Plus, she rejected me. Who is going to take that well? I sobered up enough to realize I’d been an asshole. That and a call with my mom, who tore into me for acting like I was the only one with hardships. I flushed my meds down the toilet, stoppered the bottle of Scotch, and cleaned up the mess in my apartment. But the mess I made of my personal life also needs to be fixed. “Okay, I was mean to her, but that’s why I’m here. To apologize. To win her back.” I cast a glance into the back seat, where I have a huge bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates.
“I think you should have bought her a car. I’m my nephew’s favorite uncle.” Graham stretches his arms out.
“You’re his only uncle, and he’s one and a half. He smiles at dogs with more energy than he greets you.”
“I see why Frankie left you.”
“Fuck y—oh shit, she’s coming out.” I duck down and then let out a moan of pain as the motion jostles my shoulder.
“Why are we hiding? I thought you were here to apologize.”
“Right.” I sit up and reach behind me with my good arm for the flowers. Graham blocks my move.
“Are you trying to injure your other shoulder?” He grabs everything and shoves it in my arms. “Go. Do the thing. Win the girl. Don’t embarrass me, or Luna will probably be mad at me.”
“Why?”
“Because women solidarity or something like that. Just go or I’ll have to sleep on the couch tonight.” Graham practically shoves me out of the car.
I stumble and then right myself. Jasper and Frankie are shaking hands. I hesitate, wondering if I should go up now or wait, but explaining the situation to Jasper would likely embarrass Frankie, so I hang back, walking up the unlit sidewalk until I’m close enough but still out of sight. Frankie waits until the crosswalk light turns green and then hurries across the pavement. The yellow streetlights fall on her shoulders, and a glint catches my eye. She’s still wearing my ring.
Emboldened by this, I start toward her. My footsteps on the pavement reach her ears, and her eyes meet mine. She pauses midstep.
“Best I could do this late at night.” I offer her the flowers and chocolate. “Did you close your deal?”
She nods, taking the gifts from me. This seems like a good sign.
“Get on your knees,” shouts a couple passing by on the sidewalk.
“Already did,” I yell back.
“Holy shit, is that Kaden Gunner?” A crowd starts to form.
Frankie starts to shake her head. Panic flares in my chest. I should have waited for her in the car, maybe at home. A lot of the time I forget I’m famous. That what I do off the field matters to people.
“I think I fucked up,” I say in a low tone.
“When?” There’s a challenge in her tone.
A warning bell goes off in my head, and the play in front of me starts to materialize. When you’re under pressure, you can either throw it out of bounds or try to run for a gain. The latter option is riskier with greater potential for error, and, as my shoulder will attest, for injury. But the reason I’ve been so successful as a quarterback is because I do take risks. I don’t settle for the safe play hoping that the next time will be better because next time might not come. You have to play to win every down, every minute.
I drop to my knees and take Frankie’s free hand between mine. I ignore the shouts and catcalls of the crowd behind me that is getting larger every moment. Now’s the time to take a risk.
“Before, when I was on my pain meds, I acted like an idiot.” I speak up, loud enough for the crowd to hear me. “Which is no excuse, and you have every right to throw those flowers in my face because I’m a dick. I’m sorry. I’ll do better, but you have to know that without you, I’m a worthless piece of shit. If I never play another day of football, then that’s how it should be, but my biggest win was hearing you say you love me, and my biggest loss will be you walking away. So please, forgive me.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
FRANKIE
Istare down at Kaden on his knees in front of me begging for forgiveness. So many emotions bubble up inside of me, but deep down, I knew he’d show up once he got his head on straight.
Kaden might have been a dick today; we all have our moments, but the man has won me over. So much so that I had trust in him to fix this. Jasper also laughed when I told him the whole story after my boss had to cut out early from our meeting.
The second he was gone from the table, Jasper said he knew something was up and made me spill, and spill I did. He wasn’t even mad about the lie because he said it wasn’t really a lie because he knew Kaden meant it when he said we were engaged. I believe that too.
At first I thought I was only a challenge for Kaden. That he liked me because I didn’t fall at his feet. That it was just a passing infatuation. As time went on, I realized I was a lot more than that.
Kaden has believed in us from day one. No matter how many hardballs I lobbed his way, he caught each one. He didn’t tossthem back either. No, he returned each one to me with a kiss. Whoa, when did I turn into such a sap?