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“Good. And maybe I can give you come recipe ideas. I love cooking. I find it relaxing. I also love cooking and listening to music, but I try to make sure the music isn’t too loud,” he said with a wink.
Reese covered her face with her hands. “I can’t believe I marched over here and yelled at you for that. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Look, a friendship blossomed out of it.”
“I suppose.”
“And then John made sure a fake relationship blossomed.” He paused for a moment. “We’ll probably need to navigate this whole relationship thing over the next few days. John said that his PR team and your assistant would be part of it. Sounds very romantic.”
Reese giggled. “So romantic!”
“I’m sure we can figure out part of it on our own as well. We are adults, after all.”
“I think so. We’re both responsible adults too. And just so you know, I really owe you one for this. You’ve done so much for me.”
Grady smiled, that boyish grin that made him so adorable. “I know you probably don’t believe this, but you’ve done a lot for me too. The workout video was great for both of us. I’m well aware of my reputation, and I know I need to give the impression that I’ve toughened up. And at the end of the day, everyone thinks you’re pretty cool, a woman who can easily stand up to the pressure and perform. Maybe some of that will rub off on me.”
“There’s a lot to be said for standing up to the pressure, and I’ve worked on my mental game for a long time, but…it’s easy when you don’t let the emotional side in. And that may have been the best and worst thing I’ve ever done. Other than Cam, I don’t let people get close. And when they do get close, most of the time I freak out and retreat. Cam never let me do that with him, so I’m asking you for something really important.” He nodded, keenly aware that she had something difficult to say. “I don’t want you to let me do that either. I don’t want to lose this friendship we have, because I know you’re an amazing person.”
His blue eyes were trained on her, but she had no idea what was going on in his head. Had she said too much? Asked too much?
“You’re amazing too.” He held his hand out to her. “Let’s shake on our new arrangement and to a wonderful lifelong friendship.”
“I say we drink to it too!”
They finished their meals and retreated to the sofa with two full glasses of wine. Reese was determined that they finish the bottle, but she still wanted to keep her wits about her. As they sat there, a random thought occurred to her, and before she could keep it from exiting her mouth, the wine did the talking.
“So, your mom mentioned that you had a crappy ex too.”
Grady let out a deep breath. “Yeah, her name was Michelle. I met her at a bar. That was my first mistake. She was with some friends, and I was with some of the guys. We got to talking and she seemed sweet. I got her number and called her a few days later. It was okay for the first few months, but she was the jealous type. I couldn’t talk to a woman without her freaking out. Turns out Michelle was very insecure. Then she started calling me ten or fifteen times a day. And then the texting started. Sometimes I’d check after practice, and I had thirty texts from her! It got distracting for my game. When I tried to break up with her the first time, she got so emotional and wouldn’t stop crying. And being thesoftiethat I am, I tried to make it work. I finally broke it off with her a month before I was traded. She kept calling me, trying to get back together…so I changed my number.”
“You didn’t!”
“I know it’s awful, but I needed her to leave me alone, and talking it out with her wasn’t working. I’d never done something like that before, but this was an exception.”
“You had an ex who wouldn’t leave you alone, and I had one who barely wanted anything to do with me.”
He sipped his wine and furrowed his brows. “I don’t get that guy. I love spending time with you. You’re a lot of fun. He was the one with the problem.”
Reese thought about that as she stared into her wine. “Honestly, I don’t get that a lot. People initially want to be around me because of who I am, but then most fade away. I assumed it meant that something was wrong with me.”
He patted her hand gently, and for a second, she was sure he was going to grasp on to it, but he seemed to think better of it. “There is nothing wrong with you. Your ex was an idiot.”
She glanced over at him and that’s when she saw it. The look. She closed her eyes to mentally clear her head.
“He was a lot of things,” she said way too cheerfully.
“Don’t let him get in your head. He’s not worth it. Remember that you’re special.”
Her breath hitched. She knew if she looked at him again, her thoughts would lead to a place she didn’t want to go, so instead she downed the rest of her wine in one gulp. “I should head out,” she said, getting up and heading for the kitchen. She deposited her glass next to the sink and headed for the door. “Thanks for this. I had fun, and it was a great talk.”
“Sure, anytime,” he said, sounding surprised.
“I’ll see you soon, fake boyfriend,” she said, ignoring his disappointment.
And with that, she got out of his condo as soon as she could.
ChapterTwenty-One
