Chapter 2
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Kyle
Nothing like showing up to a wedding after he’d already missed the ceremony and the dinner thanks to a delay at the airport that had him stranded in Chicago for four hours.
He probably should have just gone up to his room in the hotel and skipped the wedding. He and Benji might have been close during his one year in college but they’d barely seen each other in the years since. He’d been shocked to even get an invitation to the wedding.
The only reason he’d come was because Benji played for the Strikers. The same team that Dallas Ramos played for.
The Dallas Ramos who was married to Ruby Mullen whose sister just so happened to be the one woman he’d never been able to forget.
Celia Mullen.
God, she’d been so sweet and sexy and made him so happy. All he’d wanted was to spend his life with her, but she’d had other ideas. He’d asked her to come with him to Arizona after he’d been called up, and when she”d said no, he’d pleaded with her to keep their relationship going even if it was long distance. Again she’d said no, telling him she didn’t love him and that she didn’t want to have anything to do with him any longer.
His heart had broken into a million pieces.
And it had never been the same since.
For the first six months after she’d broken his heart, he’d put all his focus into baseball. It worked too. He’d earned rookie of the year for that first year and gotten stronger during the off-season. By the time spring training started, he’d let the pain go enough to try and move on.
And by moving on, that meant sleeping with any willing woman.
For a while, it worked. He’d forgotten all about Celia and how much he’d loved her. He’d pushed her so far from his mind that, even if he heard her name, he would be hard-pressed to remember who she”d been to him.
It didn’t matter that when he closed his eyes each night, she was the first thing he saw. He couldn’t control his mind while sleeping. During the waking hours though, she wasn’t a part of his life. He’d effectively cut her out for good.
After a couple of years of whoring around, he ended up meeting a nice girl who made him laugh and burned up the sheets with him. For almost a year, he was happy, never once thinking of Celia, even when he closed his eyes. That all went to hell when Rachel decided she was sick of playing second fiddle to baseball. She wanted him home more and hated that he was always traveling or working out.
They fought for weeks until he’d finally had enough and had broken up with her.
That”s when his dreams of Celia started again.
She was in his head and his damn heart and nothing short of death would get rid of her.
It was about a year later when he’d read about Ruby and Dallas on a magazine cover while he was shopping in a grocery store. Ironic, since a grocery store is where he’d first met Celia.
That had made him search for Celia on social media only to find all of her accounts private with no pictures or any public info. Her shit was locked down tight and he took that as a sign that she did not want him to contact her.
So once again, he’d tried to let her go. Until the day he received the invitation to Benji Melton’s wedding.
It was as if the universe was on his side.
He’d never met Ruby when he and Celia had been together but he figured he could approach her and ask about her. After all, they’d been photographed out together at least once, so it was highly likely Ruby knew who he was.
All he wanted was an update on Celia. For all he knew, she was married with a couple of kids. He’d be fine with that.
No, that was a lie.
He didn’t want her married and he didn’t want her having kids with anyone else.
They’d loved each other once and what he really wanted was for her to love him again.
Because he’d never stopped loving her.
He could hear the music pumping loudly in the hallway as he approached the ballroom. There were lots of guests milling around and he looked at all of them to see if he recognized anyone. To his surprise, his eyes landed on Heath Bailey, a pitcher for the Los Angeles Emperors.
“Bailey,” Kyle said as he strolled up to him. “What the hell are you doing here?” The two men shook hands.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“Benji and I went to the same junior college.”
“Small fucking world. I sort of fell into this group thanks to my sister. Hannah married Edwin Boyle a few months ago. Since then, I’ve come to know all these guys pretty well and somehow Cassidy and Benji invited me to their wedding.” He shrugged as if it was no big deal.
“At least that gives me a friendly face in the crowd tonight. I’m not sure how many other people I know.” He looked around. “I’ve met some of these guys at sports awards and banquets, but I can’t claim any of them as friends.”
“Let me introduce you around.” Heath slapped him on the back. “But first, I think you need a drink.”
“Fuck, yeah, I do.”
At the bar, he ordered a beer before Heath pulled him over to a group of people. “Guys, this is Kyle Dulanay. He’s the starting first baseman for Arizona.”
“Cooper Holland.” Of course, Kyle knew who Cooper Holland was. Even if he didn’t know anything about soccer, he’d probably know who Cooper was. He was a legend.
“Nice to meet you.” They shook hands.
“This is my wife, Mae,” Cooper said.
