Page 14 of Marring an Athlete

“Um,” she began, but wasn’t sure how to end the sentence. Did he mean he felt the same way she had from the kiss? And if that were true, what the heck did that mean?

Michael pulled her to standing and held their hands in the air. “She said yes,” he exclaimed.

The crowd applauded and then began to disperse. A few adoring fans came up and asked for a picture. Anna watched as he hesitated at first, but then forced a smile and agreed. When they got a moment alone, she was going to ask him what that meant. Why was he suddenly camera shy? Was it because of her?

And then she felt stupid. Of course, it was because of her. With plain-Anna on his arm, he was going to look like he’d gone mental. He didn’t want all his adoring fans to know that he’d settled—in more ways than one.

McKenna walked up, slow applauding. She had a brown paper bag tucked under her arm. “Wow, Michael. That was”—she clicked her tongue—“interesting. Had to do it in front of a crowd, huh?”

Michael laughed, put his arm around Anna, and drew her closer to him. She hesitated, but then allowed it. His unsure demeanor earlier seemed to have passed, and he was back to his flirty ways. Perhaps, she’d made up his reaction in her mind. It wouldn’t be the first time she misread signs from Michael.

Besides, right now, the last thing McKenna needed was a friend who was obsessing over her brother’s intentions. That was not what she was here for. Fixing McKenna’s marriage was her first, and only, priority. She needed to remember that.

“That was great, Michael. I almost believed you meant it,” she said, forcing a laugh.

They both turned to look at her with their eyebrows lifted. Anna let her laugh die down as she glanced around.

“We should probably get back to the gate, huh?”

McKenna glanced at her watch and nodded. “Yeah. Good idea. Hopefully, Sam’s still there and didn’t decide to head to the bathroom and leave our stuff just sitting out so any creep can stuff things into it.”

Anna made sure to walk in a way that would cause Michael to drop his arm. She’d had just about enough touching right now. She needed some space, physically and emotionally, from him. If she was going to survive this trip with her heart still intact, she needed to start building higher walls that separated her and Michael.

When they got to the gate, Sam was still at his seat. He’d leaned back, resting his head on the back of the chair. His legs were strewn out, and he was snoring.

McKenna sighed, but took the seat next to him. As Anna watched them, she felt sorry for her best friend. This wasn’t what they’d giggled about when they were kids. A fake marriage, and a failing one, had never been on their radar. Go figure. Yet here they sat, living it out.

She wished she knew how to help her friend. What could she do to fix any of this? As she settled in next to Michael and waited to hear their zone called, she decided that she’d put all her feelings for Michael aside and focus on the mission. And that was to bring McKenna and Sam back together.

She wasn’t going to be selfish and get caught up in her own issues. She took a deep breath as she fiddled with the ring on her finger. Even though her stomach flipped at the thought that this was Michael’s ring that he’d given to her, she muscled her emotions back to normal.

There was one thing she needed to convince herself of right now. Michael wasn’t hers, and he never would be. And if she was a good friend, she’d stop focusing on herself and start helping McKenna piece together her broken marriage. Then she could figure out the mess her life had become. But not until McKenna’s problems were solved. She could do that much at least.

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