Chapter 4
FOUR
WREN
“Don’t say another word about it.” The next morning, I ate at a round conference room table with the cheering squad and Grace sitting next to me. She’d been hammering me all night about Eli, wanting me to quit being so mean to him. I wasn’t being mean. I was standing up for myself.
As I ate a bite of buttered whole wheat toast, my gaze snagged Eli, lumbering into the room with Nick Penny, the team’s Mike and middle linebacker, the player who called the defensive plays.
My chest pinched as I watched him. Judging from the dark circles under his eyes, he’d slept little.
Was it because of me? I pushed my toast through the yolk of my over-easy fried egg.
I’d splurged this morning as I’d need the calories and carbs for tonight’s game.
Grace leaned in close and in a low voice, said, “How can you hate him? Everyone I know says he’s such a nice guy.” Her gaze followed him as he sat at a table next to ours.
He glanced at me, winced and then threw me a tight grin.
My heart fluttered. Goddamn it, every time he looked at me, a part of me melted. But his fucking charms couldn’t take me in. “Yeah, well, nice guys stick up for their—”
“Give it a rest.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re like a broken record.” As a smirk curled her lips, she said, “Maybe I’ll have a chat with him.”
“No, you won’t.” Grasping her arm, I tossed her my best glare. “And don’t do it behind my back.” I knew she meant well, but I couldn’t let her meddle.
“But look at him?” She puffed her lower lip out. “He looks so sad over there. Usually at games he’s all boisterous and laughing with his buddies.”
“Yeah?” I watched him from the corner of my eye.
He appeared different from the man who had jogged onto the field last week.
And different from the man I’d known in high school.
He had changed. It was probably because I was here.
I dug into my egg and then drank some coffee.
“Let’s eat and leave.” I didn’t want to watch him wallow in his…
whatever the fuck he was feeling. I wouldn’t be sorry for him.
Right after lunch, I sat on the bed in my hotel room, working on an assignment on social media content while Grace was out getting coffees. I didn’t need another run-in with Eli at the coffee shop, and there was still another hour before we headed to the stadium for the game.
The door clicked and swung open. “Hey, Wren, someone’s here to see you,” she said in a singsong voice.
“Goddamn it.” She didn’t. But of course she did. I growled, slapped my laptop shut and hopped off my bed as my pulse spun through the roof.
As she approached me, she handed me a coffee. “Now, Wren, behave for once.” She ticked her shoulders, giving me a sheepish grin.
Eli crept into the room, holding a small bouquet of white carnations. “I brought these for you as a symbol of my sincere apology and a gesture of peace.”
“Isn’t he adorable?” With a squeal, Grace kissed his cheek and hopped on her toes. “I’ll leave you two alone.” She rushed from the room, the door banging shut behind her.
“Wait.” I held my hand toward her. Fuck, she’d double-crossed me.
Taking a deep breath, I forced my gaze on Eli, his sultry dark eyes framed by almost black hair and the thin layer of stubble across his jaw.
My heart somersaulted. It should be illegal for a man to be this attractive after breaking my heart.
“Wren, please take these. I mean it. I want there to be peace between us.” He stepped to me and held the flowers out.
“Fine.” I snatched the flowers from him and planted them on my nightstand. “I can’t take them home, you know.” What else could he have given me? He knew I didn’t eat candy. Though a card would have been nice. What was I thinking?
“Then leave them for the maid. I’m sure they’ll brighten his or her day.” He stepped through the room and fell into the desk chair, twisting it around to face me. “How are you?”
Dropping onto the edge of my bed, I said, “Great. Can’t you tell?” I drank my coffee. “I’m ready for the game. Are you?” Were we shooting the shit now?
“I’m trying to be.” He tensed the corner of his lips. “I didn’t sleep well last night, and I hope it doesn’t hurt my game.” His gaze fell to the floor. “I pondered what you said.”
“Okay, and?” I’d let him talk. Then maybe I could get him to leave faster. I eyed him, and my gut flickered. He was so close. We hadn’t been in the same room since the day that broke us.
“And I won’t talk about what happened anymore. What’s done is done, and if you want to hate me for it the rest of our lives, then so be it.” He gave me a sad grin. “But I want the animosity between us to end and for us to treat each other with respect.”
“I always respected you.” I held my head high. He’d been the one who’d been disrespectful. Right?
He winced. “Yeah, okay.” Rocking once, he said, “You should know I still have feelings for you.” His dark and soft gaze traveled my body to lock on mine. “I can’t help it. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved.”
