Page 90 of Tangled Up In You
“Stop being a drama queen,” I interjected, but seeing hisdeadface—tongue sticking out and his eyes closed—I busted out laughing.
It was those small moments in life that made me step back and appreciate them for what they were: memories I’d hold onto forever because they told of a time when we were happy and in love.
Small, seemingly insignificant moments that would end up meaning the most.
Chapter 28
Corbin
Leaving Hunter was difficult, but knowing I’d be seeing him again soon helped dull the ache. I was heading back to Kansas City for offseason workouts, and in two weeks—maybe sooner—Hunter would join me there.
As I walked toward Austin and some of the other guys on the team, I tried not to let my exhaustion show. Knowing it’d be a bit before we saw each other again, Hunter and I had stayed up all night and into the early morning fucking each other’s brains out. Even though I was tired, I didn’t regret a minute of it.
That was until we started working out, and I did squats and wall-sits. Yeah, anyone who said bottoms were weak needed a fucking reality check. It wasn’t exactly a walk through the damn park to have a thick dick up your ass. But then that thought got me thinking about Hunter and said thick dick, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from pitching a tent in front of all my teammates.
“Anyone giving you shit yet?” Austin asked after we finished cardio. We were done for the day. He wiped the sweat from his brow before running the towel through his glistening blond hair.
“Not anyone I know,” I answered, grabbing my water bottle. I took a drink and sat on the bench. “Just the usual social media trolls. Guys on the team seem okay with it. Why? Have you heard anything?”
Austin shrugged. “Nah. Basically just what you said.” He fist bumped my arm. “If anyone on the team was giving you shit, I was gonna set them straight. No one messes with my boy.”
“Better watch that kind of talk,” I said, arching a brow. “People might think you’re my bitch.”
Austin laughed and shoved me before walking toward his locker. “Man, everyone knows you’d bemybitch.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed a towel, walking into the showers.
It was then I noticed it—the way some of the guys looked at me as I entered the room. Brian, one of the linemen, shot me a look before turning his body away from me. Another guy, Anthony, didn’t shield himself or anything, but he kept an eye on me as I passed him. I tried to hide the hurt I felt and went to one of the showers.
No one said anything bad to me, but they didn’t have to. Their behavior was just as big of a slap in the face.
The days passed, and as they did, the guys on the team stopped being so weird around me. Not all of them, but most. Brian still gave me strange looks and acted like I was going to jump him sometimes, but the other guys began treating me normal again.
Hunter and I talked every night, and we had cam sex a few nights a week. I missed actually being with him, though, and I was counting down the days until he was with me.
I thought about how that could’ve been our lives for the past seven years: if he hadn’t dumped me over the phone and we had tried to make it work. However, we’d been in different mindsets back then, and maybe if we would’ve stayed together, we would’ve fucked it up beyond repair.
I was a firm believer in everything happened for a reason. Hunter and I had gone through hell so that we could come out on the other side, stronger and more in love than we’d ever been.
“Is it May twenty-fifth yet?” I asked over the phone, laying on my side on the couch and staring out the balcony window.
“Be patient,” Hunter said. “How’re things going? Are the guys still acting weird around you?”
“Nah, they’re cool now.” I flipped onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. “They wanted me to go out and party with them tonight, but I said no. How’s Daniel doing?”
“Better,” Hunter answered. “Things seem to be going great with his mom. All of the kids miss you.”
“Yeah, they probably just miss you being mean to me in class.”
Hunter laughed, and I held the phone closer to my ear. I was so lovesick it was ridiculous.
“Veronica called me the other day,” I said, saying whatever came into my head just so I could keep talking to him. It was late, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. “She met some guy in Paris named Raoul and I guess things are getting serious between them.”
“That’s great,” he responded before yawning. “She deserves to be happy. When does the magazine come out? The one y’all did in Florida.”
“Next week,” I answered.
We talked for about ten more minutes before the poor guy started sounding all raspy and tired. As much as I didn’t want to, I told him goodnight and we got off the phone. The silence of my house was deafening, and the loneliness was suffocating.
