Page 49 of Forecheck
“You told me that Lee guy your friend mentioned tonight is your ex, but…the way you reacted. There’s something there you’re not telling me.”
“Ugh,” I groaned, once again dropping back onto the bed. “Do we have to talk about this now?”
“I’m just curious,” he said. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
As his hands slipped along the smooth skin of my shins and calves, I let out a resigned sigh. “He cheated on me.”
Brent’s hands stilled, and he was quiet for so long I was afraid to open my eyes and see his expression. At last, he said, “You should’ve let me beat him up tonight.”
“Like I told you, he’s not worth it.”
“He hurt you, Berk. That’s reason enough for me.”
The caveman thing didn’t normally do it for me, but I was willing to bet the list of things about Brent Jean thatdidn’tturn me on could be counted on one hand or less. In truth, I appreciated the protectiveness he felt over me. I had never been very good at letting other people take care of me—I’d made stubbornness and independence an artform—but…for him, I was trying.
“He did hurt me, yes. But it’s over.”
“Was it just cheating, or was there more to it?”
I don’t know what possessed him to ask. It was like he knew I was still keeping things from him. And I realized in that moment that where my time with Lee was concerned, I didn’t want to hold onto that hurt anymore.
“He was emotionally abusive. We started dating the summer before I left for college. While I was still in TC, he’d guilt me into staying home when my friends went out because he didn’t trust other guys, and when I moved down to EL, he’d go radio silent when I couldn’t come home for a weekend because of classes or some other obligation. He played a lot of mind games with me that I’d rather not dredge up. And when I found out he was cheating, and confronted him, he broke up with me because he felt like I didn’t trust him anymore. It was one of those messy first loves, and I don’t miss him or think about him at all anymore.”
Unburdening myself of all that, and letting Brent shoulder it alongside me, did wonders for easing the weight on my shoulders from carrying that around for so many years.
“I…damn, Berk. I don’t even know what to say.”
At last, I opened my eyes and looked at him, surprised by the softness in his gaze. Inherently, I knew this man would try to protect me from whatever life threw at me.
And I’d let him.
“There’s nothing to say,” I told him gently. “It’s in the past. What did I tell you earlier?”
“That you’d rather focus on the future.”
“Exactly.”
We were quiet for untold moments while Brent continued to work on my feet. Then, he said, “Speaking of the future…tomorrow.”
“What about it?”
“Well, I thought you’d want to come to my game on the second, so I figured you’d come home with me tomorrow.”
“Wait, what?”
“We’ll run to your house early and get your stuff packed, then head out.” He’d moved to my toes, gently tugging on and massaging the pads. Pulling my feet from his grasp, I stood and stalked away from the bed.
“Wait wait wait. You’re expecting me to go back a week early? Just to watch your game? Brent, you’re not even playing.”
He looked dumbfounded. “Well, yeah…but I figured we could spend all of that time before you go back to school together.”
“And you just assumed I would be okay with this? With you just…showing up here and trying to take me away? Didn’t I just get done telling you about being hurt by a man who’d tried to control how I spent my time?”
Struck silent, Brent gaped at me. At last, he said, “Babe, calm down, please. I didn’t think—”
“You’re right, you didn’t think! You’re the rich professional athlete, and I’m the random nobody, so I’m just supposed to drop everything and come when you call? That’s not the way this works.”
Brent seemed at a loss for words, opening and closing his mouth with no sound coming out. We both remained silent for several tense moments, me breathing heavily and pacing, Brent seated on the bed dazedly.
