Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
My lips slightly parted, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that I was sad. Instead, I said, “I’m sorry.”
He arched an eyebrow, perplexed. “For what?”
“Calling you a bad person. I don’t think that about you.”
His head tilted, and he walked over toward me. He placed a hand on my forehead.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Checking if you have a fever. You’re speaking delusionally.”
I shoved his hand away from my forehead. “I’m serious, Nathan. I haven’t been fair to you, and I’ve made rude judgments. I guess the inner teenager in me still held a bit of resentment toward you, and I apologize for that. You didn’t deserve it. Truthfully, it was easier to call you a bad person than to face the reality of the situation.”
“And what’s the reality of the situation at hand?”
“That you’re…good.”
Which he was.
Maybe that bothered me the most—that he was a good person. A great person, even. Not only with me but with everyone he crossed paths with. Nathan made people feel seen and took his time to converse with anyone who approached him. He had a kind smile that made others grin themselves. He was respectable and humble, and a damn good coach, too. He was one of the good guys.
And that pissed me off because it was just a reminder of why I liked him so much all those years ago.
It was easier for me to hate him. When I hated him, my heart didn’t feel so conflicted.
His joking manner settled into a serious look. “You really think I’m good?”
“I do.”
“Then why have you been so hard on me? Because of our past?”
“Yes,” I confessed. “And I’m a stubborn jerk.”
“Or you’re just someone who feels a lot and keeps it all to themselves. Either or.”
“I like the idea of stubborn jerk. It has less emotions.”
He smiled.
I liked it, too.
Damn me for liking it.
“Are you sure you’re good, though?” he asked. “Coach to coach, I mean.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m just a little overwhelmed with the wedding.”
“Oh, right.” It could’ve been my imagination, but I swear Nathan grimaced at the mention of the wedding. “That’s right around the corner, right?”
“Yes. Two weeks from today.”
“Wow…” He cleared his throat. “That’s a lot.”
“Yeah. I’m sure I’m just getting wedding jitters.” I glanced at my watch. “But we should get—”
“I saw Wesley with another woman today,” Nathan blurted out.
My chest tightened as I looked up to meet his stare once more. He frowned and shook his head slightly. “I wasn’t sure how to bring it up, but well…if it were me, I’d want to know.”
“Was the woman a blond?”
“Yeah. They walked into my brothers’ butcher shop earlier today. They went in laughing and seemed a little too friendly.”
They were together today, too?
That felt like another knife to my gut. Yet this knife seemed to cut even deeper, seeing how Nathan delivered the news to me. I was humiliated. Though I tried to shake off the feeling.
“Drew,” I muttered. “That’s his best friend. Who just so happens to be his ex, too.”
Nathan’s brows raised. “I beg your pardon?”
“I know. I found out on Super Bowl Sunday.”
The bewildered look flashing across his face would’ve been funny if it wasn’t such a heavy topic to my spirit. “Get outta here,” he said. “You’re telling me he has a best friend who’s also his ex that you didn’t know existed?”
“Oh, I knew Drew existed for a long time. I just thought she was a man.”
“He didn’t tell you Drew was a woman?” he whisper-shouted.
I would’ve laughed if it wasn’t so damn embarrassing. “Nope.”
He gave me a blank stare before blinking a few times. “And you’re okay with this?”
Absolutely not. Not in the slightest. “I don’t really have a choice. She’s his best friend. What am I supposed to say?”
“No,” he sternly stated. “You’re supposed to say no. There was something about them that made it seem as if they had some kind of—”
“Can we stop talking about my life and get to practice?” I snapped. I didn’t mean to snap at him, but that was what happened when I was embarrassed or sad. Instead of tears, I found rage and annoyance.
He tossed his hands up in surrender. “Sorry. Breaking rules.”
“All the rules.”
“But…” He paused and grimaced. “They were sharing an ice cream cone.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“They were licking an ice cream cone together. One cone, two mouths.”
The embarrassment seeped deeper into my soul as I stood still like a buffoon. “Let’s just get to practice.”
“Avery—”
“Stop,” I begged. “Please.”
“But—”
“I just told you that you’re not a crappy person, Nathan. Please don’t make me regret every single word.”
His eyes flashed with compassion as he nodded. “All right. Let’s go.”
“Ice cream, Wesley?!” I barked, rage shooting through my system as I paced my living room. He sat on the living room couch, staring at me as if I’d lost my mind. “You were licking ice cream with her?! On Main Street?! You might as well have been licking her vagina in public, for goodness’ sake!”