Page 70 of Keeping the Single Dad
He reached around and rubbed the back of his neck. “I went to his house. Mel told me why you spoke to the journalist.”
This shouldn’t have ever darkened Alex’s door. I’d let him and Brodie down. “How angry are you?”
“It could have been worse.” His mouth twitched with amusement. “The article was quite complimentary. I’ve never been called a sugar daddy before.”??
How could he be taking this with such good humor? His teasing was affectionate, not malicious. He moved to stand next to me. Side by side, we looked out over the endless rugged countryside.
My breath burned in my lungs. “I shouldn’t have run. Everything happened all at once. I lost all the things that mattered to me the most in one day. You, Brodie, my team, my career. I wasn’t thinking straight.” My mouth felt tight and grim. “It was always going to end this way. This is how things go. People meet, they fall for each other, and then they leave. This is why I don’t want to get attached to anyone.”
He held motionless, but his finger brushed the back of my hand, lightly. The slight contact seared tingling pleasure up my wrist.
“You could have told me about this. We could have worked through it together.”
Could have…
My heart sank. He was talking about us in the past tense. I hadn’t realized I was still holding on to hope.
“I didn’t know how to tell you the truth. It’s the same reason I pretended to be Mel when we first met. I didn’t want you to see the real me.”
“The real you?”
I held my arms wide and shrugged, regretfully. “This Lana. The one who is grieving and struggling.”
“This is the Lana that I want. We’re the same underneath. Life has turned us inside out. It doesn’t make me want you less. It makes me admire you more. Our grief gives us empathy. Our broken hearts make us tender. We’re both scared of this thing between us but being scared isn’t a good enough reason not to make it work.” His large hands wrapped around mine. The warmth sent a shiver up my wrist. “We can be brave together and for each other, because I love you—”
“You love me?” Shock flew through me.
“Yes. I love you. I won’t let some stupid tabloid story spoil that for us.”
Tingling warmth filled my chest. “And you forgive me for leaking information about Sean Wallace? He’s your captain.”
Alex blew out a breath. “You did what you had to do.”
“This isn’t goodbye?”
He put a hand over his chest. “We can get past this if we want to. We’ll need to work on things. Promise me that next time you get scared, you’ll talk to me and not run. It’s not fair on Brodie. But I never want to say goodbye to you, Lana.” His soft whisky eyes sparkled with humor. “If the wild child of women’s football wants me for her sugar daddy, who am I to say no?”
Chapter 44
Lana
Twoweekslater
My sneakers squeaked on polished marble. Alex was at my side. His towering solid presence was almost enough to put me at ease. We traversed a long corridor with thick cream carpets. Vases brimming with fresh flowers perched on tall evenly spaced plinths. A floral scent filled my nose. The huge clinic was more like a five-star hotel than how I’d imagined a rehab facility. It was still hard to comprehend that Dad had agreed to do this, and even harder to fathom how we could accept this help from Alex. It must have been costing a fortune.
Mel was already waiting in Dad’s room. She stood at the window, surveying the artfully manicured lawns. Of course she would be here first. Some things never changed. Mel shot Alex an accusatory glance, her smile stretched tight across her lips. “We can’t accept this from you. Look at this place. How much is this costing?”
Alex held his hands up and broke into a wide, open smile. “It’s fine.”
Dad peered into the mini fridge. The bright light illuminated a shelf of mineral water and fancy snacks. Dad scratched the gray scruff on his jaw. “Look at this. This is too much.”??
They were both right. We couldn’t accept this.
“How much are they paying you on the men’s team? Because they sure as hell aren’t paying me this much. This is the gender pay gap in action.”
“Right? So, let me balance that injustice in some small way. Let’s not talk about money again.”
I pressed myself to his warm, muscular body. His steady heartbeat thudded against my ears. Mel averted her gaze. Dad coughed. If it was weird for them to see us together then tough luck. They’d have to get used to it.
