Page 46 of Tangled Up In You
“Honestly, dude. I’m not sure,” I admitted, pressing my palm into my left eye. A pain throbbed on that side, and I suspected it was due to stress. “I have one more season with the team, and I don’t know what I’m going to do after that. I—”
“You’ll get signed again,” he said with a hopeful tone.
“Nah, I won’t. After my ACL injury last season, I haven’t been at my best on the field. I mean, you’ve seen it, Austin. I’m still fast, but not like I used to be. Not even my ability to throw with both arms can save my ass.”
“You can be a free agent if that happens and another team will pick you up,” Austin countered.
“Maybe,” I said. “I have a lot of thinking to do.”
“I’m here for you, okay?”
“I know.” I sighed and stared up at the ceiling. “So, do y’all have a date for the wedding yet?”
We talked a little longer, and I was sure to keep the focus on him and Beth. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about my problems, mostly because I was still trying to hold onto the happiness from the night before when I’d been with Hunter.
When I got off the phone with Austin, I saw I had a text from Will.
William:You’re a fucking asshole. It’s been weeks and I haven’t heard a word from you.
I was about to text him, but then I thought it best just to call him and get it over with faster.
“About time you called me back,” William answered with a lethal amount of venom in his voice.
“I’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it. I should’ve returned his calls weeks ago. You couldn’t just ignore your problems, and it was about time I faced one of mine. “Things have been a little crazy lately.”
William sighed. “I understand you were upset that day, and I shouldn’t have acted so heartless. I was just upset because you’d been gone a while, and right when you came home, you had to leave again.”
A tic started in my jaw.
“I asked you to come with me, Will. You were just too preoccupied with our trip to care.” My heart thumped harder as anger seeped through my veins, and I needed to rein it in before I blew up at him. “But that’s in the past.”
“So are you coming back soon?” he asked. “There’s a cruise to the Bahamas in a week that’d be nice for us to go on. It’d give us the chance to clear the air and make up.”
“Will… we’re not together anymore,” I reminded him, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. “I have no intention of getting back with you. I only called you back so we could end things on good terms. I’m sorry if you got the wrong idea.”
“The wrong idea?” he spat back. “For three months we’ve been fucking in private like I’m some dirty secret of yours. You kept telling me you’d come out eventually and for me to just be patient. And now you just dump me? You’re an asshole.”
I was about to apologize—again—but he hung up on me.
“Dammit!” I tossed my phone beside me.
I’d never wanted to hurt William. As selfish and high-maintenance as he was, he wasn’t a horrible person. Just spoiled. I took no pleasure in breaking his heart, but I couldn’t give him what he wanted.
Not when my heart belonged to someone else.
The grandfather clock in the corner of the room went off, and the sound of its chime was nostalgic. When I was little, I’d sometimes sit in front of it and wait for it to go off. Before it gave the time, it played an almost eerie melody.
Eleven o’clock.
Since I’d woken up so early that morning, I’d already done a sweep of the house and checked for any areas that I thought needed fixing. I’d also gone through a few things in various rooms and started a donation pile.
I hadn’t touched Grandpa’s more sentimental items yet, but I’d at least gotten a start on it all. I’d done so much, and it wasonlyfreaking eleven a.m.
I’d go insane if I had to stay there alone all day.
I grabbed my phone and texted Hunter.
Me:Hey. Are u allowed to have visitors for lunch?
