Page 96 of Hello Quarterback

“What’s up?” Hayes said, the clanging of car repair sounds going on in the background.

“Never thought I’d say this, but I need your advice.”

Hayes laughed heartily. “This calls for some office time. Hold on.”

I waited on the line while the background sounds faded until they went totally silent with the shut of a door.

“I’m sitting at my boss desk. Hit me.”

I rolled my eyes, picturing Hayes sitting back, boots on his desk, spinning that lip ring of his. And I almost felt embarrassed asking this question, but hell... desperate times called for desperate measures.

“You’re single,” I said.

He waited. “Did you call to tell me that?”

I ground my teeth together. “And you plan to be single for the rest of your life, right?”

“I mean, define single.”

“Hayes,” I chided.

He huffed. “I’m not getting married or shacking up if that’s what you mean.”

“It is,” I replied. I took another breath. “How? Why?” Part of me thought it would be so mucheasierif I could just be satisfied being alone.

“Cause I’m a fuckin’ wimp,” he replied. It was the last thing I expected to come out of his mouth.

“What?”

“Think about it,” Hayes replied. “Hot sex any night with any woman. My own place with no one griping at me to clean it up, or worse yet, making the thing a mess. I can change my schedule anytime I want without disappointing anyone. No one’s asking me to sell my motorcycle. It’s great.OrI could pick one woman, and yeah, I might love her, but then you have to deal with all the changing moods, changing hormones, sickness, money issues, another whole side of a family, more opinions about my business, my life... and God forbid I fall for someone and something happens like what happened with Mom. You saw what that did to Dad. So, for me, it’s an easy choice. Why the fuck would I want to go through all that when I’m happy as I am?”

I took in his words, thinking Hayes might be the unsung genius of us all. My lifewaseasier before Mia was in it.

But then Hayes asked, “Are you happier with or without her?”

54

MIA

For the last couple weeks,Ford had been busy with out-of-town Diamonds games, and I was busy with travel for work. But rumors were starting to swirl that we’d broken up, so it was time for another public appearance.

He would be attending the gala to celebrate the Andersen Avenue acquisition. There would be press there, along with Dallas’s elite social crowd, including Trent Reynolds.

In my career, I’d attended hundreds of events like this. But I was so nervous for tonight, I thought I could crawl out of my skin and under a rock like a hermit crab. Like a woman who was about to see her ex-not-so-fake boyfriend.

My stylist and hair and makeup artists made sure I looked fabulous, but I still felt uncomfortable, wondering what he would think of me. How we would act around each other after everything we’d been through.

When I couldn’t fidget any longer or ask for a new piece of jewelry or different pair of shoes, I went to the elevator to meet Ford in the parking garage.

My heart squeezed tighter at the bell ringing with each floor.

And when I got to the bottom, the fractured pieces of my heart scattered like raindrops at Ford Madigan’s feet.

Like all the times before, he stood at the back of the limo, legs crossed, resting on the car body. He had on a plum suit that perfectly complimented my lilac gown. And his smile, a mix of hesitation and warmth.

“You look... incredible,” he managed.

Another fractured drop of my heart hit the floor as I spun for him. A dance that no longer felt new and exciting but was a painful reminder of all we could have been together.

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