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“Bailey,” I breathe, a long exhale escaping my lungs. “About the other night…”
Bailey shifts on the bench, his head shaking rapidly on his broad shoulders.
“No, man. You’re not apologizing.”
My eyebrows raise with surprise. “I’m not?”
“No. You’re not.” He gives me a lopsided grin, half a smile twisting his expression. I run my palms down my legs as he studies me with an odd look in his eyes. “You’re crazy about her, aren’t you?”
I blink slowly. “Yeah. I am.”
Bailey stays silent as he looks across the room with a burning blaze behind his stare. It’s the first time I see a look in his eyes that I didn’t think existed. It’s a protectiveness, a layer of care that’s been hiding somewhere deep inside of him.
Probably beneath a thick layer of booze and cocaine, but hiding, nonetheless.
“She’s the best damn thing that’s ever happened to me, man,” I say when the silence gets too much. “I couldn’t just stand there when you said those things to her. That wasn’t cool.”
Bailey’s head drops. “I know. That’s why I’m the one who should be saying sorry.”
I grunt, the string of the jewelry bag scrunching in my palm. “Not to me, you shouldn’t.”
He nods, accepting my words as he glances at the bag swaying between my legs. “What’s that you’ve got there, bro? A gift to remember you by?”
A stabbing pain hits my gut.She’s not leaving. She can’t.
I humph and give a firm nod of my head. “Something like that.”
Bailey stands, kicks his bag to the side and circles around the table in the middle of the room to stand before me. He stretches a large hand out and looks me directly in the eye.
“Go get her man,” he says, a twinkle almost identical to the one that his sister has in her eyes sparkling brightly in the light. “She’ll be lucky to have you. And goddammit, if anyone deserves happiness… It’s you two.”
My chest bursts beneath the thudding against my ribcage.
I shake his hand. “I have to get back home.”
Bailey glances at the wall at the front of the room. Coaches scribble is plastered all over the whiteboard, but above the red and blue Sharpie that’s dotting out an assortment of different plays, the clock ticks faster and faster with every passing moment.
“You might want to hurry man,” Bailey suggests. “If she’s planning on leaving, she’ll be taking off to the airport any minute now.”
My cheeks burn as I snatch my bag and throw it over my shoulder. I shove Bailey out of the way, a part of me wanting to ask how the hell he knows… He’s seen her once since she arrived.
But that doesn’t matter right now.
I burst through the corridors, my rushing blood spurring me to move my legs faster. I almost fall over, my balance as scattered as my head. I’m carrying my body faster than when I’m on the ice, and that’s fucking saying something.
I break through the exit and dash across the parking lot, the sudden freeze in the air biting at my cheeks.
Bailey’s shiny SUV is there. I think about the last time I was in that vehicle. I met her there. I fell for her in that moment and maybe I should be thanking Bailey. Despite his treatment of her, if he wasn’t such a party animal, if he actually laid claim to his responsibilities…
Shit… If he picked her up like he was supposed to, I would still be searching for my soul mate.
I click my keys.
The shitty silver sedan opposite Bailey’s luxury vehicle unlocks and I sink in behind the wheel of my car. The engine is loud and obnoxious as I speed towards my apartment block. I get there in record time - speeding tickets come at me. I don’t care.
I leave my bag in the car and take the stairs two at a time. It’s quicker than the elevator and within what feels like seconds, I’m swiping my key in the door, my chest aching for oxygen when it swings open to an empty looking apartment.
“Vanessa? Princess?”
