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The music changed to another canned country song.
Zachary motioned for the bartender to send another round over to our table and made his way toward us. The bar was busy in the sense that a few dozen people littered the tables and stools. Several were very drunk, while a few others sat around talking and laughing. No one paid us any attention. We were just three guys hanging out after work.
Except that we’d agreed to meet up and have a little chat about Lucy. I felt like shit for having this talk behind her back, but I couldn’t look at her and say what I knew needed to be said.
Zachary slid into the seat beside me and took a long pull from his beer. “I’m Abigail’s father.” He said it with a disbelieving laugh and scrubbed a hand down his face. A smile finally cracked through his stoic demeanor. “I’m a father.”
“Congratulations, man.” Lennox thumped Zachary’s shoulder with a fist before returning his hand to the back of the booth. He slouched in the corner, his lips turned down in a frown. “Not to be an ass, but what do we do now?”
“Well.” Zachary scooted down in his seat and stretched out his legs. “Coach wants to trade me. That’s why he called me into his office.”
“He can’t do that.” I sat up so fast my head spun. My beer clanked against the window with a sharp rap, and I pulled it back to my lips for a long drink.
Lennox shot me a look but fire flared in his eyes. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“That’s what Lucy said. Now that we know I’m Abigail’s father, I’m not leaving. I’ll quit if I have to. She mentioned talking to her father, but she didn’t get into specifics because Abigail was with us.” Zachary sighed and took a sip of his beer.
“Shit.” I wasn’t drunk enough for this conversation after all. Maybe I did need another. Or three. “If he threatened to send you off because of a picture, what will he do when he finds out about us?”
“I told him I slept with Lucy. That’s when he brought up the trade. I don’t think he knows about you two.”
I’m sure he meant for that to sound helpful, but it lit a burning in my gut that I didn’t know how to tamp down. My jaw ached from clenching my teeth so hard. I finished my beer and grabbed the next one off the tray when a woman brought more over.
Lennox nodded his thanks and waited for her to walk away before he spoke up. “What do you need us to do? Do you want us to walk away? Give you a chance to live a normal life with Lucy?”
“What the hell?” Zachary asked. I’d known this was coming. It was the reason I wanted to get shit-faced drunk. Instead, I pushed the second beer away.
My foot bounced up and down so fast my muscles burned. An ache started in my knuckles, and I realized I had my fingers knotted together so tight my nails were white. “Lennox is right.” Admitting that made bile rise in the back of my throat. “This is your chance to have a normal life. You can settle in with Lucy and Abigail and not make waves.”
Unlike what would happen if the three of us ever stepped out together.
“What’s wrong with you two?” Zachary asked with a scowl.
Lennox met my eyes, and in them, I saw the same emotions tearing me up from the inside. I sighed. “We love her too. But we’re willing to walk away if that’s what is best for Lucy. This…” I motioned between us but couldn’t keep going.
Lennox didn’t have any trouble picking up where I left off. “The media will tear her apart. All of us. This is not something that will stay hidden forever. At some point, we’ll be found out. Then what?” Pain twisted his mouth.
I palmed my aching heart. “We want her to achieve her dreams. How can she do that if she’s constantly fighting the media because of a polyamorous relationship?” Saying it out loud hurt more than I anticipated. I loved Lucy so much I thought I’d stop breathing if I couldn’t be with her. I had to be stronger than that.
“She’ll never agree to that.” Zachary’s gaze darted between us. “She should have the chance to voice her opinion too.”
“Sorry, man. I disagree.” Lennox’s face hardened. “I don’t mind listening to what Lucy wants, but we all know this won’t end well. We don’t even know if our teammates would be supportive. They might want us all off the team. How is a relationship going to work if we have to fight every person we know for it?”
Silence descended as we all considered the consequences. We’d all fallen in love with Lucy, but Zachary was the only one who truly held a claim to a future with her. She deserved the best. I’d just drag her down. My ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em’ mentality had ruined me for a real relationship. Even now, when I’d found the one woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, I had to walk away and act like I didn’t care. I couldn’t let Lucy see how leaving her would ruin me.
She was too open and tenderhearted. She’d keep me around because she felt sorry for me. I could never let her do that.
A woman in a skin-tight red dress ambled over to our table. She puckered her lips and poked out a skinny hip, her red nails sliding over her stomach in a move that she probably meant to be sexy but came off as trying too hard. “Hey, boys. Anyone care to dance?”
“No.” We all answered in unison. At least we were on the same page about one thing.
She leaned over the table, planting her elbows on the sticky surface and shoving her boobs out the top of her dress. “Come on, now. Don’t be shy. Anyone here drinking this time of day is always looking for a little action.” She wiggled her ass and winked.
“Sorry, we’re taken.” Iron crept into Zachary’s voice and he motioned at a nearby bouncer.
The beefy man with tattoos running up both arms jerked his head and ambled over. “Come on, Sable. Leave the nice men to their drinks.” He slipped a quarter into her palm. “Why don’t you start a new song on the jukebox?”
We all breathed a quiet sigh of relief when Sable pouted but moved away. She spotted another man on her way to the dimly lit corner where the jukebox sat and beelined her way to his table.
