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The sound that comes out of my mouth is barely a laugh. I appreciate them trying to help and I’m truly grateful for their friendship, but right now all I can think of is how hurt Emily must be. I need to find her and explain.
“Mason. Mike.” I cringe as I hear Coach's voice. I need to get out of here now.
“Are you heading out already, Mason? Before you do, could you take a few minutes to chat and take some pictures with one of the booster’s kids? They arehugefans of yours.”
He slaps my shoulder and I try to smile. “Of course, I have a few minutes. Sure. Not a problem at all.”
I remember Jack calling me a pushover when it comes to Coach. He’s absolutely right.
"Thank you, Mason. You’ve been a great sport about the entire event this year and I want you to know how much I appreciate you helping us out. Especially since it’s not your job anymore.” He pats my back. “Everyone loved the venue and Cottage Grove. This was a fantastic idea. Speaking of ideas, where is Emily? I wanted to say thank you.”
“She left early. She needed to get to her store.” I hope my voice sounds normal and not a reflection of the anxiety I’m feeling. “I will definitely tell her you said that. I know she’ll be beyond happy.” I quickly change the topic. “Now where are those kids?”
As we get closer, I push thoughts of Emily aside, and do my best to make my fans feel like the most important people in the world. I put on my game face, paste on a smile and amp it up for the kids. Normally I would thrive in these sorts of situations, kids are the best. As soon as I finish I make my exit as gracefully as possible and head to Emily’s.
Chapter Seventeen
Emily
As we pull upto my house, the sun is just starting to lower on the horizon. I look over at Adam. “Thank you, Adam. I had a really great time with you these last few days. It’s been fun getting to know you.”
“Thank you, Emily.” He gives me a gentle smile. “Try not to be too hard on him, okay? It has to be hard realizing that you’re in love with someone you didn’t think you were in love with.”
I give him a half hearted smile. I hear what he’s saying but it’s hard to think clearly with all of these emotions running through me. “Good bye, Adam. Get home safe.”
I exit the car and close the door behind me. I walk up the stairs to the porch and slide my key in the lock. As I open the front door, I turn to Adam and wave. I watch him drive off and then step into the house.
When I close the door behind me I realize that letting him down was easier than I thought it would be. The tears roll down my face as I’m not sure it matters anymore. I give myself a firm shake and wipe the tears from my face.
“No crying, Emily. Take a deep breath and breathe. You will get through this.” I feel like I’ve been crying non-stop and I’m a bit tired of it. Yeah, this hurts more than anything I can remember in the past but crying is not the solution. Heroines don’t cry all the time in romance novels, they suck it up and then take action.
“This isn’t a romance,” I whisper to an empty room as the tears rise up again. “No. Stop. There’s no crying in baseball!” I laugh at myself and shake my head. I put my coat over a chair and then freeze.
Now that I’m home I realize how close Mason is and I feel my heart stutter. He’s my next door neighbor. He’ll be here any minute and I won’t be able to hide from him. He won’t let me.
I’m not ready to talk to him. I need some time. Time to think, time to figure out what to do and how to handle this.
I quickly head upstairs to change. Minutes later I come back down in blue jeans and a sweater, with my overnight bag. I put my coat and boots on and grab my keys. I know exactly where I’m going.
I just told Leah everything that happened, from the “I love you’s”, to the kiss, and then seeing Mason kissing Julia. “Are you okay holding down the fort for a few days while I clear my head at the lake house?”
“Of course I am. Take all the time that you need. But Em,” she pauses and I know she’s going to say something I don’t want to hear. “Mason may be the person I love to argue with most, but he’s not a liar.”
I roll my eyes. I want my best friend to be indignant at how hurt I am and indignant at Mason’s behavior, instead she’s taking his side. Even though I know she’s right. Mason’s always been someone to tell the truth, even if you don’t want to hear it. I’m so upset that my emotions are getting in the way of logical thinking.
"Plus you haven’t even listened to the message he left you. What if he told you exactly what happened and here you are running away?”
“No,” I say stubbornly. “I know what I saw and he was definitely kissing her.”
“I’m not saying there wasn’t a kiss, I’m just saying maybe it’s not the kiss—”
“I’m tired, Leah,” I cut her off before she finishes her thought. “I’m tired of feeling like I always need to move on and get over him. Please just let me do that. I need to move on for real this time.” I let out a sigh. “It’s been a really long week and I need some alone time to recoup. You know I’m not good in huge crowds for extended periods of time.”
“Okay. I hear you,” she pauses, knowing that pushing me right now isn’t the best course of action so she diverts. “What did you say to Adam?”
"I didn’t have to say anything. He had it all figured out and he only asked me to help him . . .” I stop talking as Adam’s words play over in my head.
Do you think that I didn’t realize the two of you were in love with each other that first night we met? He was ready to rip my head off when I even gave you just a bit of attention. I figured if he was going to be that clueless, I could torture him a bit.
