Page 30 of Marring an Athlete

He was a jumble of nerves. So, he decided not to think and just act.

“Okey dokey,” tumbled out. He forced a smile as if that had been the most natural thing anyone would say, when inside he was kicking himself for sounding so dumb.

Anna studied him and then smiled. “Great.” She raised her hands, and he took them in his.

When he wrapped his hand around her waist, he realized that this had been a mistake. He should not have agreed to dance with her. But, she stepped closer to him and rested her fingers on his shoulder. There was nothing he could do right now other than dance with her.

He stepped forward, and she stepped back. As much as he wanted to deny it, they fit together perfectly. Like they were meant for each other. He tightened his grip on her back, and he glanced down at her. What would it hurt? If he liked Anna and she at one point liked him, why couldn’t they be together?

“This is nice,” Anna said, leaning in toward him. She glanced up at him as if she expected him to say something. Or do something. And, oh, how he wanted to lean forward and kiss her lips. Would that be so bad?

Suddenly, McKenna’s words came rushing back to him.

Keep your Michael-ness to yourself.

And that was his answer. He couldn’t drag Anna into the mess that his life had become. In fact, he was mistakenly engaged to Daisy. Why would he allow himself to knowingly hurt the one constant girl in his life?

The one who had been there for him for so long. He’d kissed her and left her once. He couldn’t do that again. So he forced the next movements as he stepped away.

“We should go eat,” he said, dropping his hands.

Anna pulled back as she glanced up at him. “Oh. Okay. Yeah, you’re right. We should eat.” She nodded as she started over to the table.

“Anna, wait,” Michael said, reaching out and grabbing her arm. “It’s just that, we should really be focused on helping McKenna and Sam.” Why did he keep dragging her back? He should just let her walk away. It was what was best for everyone.

Anna smiled up at him, but it felt forced. So similar to the ones he seemed to give everyone in his life. He knew that look. She wasn’t happy.

She raised her hands, breaking their contact. “I get it. We’re here for them.” She sighed. “Let’s just go eat dinner and go to bed. I’m exhausted, and we’ve got a lot going on tomorrow. While you were dancing, Javier dropped off our itinerary for the rest of the week.”

He stared down at her. “Itinerary?”

“Lots of couple skill-building activities and a therapy session. So, that should be fun. Luckily, I know most everything about you, and hopefully you can remember enough about me.” She nodded toward the table. “Let’s go help McKenna.”

She walked off, and this time, Michael let her go. He didn’t want to hold her back. Even though he wanted to tell her that she was wrong. That he had just about everything about her memorized. He wanted to confess everything to her. Ask her what he should do about Daisy. But he couldn’t.

Dumping his problems on her was exactly what McKenna was talking about. Anna didn’t deserve any of that. These were his problems, and it was his job to fix them. Right now, it was best for everyone if he just kept to himself. At least then, he wouldn’t hurt anyone except for himself. And that was okay with him.

---