Page 16 of Gridlocked on the Gridiron

Lucia

Isa had been silent for long enough that Lucia was beginning to get worried. “Isa? Did you hear what I said?”

A garbled noise came from the other side of her phone. “What! He what? That piece of shit almost kissed you?”

Lucia didn’t know how to explain that she wasn’t sure she was upset about it. She also wasn’t certain he had actually almost kissed her. It seemed more like he’d been toying with her.

“Well, it was more like he leaned forward to close-speak with me, you know? I’m not positive that he wanted to kiss me. I mean, the guy hates me and thinks I’m working with his greatest nemesis.”

“Close-speak?” Isa asked incredulously. “Why don’t you seem as upset about this as I am? And why aren’t you emphasizing how much you hate him?”

Lucia blew out a sigh. “I don’t know, I’ve been working with him a lot recently. He’s definitely rough around the edges, but…”

“Oh, don’t tell me. Don’t you dare tell me you wanted him to kiss you. Lucia Moretti, don’t you tell me that.”

Isa took her silence as an answer.

“Puta! I can’t believe you. What’s changed?”

“Nothing’s changed! It’s not like I like him, but you have to admit he’s hot as hell. He was in my space, and I couldn’t think, and yeah…I guess I would’ve been okay with it.”

Isa groaned, but then seemed to think for a second. “Well, maybe you’ll get a better lay outta him than you did Max.”

Lucia set her glass of wine down on the counter, shocked. “I’m not gonna sleep with him, Isa. It was just a momentary lapse in judgment. Again, I must remind you that he hates me.”

“So, the only reason you won’t get laid is because he hates you?”

“No!”

“Mm-hmm. Well, just saying, it doesn’t sound like he hates you.”

Lucia finished her glass, needing the burn.

“Lu, have you talked to your dad since you moved?”

Lucia regretted finishing her wine. She should’ve waited.

“No.”

She loved her father. She really did. But she wasn’t ready to hear his optimistic take on her failed engagement. And he would absolutely have one.

The man had been cheated on and abandoned, left to care for an eight-year-old daughter on his own. Her mother had left them because she couldn’t handle being a mother, because having a child hadn’t fit her lifestyle. She’d thrown years of marriage into the trash to go do who knows what. Despite that, her father had managed to continue giving his heart away, getting back up and dusting himself off after every heartbreak. Her whole life, she’d watched him get hurt over women who didn’t deserve him.

She’d promised herself she wouldn’t be like him, and then she’d met Max and had thought that maybe she’d been wrong. But Max Clark had proven her right, right, right, and now she was an absolute fool, following in her father’s footsteps. So, no, she hadn’t spoken to her father.

“Lu, the longer you wait, the worse it might be. And you never know what he’ll say.” When Lucia didn’t respond, Isa continued. “He’s the only family you have—besides me, obviously. Don’t push him away.”

Lucia sighed, knowing Isa was right. “I’ll call him this week. I promise.”

“Okay, Abby’s giving me that ‘get off the phone’ look, so I’ve gotta go. But you owe me details about sexy Colton Beaumont.”

“Now he’s sexy?”

“I’ll say anything to get you laid. Goodnight, osita. Kisses.”

Lucia huffed a laugh before responding, “Kisses.”

She ignored the glass on the counter and grabbed the bottle of wine instead, tucking herself under a blanket on her couch and turning on The Bachelor. Maybe scripted, pretend love would make her feel better.

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