Page 82 of Gridlocked on the Gridiron

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“With the news article that came out. He thinks it’s true and—”

“Not that. He’s not so dense to believe the Sabers would’ve kept you if it was true. What do you mean you can’t?”

Lucia hadn’t told Isa about what had happened on New Year’s Eve. She’d been too embarrassed that Isa had been right, because she had been hurt by everything, just like Isa’d said she would.

“Come on, Isa. You’ve seen it. You’ve seen my dad, you’ve seen how his life has been for years, ever since my mom left us. I won’t let someone do to me what my mom did to my dad. The breakup with Max wasn’t so bad, but I just know it would be worse with Colton. Even this weird fake breakup we’re going through is harder.”

Isa looked at her sympathetically. “You love him?”

She surprised herself with her quick reply. “Yes.”

Of course she did. If she hadn’t known it by the emptiness in her chest for the past two weeks, she’d known it the moment Colton had gone down on the field.

“Then tell him that. You can’t let fear rule you for the rest of your life. I know you’re scared of getting hurt, but Colton has never treated you like Max did, right?”

Lucia shook her head.

“Don’t let Max ruin your chance at happiness. If you keep pushing Colton away, Max wins. You’d be a fool to let him go.”

Isa’s wording was like a smack to the face. This whole time, she’d been worried about Colton hurting her and her becoming the fool once again. Did Isa really think she was being foolish for sticking to her beliefs and trying to move past her feelings? How could Lucia or Isa or anyone be sure she wouldn’t get hurt if she told him how she felt?

She thought about him in the training room, pissed off, in pain, and potentially alone. Or at least without somebody who cared about him as much as she did. She couldn’t believe she’d waited so long to go see him. She could only hope she’d have enough time before the end of halftime.

“Isa, can you get me into the training area?”

Her best friend beamed at her, taking her hand and dragging her down to find Colton. It only took a few minutes of wading through Sabers’ staff before she was outside the room. Isa nodded at her encouragingly, and Lucia opened the door.

He was facing away from her, lying on his back with his left ankle taped and raised. She could only see the side of his face, but she could tell he was brooding. He must’ve seen her in his periphery because he turned his head, his eyes landing on her.

She couldn’t decipher the look on his face. Was he happy to see her? Did he want her to leave? How much time did she have to tell him how she felt before he had to go?

The trainer who was working with him moved toward her. “You can’t be in here.”

“It’s fine,” Colton spoke quietly.

Lucia moved so she was close enough to touch him, her eyes scanning him from head to toe. Just seeing him all beat up brought tears to her eyes, and she couldn’t believe the number of times she’d cried in the past two weeks. She’d turned into a weepy mess.

He didn’t shy away when she set her hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded, but she could tell he was in a lot of pain.

“Is it true? I can’t imagine they would have let you work today if it were, but…”

Lucia sucked in a breath. It hurt that he didn’t trust her, but she also understood. It was her fault for not telling him about the call with Max.

“The call happened, yes. But nothing else was true. I didn’t want to tell you because I was so embarrassed that I gave him a chance to apologize. I didn’t want you to think less of me.”

“I never would have thought less of you.” His voice was gravelly. “So you really said that to him? That you would give him our plays?”

Betrayal was clear in his every word, and for the hundredth time in two days, Lucia wished she’d told Colton about the call.

She closed her eyes, nodding. “I did, but it was taken out of context. It was sarcastic. I have the video of the whole thing I wanted to show you, but that should probably wait until after the game. Isa got her hands on it for me, and it helped me clear my name with Tim and Coach Turner.”

He nodded once, still no semblance of a smile on his face. “Okay.”

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