Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75626 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75626 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Until now.
Seeing her at my front door ruined my life.
It took meeting and falling for Kelsey to realize my relationship with Maggie wasn’t real. I can’t be me when I’m with her. She wants me to be her picture-perfect man, with perfectly coiffed hair, wearing a suit and tie everywhere we go, and always ready for a photo-op. She used me, for whatever that’s worth. Which makes zero sense to me. Why not go after Julius or Cameron, someone who is always the talk of the media? Not the center, whose sole purpose is to put the ball into the quarterback’s hands. I am not popular in the realm of other position players. Hell, until Maggie, no one even knew what I looked like.
She changed me.
“She turned you into a charity project,” I say to my reflection as I set the barbell down. I shouldn’t lift weights if my mind isn’t clear. This is how people get hurt.
My teammates linger around me. Some run on the treadmill while others lift. A few of the guys are working on their core with a yoga instructor. I tried that shit once, but she went so fast for a “beginners” class I gave up. It’s still on my list of things to add to my off-season workout though.
Noah walks behind me and makes a funny face in the mirror to get me to laugh. He knows what’s going on since he was my emergency, I’m too drunk to drive, phone call. Instead of taking me home, he sat with me for another couple of hours while I spilled my guts. He’d been in a similar situation with his ex. She knew he was in love with Peyton and told Noah she was pregnant. He stayed with her, breaking his and Peyton’s heart in the process, only to find out his ex had told people she’d slept with Noah’s dad, and he was the father of her baby. This mess almost cost Noah his career, and he might have quit if it wasn’t for Peyton.
He pats me on the back. “It gets better.”
“When?”
Noah shakes his head slightly. “I don’t know, man. But it does. Peyton says if Kelsey’s the one for you, you guys will find your way back to each other.”
“Your wife’s a hopeless romantic.” I’m not even mad he told her. He’s very clear about how he shares everything with his wife.
He chuckles. “I love that about her.” He pauses and looks around the room. “Come on, let’s go outside. It’s too nice to be in here.” Except outside is an indoor football field because it’s not nice outside right now. It’s in the thirties and raining. But it’s better than being in the stuffy gym, staring at myself.
I grab the bin of balls and drag it out to the field and wait for Noah to give me some instructions.
“I want to throw,” he says.
“Um . . . okay? What about Julius?”
“Nah, just us for right now.”
“And me.” Peyton’s voice echoes through the facility. She comes over with her clipboard and sits down near the bin of balls.
“You messed up, didn’t you?” I ask Noah. I look from him to his wife and shake my head.
Peyton smiles. “He didn’t. I just like watching him.”
“You’re not going to get all lovey-dovey on me, are you?” I ask the boss lady.
She shrugs and keeps her eyes on her husband. That right there, is the kind of love I want, and the kind I know I’d have with Kelsey if given the chance.
I run off and grab an empty bin and then head down field, ready to catch whatever Noah throws my way. Only that’s a lie because I can’t catch shit which is probably why I’m a center and not some hot shot QB or receiver. I can tackle, block, and make sure my quarterback has the ball in his hands on time.
I jump up and down and roll my shoulders to get ready. My eyes bug out when Noah hands Peyton the ball. All right, I get it. I take a couple steps in, and by a couple I mean I start to walk toward her.
“I’d stop if I were you,” Noah says.
“Really?”
“Or not.”
Peyton goes through the motions of receiving the ball, drops back and fires a cannon downfield. The ball whizzes by my ear and I’m too stunned to even try and catch it.
“Alrighty then,” I mumble to myself and head back to the bin.
She does it again and again, until she’s thrown every ball my way. I’ve caught maybe half, if that, and it’s not because she’s missed her target, it’s because I can’t catch worth a shit.
After picking up my dropped balls, I take the bin back to her and Noah. “Okay, what in the hell was that?”
Peyton shrugs.
When you want to give her a compliment, she’s shy and modest. When she wants to point out where you failed during a game, she’s a firecracker. I glance at Noah, who’s beaming from ear to ear.