Mae gave a small wave. “It’s good to meet you.”
The man on the other side of Cooper stuck his hand out. “Shane Bradley, and this is my wife, Allana.”
“Oh wow.” He’d been playing professional baseball long enough to not get star-struck anymore, but Shane Bradley was a fucking billionaire. And from what he’d heard, treated his team as a family. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“How do you know Cassidy?” Shane tipped his head and studied him.
“I actually haven’t met her yet. I went to college with Benji.”
Shane’s wife, Allana, swatted him on the shoulder. “Stop trying to intimidate the man.” Allana looked back to Kyle. “He takes his role as Cassidy’s brother very seriously.”
“You’re Cassidy’s brother?” Kyle was befuddled. He’d had no clue they were related.
“I am,” Shane said.
He didn”t pay attention to gossip, trying at all costs to ignore it, which was why he”d probably never heard that his friend was marrying the sister of the owner of the team he happened to play for. He imagined that had been a little odd in the beginning.
“Oh look, there’s Benji and Cassidy now!” Mae said excitedly. “Why don’t you go say hi?”
Kyle did just that, walking up to his old friend.
“Kyle!” Benji said, grabbing him and giving him a hug. “It’s so good to see you, man.”
“It’s good to see you too.” They stepped apart. “Congratulations.”
Benji grinned from ear to ear. “This gorgeous lady is my wife, Cassidy. Cass, this is Kyle Dulanay.”
Cassidy blinked several times looking from Benji to him, but then she smiled and said, “It’s nice to meet you.” She gave Benji a quick hug. “You two talk while I grab a new drink.”
Benji pulled her back to him before she could walk away and kissed her soundly. Kyle felt like he should look away but it was over before he had the chance.
“I can”t believe you’re married,” Kyle said.
“Believe it.” Benji couldn’t stop smiling and Kyle felt more than a little envious of his old friend. “Cassidy is amazing and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her.”
“Sorry I missed the ceremony. My plane was delayed more than once.”
Benji waved it off. “You’re here now. That’s all that matters. Let me introduce you to a few people.”
“Speaking of, I happened to meet your new brother-in-law a few minutes ago. You never told me Cassidy was Shane Bradley’s sister.”
“The fact that you didn’t know tells me that you still don’t pay any attention to the media or gossip.”
“A long time ago, you were the same, if I remember correctly.” Benji hated the media and avoided it at all costs when they were younger.
“You’re not wrong. But I’ve learned that sometimes the media can be useful. And it helps that my agent is a rockstar.”
That he knew. His own agent, Barry, out of a California firm, was always talking about this small firm in Valley Falls that was taking over. Kyle had wondered many times if he should approach them and think about switching.
“Oh look, there’s Dallas and Ruby. You know Dallas Ramos, right?”
Shit, this was it. The moment he’d been thinking about since he’d gotten the invitation to the wedding. “Uh yeah, we’ve met a few times over the years.” They got closer and closer to Dallas and Ruby and Kyle swore anyone walking by could hear his heart beating.
“Ruby is great, you”ll love her too and she has a sister, Celia who is one of Cassidy’s best friends.”
Kyle stopped walking abruptly. If Celia was one of Cassidy’s best friends, did that mean she was there? “Celia is here?” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.
Benji stopped walking, turning to look at him. “You know Celia?” His face showed confusion but Kyle couldn’t worry about that. All he could worry or think about was that he was going to get to see Celia.
“Where is she?” Panic on a level he’d never felt before set in. He needed to see her now. As soon as possible.
Benji stepped closer, placing a hand on his arm. “Man, are you okay?”
He shook his head. “Celia. I need to see Celia.” He was frantic but knowing she was there did something to him. Things he hadn”t felt in eight years came rushing back.
Feelings he couldn’t deny no matter how hard he tried.
“Let’s see if we can find her.” Benji steered him through the crowd until it opened up to the dance floor.
He scanned the floor frantically, his eyes landing on her in the middle of the floor.
She was in another man’s arms.
His blood boiled and rage set in. He knew he had no right to be jealous or angry or upset. It had been eight years since he’d seen her. Eight years since she’d broken his heart.
There was nothing between them any longer, and yet, his heart wouldn’t—couldn’t—let her go.
Before he could approach her, Cassidy went barreling out onto the dance floor toward Celia, leaning in and whispering something in her ear. Her expression changed in the blink of an eye. She went from happy and laughing to shocked and almost fearful.
