Page 117 of Lessons in Heartbreak

My heart jumped into my throat as I jogged over there, but still ... there was no sign of Ruby.

Lauren saw me and laid a hand on Marcus’s arm. She whispered something by his ear, and he gave her a quick kiss and a smack on the ass and went to talk to the media.

“Hey,” she said. “Good to see you, Griffin.”

Under any other circumstance, I’d attempt polite conversation. “Where is she? Did she come?”

Lauren blew out a slow breath, narrowing her eyes a little as she looked over my shoulder. “I’m guessing you didn’t check your phone?”

“No. I left it in my locker. Why? What’d she say?”

Lauren gave a small shake of her head. “I don’t know what she sent you, exactly. But the gist ofmytext was that she freaked out. Couldn’t do it.”

“Do what?” I asked, feeling more than a touch exasperated. “It’s training camp.”

“Don’t be obtuse; it doesn’t suit you.”

I slicked my tongue over my teeth. “I’m not trying to be. It was just ... I wanted to see her.”

Her eyebrows arched slowly. “Is that all? You didn’t mean anything by this invitation?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and then let my hand drop. Lauren’s gaze was unflinching, like she was daring me to brush this aside, to make it less than it was. Make Ruby less than she was.

That, I wouldn’t do.

“I meant something by it,” I admitted in a gruff voice. “I don’t know what she’s even open to, or ... if she’s willing to try. But I fucking miss her. And I’m sick of feeling that way.”

Lauren exhaled quietly. “It’s gratifying to know that I didn’t read you wrong.” She leaned in, angling us away from the crowds of people with a gentle touch of her arm. “Ruby isn’t just cautious, Griffin. She’s terrified to get hurt. To hurtyou.”

“How would she hurt me?”

Her smile was sad. “I think this is a conversation you should have with her.”

It was the sadness in that smile that had my chest caving in on itself.

“Her heart. She doesn’t think it makes sense to fall in love with anyone.” I ran a hand through my sweat-soaked hair, my muscles humming with the need to run and find her and kiss her and try to take this away for her. Humming with the need to tell her I was in love with her and I’d never leave her if she let me stay.

Lauren didn’t give me any verbal affirmation. She didn’t need to.

“Fuck,” I muttered. “That’s a hell of a reason not to want a relationship, Lauren—especially for a guy who doesn’t know how the fuck to be in one.”

She gripped my arm. “She’s never had anyone try to push past that. She doesn’t know how it would feel if someone cared enough to workthrough her fears.” Her eyes were hard, and I had the distinct feeling that if I took one wrong step, Lauren would castrate me with a smile on her face. “You just have to ask yourself if you’re strong enough to be the one to do that for her. Do thatwithher. And if you’re not, then leave her be, because she doesn’t need someone playing games because they’re bored.”

“That’s not what I’m doing.”

“I’m glad to hear that, but I’m not the one you need to prove that to,” Lauren warned. “All she knows is what you’ve told her. That you didn’t want serious either. That you wouldn’t fall in love with her. You think you’re scared to admit how you feel? Imagine how it feels for her.”

All it took was conjuring the image of her face, and a pang of love tore through me so strong that it almost knocked the breath from my lungs. Was I still scared? Hell yeah, I was.

But it was nothing—nothing—compared to how I felt about her.

Ruby and I, we could be scared of this together.

“Thank you,” I told her, then kissed her hard on the cheek.

Somehow, I kept my head through one more play, then bolted to the locker room when Coach said we were done with official team activities. Marcus yelled my name. So did Liam. I ignored them both.

The building was quiet when I shoved through the door, so quiet that all I could hear was the blood roaring through my ears. Inside the locker room, I ripped my bag open and found my phone in the side pocket as I tore off my sweaty practice gear with my other hand. As I shucked off my shorts, I tapped the home screen and saw her text come into view, throat clenching when I did.

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