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Levi,
I’m truly sorry to do it like this, but I think I need some space. Please don’t come around anymore. I don’t want to hurt you, but I never should have let things go this far.
I’m so sorry. Please, if you can, try to forgive me.
Cadence
No real explanation at all. Just a fucking Dear John letter. She couldn’t even bother to call me, let alone tell me to my face. I had to remind myself again that she didn’t owe me anything, not even the courtesy of telling me to my face that she wanted to break off the bit of friendship that we had.
It still hurt like a motherfucker, though.
For a moment, I thought about calling her. But if she’d wanted to talk to me, she could have called. I thought about driving over to Jonny’s house and trying to catch her there before Jonny and Sara got home with the kids. But, again, she could have come to the Moda Center tonight if she’d wanted to see me. Instead, she’d chosen to send a terse note with Sara and have that be the end of it.
So that was it. Right? It was over. Done. Whatever I’d thought was brewing between us was no more, and I was back to only being me, the guy who always fucked everything up.
I started my car and headed out of the parking garage, unsure where I was headed. In no time, I pulled up in the lot in front of Koz’s place.
Strippers. He’d said there would be strippers. And there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he’d have plenty of beer.
Time to get shitfaced.
CONNOR TACKLED MEwhen they came through the door after the game, attempting to tickle my ribs. He didn’t have good tickle technique, though, so all he did was dig in with his fingers. At least his nails were trimmed. I laughed anyway and flopped back on the sofa to give him better access as Sara headed straight upstairs with a zonked out Cassidy to put her down for the night.
Cam crossed through the living room, tossed his bag in the laundry room, and came back to rescue me from his son, lifting the little boy up over his head. “Bedtime,” he said. “You were supposed to fall asleep in the car.”
Connor giggled in response.
Cam raised a brow. “Why are you still so wired?”
“Mommy bought me candy.”
My brother rolled his eyes at me and groaned, slowly lowering Connor to the floor. As soon as his feet hit the floor, Connor started running in circles around the coffee table.
“Good game,” I said once I caught my breath.
“At least we came away with two points. It wasn’t a sure thing,” Cam replied. “I told Nicky I’d come up to the hospital with him to wait. Jessica’s in labor. Want to come?”
“I do,” Connor said. He stopped running, grabbed my hand, and tugged to pull me up from my prone position. “Let’s go, CayCay.”
“Not you. You’re going to bed,” his father said, then turned back to me. “Come with me. Keep me company. We need to talk.”
There wasn’t a question in what he’d said this time around, even though he’d originally worded it as an invitation. It came out more like an order. Cam never tried to boss me around. That meant it was serious, whatever it was. Had Sara told him? Or had Levi said something after reading the note I’d sent with Sara?
My pulse slowed to a crawl.
Hanging out in a hospital waiting room wasn’t exactly how I’d envisioned the rest of my night, but I didn’t see that I had much choice. “All right,” I said, hoping my wariness didn’t come out in my voice. “Let me go grab a sweater.”
Cam grunted and carried Connor upstairs to turn him over to Sara. I followed them and slipped into my room, closing the door and leaning against it. I needed a moment to settle my nerves. It wasn’t any use, though. The more I tried to calm down, the more heightened my anxiety grew. After a moment, I took a sweater out of the closet and headed back out, only to bump into Sara.
She grabbed hold of my biceps to steady me and looked me over a few times, a slight scowl marring her otherwise movie-star perfect features. “You’re pale.”
“Did you say something to him?” I hissed. “You promised.”
She shook her head. “Not yet, but I was seriously thinking about it.”
“Levi, then?”
“Doubt it. He took off after I gave him your note. A bunch of the guys are going to Koz’s place tonight. I’m sure that’s where he is.”