Her gaze looked around the room until it landed on him.
She gasped, her mouth opening and her eyes going wide.
That answered the question of whether Cassidy knew about him. Something he’d wondered the moment Benji had introduced him to her. Something about her look had told him she knew who he was. And not as a friend of Benji’s.
“I have no idea what’s going on,” Benji said. “But it seems as though my wife does.”
Kyle was barely listening to him. All he could see was Celia. She looked even more gorgeous than she had at eighteen. Her body was lush and full with a waist and hips he was dying to sink his fingers into. At eighteen, he’d thought she was hot. Eight years later, he found that the woman in front of him was downright sexy.
Should he approach her? Say hi?
Benji left his side and strolled onto the dance floor, taking Cassidy’s hand and leading her away from Celia. The guy Celia had been dancing with asked her a question and she shook her head. He didn’t know what the guy asked, but seconds later he walked away, leaving Celia alone on the floor.
It was now or never.
As he walked closer to her, the fear on her face increased. What was she afraid of? Was it him? Had he done something to make her fear him?
“Celia,” he said, his voice barely a whisper when he was within arms reach of her.
She visibly swallowed. “What are you doing here, Kyle?”
“Benji and I went to college together.” Was she shaking? It sure as hell looked like it. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head excessively. “No, I’m not okay. I never expected to see you again.” Before her last word was out of her mouth, she dashed off leaving him standing in the middle of the dance floor, more confused than the day she’d broken up with him.
What was going on?
A hand touched his shoulder and he turned to find Dallas Ramos standing next to him. “Why don’t we get some air?”
In a complete haze of confusion, Kyle followed Dallas through the ballroom, and outside to a covered patio where cool air greeted them even though there were heaters scattered around the perimeter.
Standing there waiting for them was Ruby, Dallas’ wife and Celia’s sister.
“Kyle,” she stretched out her hand, “I’m Ruby, Celia’s sister.”
He shook her hand, still confused as ever. “Yeah, I know.”
“I figured you did.”
“Can someone tell me what is happening? Why does it seem like Celia is afraid of me? Why did she run?”
“I can’t answer all your questions,” Ruby said in a strong voice. “Those are for you and her to work out.”
He was practically shaking. “She’s not afraid of me, is she? I would never hurt her. She’s the one who broke up with me.”
“Eight years ago,” Dallas said. “Why are you acting as if it was yesterday?”
He closed his eyes and ran a very frustrated hand down his face. “She was the love of my life, and for no reason I could understand, she broke up with me.”
“You were what, twenty-one?” Ruby asked. “How could you have known she was the love of your life? And for that matter, what does that matter now? It’s been years.”
“Love doesn’t work on a timetable. It didn’t matter how old I was or that we were both young. I knew the minute I saw her that she was it for me. And it matters because that kind of love doesn’t go away just because the person does.”
“Are you telling us that you’re still in love with Celia?” Dallas asked.
He shrugged and groaned. “I don’t know, not really. But the feelings I had for her came rushing back as soon as I knew she was here. Hell, for weeks since I got the invitation to this wedding, I’ve been going over and over the possibility that I could meet you and hear just a little bit about Celia and what she’s been up to. I had no clue she’d be here and I definitely didn’t know she was a bridesmaid.”
Ruby sighed, looking at Dallas. “I’m going to do something that I probably shouldn’t.” She looked back at Kyle. “I’m going to go get Celia and bring her out here.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” Dallas said.
“I have no idea, but I do know she can’t ignore him forever.” She walked away, leaving him with just Dallas.
“I didn’t mean to cause a scene.” His mind had stopped working the second he’d heard she was there.
“I know and really, it wasn’t a scene. Or not anything this group isn’t used to. There’s always some sort of drama going on.”
Kyle let himself relax as much as he could. It was hard to do when he knew Celia could walk out the door any moment.
He thought back to Dallas asking if he was still in love with her. That was a question he’d asked himself so many times over the years, and even though he knew he still had feelings for her, he wasn”t sure if it was love. He’d loved her so much during those three months they’d been together. And when she’d broken up with him, he’d thought he’d die. Everything on him and inside him physically hurt for days. When he’d finally let her go and moved on, he thought things would be better.
Only, he never really got over her. All he’d done was push her into a box in the back of his heart.
At some point in the last few weeks, that box had burst open and all the feelings he’d had for her had resurfaced.
There was no way to push them back down in the box and lock it away again.
And he wasn’t sure he wanted to.