Page 88 of For the Boys
Brent sucked in a breath. “Oh my God, babe, I’m so sorry. Why?” he asked, though he already knew the answer.
“She told me I wasn’t pretty enough for you,” she said, sniffling. “And that you should be with someone like her.”
“Berkley, I don’t want anyone but you. You know that.”
“Well of course I do!” she snapped. Then said, “I’m starting to regret this whole thing.”
A chill raced down his spine. “This whole thing? As in being with me?”
“Oh gosh, no,” Berkley said quickly. “I’m sorry. I meant going public. I can’t help but think that everything would be fine right now if we had just ignored that waitress and left people to wonder. Instead, I have to skip my next class so I can go home and change.”
Brent sighed. Knowing Berkley, he assumed this was something she frequently wished she could go back in time and change. “I know, babe. But we can’t go back. The only thing we can do is move forward.”
She snorted. “Easy for you to say,” she said, an edge to her tone. “Your life hasn’t changed a bit.”
“Look, don’t get mad at me,” he said. “We knew this wasn’t going to be easy. But we both agreed that in order to be together, taking our relationship public was going to have to happen eventually.”
“I just didn’t think it was going to be this bad,” she said quietly, the fight in her voice from moments before seeming to have left her. “I didn’t think people would be accosting me in broad daylight.”
“I can’t imagine what you’re going through. But we’re in this together.”
“I guess. Although, if that were the case, people should really be pouring drinks over your head.”
He laughed, relaxing. If she was joking with him, he knew she was calming down. “I would welcome that if it would make you feel better,” he told her honestly. “But unfortunately, no one but my teammates ever gets close enough for that to happen.”
Berkley sighed. “I’ll do it for you when you get home.”
“Deal.”
“Well, thank you for talking me off the ledge. I was about to do something reckless.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” he said. “Leave the reckless behavior to me, please.”
“Will do,” she said. “I’m going to go home and take a shower now. Call me after your game tonight, please.”
“I will. Bye, babe.”
“Bye.”
Brent sat back on his pillows and tipped his head toward the ceiling, wishing he could do something to take the heat off Berkley.
Ever since his college days, he had been acutely aware he was good-looking. Coming out of high school, he hadn’t quite grown into his long limbs yet, making him awkward and gangly off the ice. Physically, he had changed dramatically during his time in the juniors, and practically overnight he’d gone from an awkward teenager who couldn’t put weight on to save his life to a man with well-defined muscles and a sharp jaw constantly lined with dark stubble. Thanks to his blue eyes and unruly mop of hair that women seemed to love, he’d begun to receive far more attention than he ever had before.
The longer he played, the more notoriety he gained. Women became more obsessive too. He could hardly step off the bus at an away game without fans lining the sidewalks, screaming his name. Frequently, women had accosted him in hotel lobbies, asking if they could come up to his room with him.
He was ashamed to admit he had let it happen on more than one occasion.
But he was unashamed to admit that Berkley had changed all of that. The first time he’d seen her, there had been a spark of recognition, as though some piece of her spoke to some piece of him.
And now that he had her, now that she was his, he was never going to let her go.
His phone pinged next to him, pulling him from his reverie.
In the midst of the struggle Berkley was wading through, Brent had nearly forgotten he had a company to run and a photoshoot for the next launch to schedule.
Just when he had given up hope on Danica DeVries ever responding, ever agreeing to work with him, a message came through.
@DanicaDeVries: Brent! I am so sorry I’m just getting back to you. Your message got lost in my inbox and I’m just seeing it lol. I would LOVE to work with you. I’ve done some digging through the site and the products look amazing, plus with you running the show I know it’s a solid brand to attach my name to. I don’t need to go through an agent to make this deal happen if you don’t. Give me a call later and let’s iron out the details! 617-555-3827.
