meant something. Right? I heard him sigh and wished I hadn’t answered the phone. We’d only been on speaking terms for a day and I’d already ruined things.

“Addi, what’s wrong?”

I peeked around the corner but everyone was still at their stations.

“I don’t want to give people the wrong idea.”

“What people?”

It wasn’t the team. They wouldn't care, and the Pride would probably cheer us on. It was the dark side I’d heard about from Emma and the other women.

“I don’t want the media to get involved.”

He sighed. “Addi, I promise I’ll make sure they don’t find out where we are or take pictures. I’ll take you somewhere private.”

“You can’t control everything, Grant.”

“I’m not that big of a deal. I don’t get followed like Hartman or Erik. I’m not a big enough name.”

I shook my head. He was either oblivious or humble. I’d seen pictures of him walking down the street, eating, and even shopping. It wasn’t just paparazzi I was worried about, it was his fans.

“You have fans, Grant. Hundreds of thousands of them. They’ll take pictures of you and post them on the internet. I...I don’t want to risk that.” I think I stumped him. There was silence for an uncomfortably long time before I caved. “I don’t want attention on me. I don’t want Eli to get involved.” I sighed. “I’m not ready for that.”

I expected him to argue or come up with a solution, but he didn’t. “Okay. I understand. I’ll see you later.”

We hung up and I felt more disappointed than I’d expected. I didn’t want to go out in public yet, but I was hoping we could still get together. He didn’t even try though, he just let it go. I was being ridiculous, and immature. I could have stopped him and suggested we get together at his house. I could have pushed.

So why hadn’t I?

I was still afraid.

I’d been hurt a lot recently by the people I cared about most. My friends, mostly the new ones I’d made, hadn’t let me down. Maybe I wanted to stay friends with Grant because there was less to lose. There was less risk.

All of that could be true, but I still had to protect myself and Eli. I hadn’t seen or heard from my ex, Ryan, since I found out I was pregnant. I wanted to keep it that way. I had a feeling though that if he found out I was involved with Grant, he, and his family, would come out of the woodwork.

“Addison, we need you out here.” Sarah’s head peeked around the corner.

I set down my phone and followed her out. I was hoping it wasn’t an upset customer, I wasn’t in the right mindset to deal with that. I scanned the salon but didn’t see anyone about to rage.

“What is it?”

She pointed across the room to where a man was getting his haircut by one of our male stylists, Peter.

“Is he mad?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. Peter just asked for me to grab you.”

I nodded and walked over to them. “Hi guys, how’s it going over here?”