Page 19 of The Transfer
Knowing she left a lot out, I try to nudge her in the direction that will hopefully give me answers I may or may not like. “Did you date or something? He seems to be into you.”
“Or something,” she says in a tone I’ve never heard from her before. It’s a little angry and a lot hurt. That’s all I get. She’s shut down, and my questions will only make it worse, so I quit, for now.
“Oh, okay. Well, Sunshine, whatever went down between y’all, he’s an idiot if he let you get away.” A blush creeps up her cheeks, and she gives me a genuine smile.Take that, Drew Cole!
“I don’t know about all that,” she responds. I think it only adds to her allure—the fact that she is oblivious to her beauty and that every man in the room has had his eyes on her.
“Trust me, it’s true,” I say quietly, but she startles just a little, so I know she heard me.
We geta lunch break after the first two games, and I’m relieved. Drew has had his attention on her more than the games he’s supposed to be refereeing. The idiot has blown a few calls, and I love watching the coaches ream him for it.
Looking next to me, I see Reagan pulling her bag from the floor, and I decide to try to spend some time with her. “I was thinking we could grab lunch. My treat. You pick wherever you want to go,” I tell her, just as Drew shows up at the scorer’s table again.
“Sounds perfect,” she says as she stands from the uncomfortable chairs we’ve been sitting in all morning.
“Yeah, sounds great. I’m starving!” Drew pipes up, giving me a death glare.
I turn and see it on Reagan’s face that she feels guilty. I guess I’m going to lunch with Reagan and Drew freaking Cole.
THIRTEEN
REAGAN
Well, this day has been awkward to say the least. I was not expecting to see Drew today, and Riggs quickly picked up on my reaction, trying to ask about our past. He knows a little, but not everything. I’m not sure I’m ready to divulge all of that yet.
As the last game of the day ends, I start helping Riggs get everything put away. Typically, the refs bounce before the teams are even done in the locker room. Drew, however, lingers.
“Rea Rea,” he says, “can I just talk to you for a few minutes, please?”
I still for a second. I have given him the cold shoulder for the past few years, and the distance has allowed me to mostly get over him. But it only takes a moment for all those old feelings to find their way back to the surface. That is what I’m afraid of, a repeat of high school.
I don’t know if there is anything Drew can say to fix what he broke. I think about Lindsey encouraging me to talk to him. Something deep down knows that I need to listen to Drew, even if all it gives me is closure.
“Yeah, but not here,” I say as I approach him. He nods his head in surprise, and we go outside, out of earshot from anyone else, on a bench near the empty quad.
He doesn’t say anything at first, so I break the silence. “What do you want to say, Drew?”
He rubs his big hands down his face before answering. I haven’t seen Drew nervous before, but that is exactly what he is right now. It’s like a knee-jerk reaction for me to want to comfort him, so I gently put my hand on his leg, and his whole body relaxes.
“Reagan.” His voice is choked, and tears well up in his eyes. I give him a moment to compose himself, and he does.
“What happened back then was not what you think. I am so sorry I didn’t force this conversation earlier, but you shut me out completely. Your dad wouldn’t let me talk to you, and well, you know what happened when I tried to talk to J…”
“I couldn’t see you or talk to you. You broke my heart, Drew,” I say without crying, which is a huge win for me.
He looks into my eyes with more pain and hurt than I can imagine. “I broke my heart too, Reagan.”
That feels like a slap in the face. “What are you talking about?”
“You really don’t know, do you? I thought maybe Jordan told you, and you just didn’t…”
Before he can finish the sentence, I interrupt him with my hand in front of me. “Stop. My brother knows what you’re going to tell me?” My brother held me through my tears, but he had the answer I had wondered about for the last few years. It’s not something I can focus on right now.
Drew’s eyes widen, knowing now that my brother has never shared this with me. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Honestly, that makes me feel better. Because if you knew and wouldn’t talk to me, that would have hurt beyond anything I could ever imagine.”
My racing heart and anxious stomach can’t take it anymore. “Tell me, Drew. I’m sorry I didn’t give you this chance before. I wasn’t ready, but I am now.” My eyes focus on him, bracing myself for what he might say.
“In high school, I kept a lot of things hidden, especially my home life. My parents were heading for a divorce a long time before senior year, but with our family reputation, everything was kept quiet.