With my jaw dropping and my heart thrumming against my ribcage, I stared at him. Had I heard him correctly? With a hard swallow, I croaked, “Are you serious?”
“I’m very serious.” He breathed in deeply, his chest gently rising. “It’s killing me to know you hate me so much.” His eyes grew glassy. “I know love and hate are two sides of the same coin, so is there a way—”
“No.” I twisted my head and glared at the corner of the room. As a lump crawled up my throat, my eyes stung. Shit, he was using his Eli fucking Dawson charm, the same thing that put me into this mess. But what was he offering here? “I-I don’t know.”
“Do you think you’d know in time?” He shifted his chair closer to me, his musky cologne wafting across me.
He still smelled the same as in high school.
Fuck me. There’d been times I’d gone to perfume counters and sniffed it.
It was torture, but also as comforting as a warm blanket.
“Maybe.” I couldn’t think straight with him this close.
“Let me sleep on it.” I wasn’t sure what I’d agreed to, but I had to get him out of my room.
“Okay, I’ll let you think about things. Let me know when we can talk again. I gave my cell number to Grace, so she can give it to you when you’re ready.” He stood and padded across the room, then left.
I blinked, and a hot tear tumbled down my cheek. With a snarl, I swiped it away. I’d let him get to me. In a matter of ten minutes or less, he’d crashed through years of wall building.
At the game, I focused on the few ASU fans in the stands and ran through our chants, moving my body in time with the others.
There were fewer of us at away games, so we had to be extra loud.
I glanced at the scoreboard. Trailing by a touchdown, we had a few minutes left in the first half. We’d get a break soon.
Mississippi had the ball, and the players lined up across the field.
Eli crouched in the back, one fist in the grass, his focus on the play.
I stood beside Grace with my hands behind my back, quiet for the moment while the play started on the field.
The Mississippi center snapped the ball, and their quarterback drew back a few steps, then threw a short toss to their running back.
Barreling through ASU’s defensive linemen, the running back broke free.
Eli charged him, sprinting at full speed. As Eli threw his arms out for a tackle, a behemoth offensive lineman hit him square in the chest with his helmet. Dropping to the ground in a heap, Eli lay in the grass, unmoving.
A ref threw a yellow flag, and play stopped as our other linebacker, Penny, tackled the runner.
“Holy shit, what happened?” With my heart pounding in my ears, I turned to Grace.
“Take a knee, Wren. The medic is going out.” Pursing her lips, she dropped to one knee along with the squad.
“But…but it’s Eli. Is he hurt?” With my gut wrenching, I stepped toward the field. Fuck if I could sit here and watch this and do nothing.
“Wren.” Grace snatched my arm and yanked me down. “Knee.” She glared at me.
“Fine.” I fell onto one knee and breathed through the squeezing in my chest. Jesus, maybe I cared more for Eli than I’d thought. This was all his fault. Why did he have to confuse me with the damn flowers and the feelings talk, anyway?
The medics surrounded Eli, and finally, he moved his legs and rolled onto his back.
The crowd cheered.
“Yeah, Dawson!” I screamed. “Be okay, please be okay.” I gritted my teeth. Would they sideline him for the rest of the game? But he’d been tackling like a madman tonight.
“Are you okay?” Grace hooked a brow. “If he’s hurt, you’ll still have to smile like nothing happened.”
“I know. I’ll be fine.” Or would I? Hell, I knew how to fake a smile. I swung my gaze to the field.
Eli sat up, and one medic stood, holding his hand out to him.
Taking his hand, Eli hopped to standing, shook his arms and circled his head. As he walked off the field with the medic team, he glanced at me and gave me a crooked smile.
“Thank God he’s okay.” I rose with the rest of the squad and chanted, “ASU, ASU, ASU…” while banging our pom-poms in front of our chests.
Eli strolled to the sidelines, where the medics ran further tests on him. As I chanted and we started a fresh routine, I monitored him from afar.
After the game, we’d taken buses to the airport and boarded our plane.
Where the football players had a chartered jet, we were stuck with a regular flight.
As the plane took to the air, I sat next to Grace and sighed.
Eli played again after halftime. What the hell had happened to him?
There’d been no opportunity for me to talk to him.
“Are you thinking about Eli?” She pushed her seat back as the plane leveled.
“No.” Hell, I couldn’t lie to her. “Yes.” I had yet to share what had happened in our room. We’d been so busy this afternoon. I glanced through the portal window at the city lights below, the plane’s engines rumbling through the cabin.