CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Zane
The high of winning my first game back has me walking around like a god for the next week.
But it was seeing Blair that really got my blood pumping.
And not necessarily in a good way. No matter how I look at it, I can’t seem to get my head around the fact that she’s been dating that asshole.
For four goddamn years. It makes me want to shake some sense into her.
Only, I know Blair—at least, I used to know her—and she’s never been one to just fall into something. If they’re together, she made that decision for a reason. And her reason would have been well thought out. Most likely with a pros and cons list. Or a spreadsheet.
Doesn’t mean I have to like it, or accept it for that matter. No one could convince me that he’s the right guy for her. She’s worthy of more. Of better.
And she used to believe that.
I still remember one of the last arguments we had, and there were many. But in this instance, she’d said… “I don’t want to be a princess, Zane. But I deserve the world. And if I’m not your world, then what are we doing here?”
It was a valid question, and one I wished I’d answered at the time, instead of telling her she was being ridiculous.
But I can’t think about that now. For now, I’m choosing to focus on the present.
Blair may have walked away from me the other night, but that’s the longest time we’ve spent together since I was nineteen, and no one can take that away from me.
I knew I missed her. I’ve never stopped.
But I didn’t realize how much until I felt her warmth again and got to witness her beautiful smile.
I thought I had it committed to memory, the way she curls her lips and the little dimple she gets on the left side of her face, but fuck, my mind did not do it justice.
It was nice to see her happy. I don’t think I’ve ever admitted how much that’s been weighing on my mind.
But being happy with that fucker feels like torture.
She said he’s good to her and I have to believe that.
But that guy lives in his head. At least he did back when I knew him, and I doubt that’s changed.
So much keeps playing on my mind… Like, does he even know the real Blair, or did she settle? I wanted her to move on. I wanted her to have the life she deserved, without me there as a constant reminder of the accident. But she chose Nathan. And he was there too.
So, I have to wonder…has she moved on at all?
I torture myself with thoughts of Blair for my entire drive to the stadium, but once I arrive for our Saturday practice, I shake off my thoughts, purging all negativity from my mind.
Despite everything that’s been haunting me, I’m still obnoxiously happy when I enter the locker room. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t feel like that was the last time I’ll see Blair, and that’s enough for me.
Reed’s by the door when I walk in, and even his presence makes me smile. “Any closer to being able to play?” I ask, genuinely curious this time.
He frowns and I instantly regret my question until that frown turns sympathetic. “What’s going on?” And why do I get a feeling that look is for me?
“I’m guessing you haven’t seen the news?”
“What news?” I ask casually as my stomach sinks, and when he winces, I panic.
“What news?” I repeat, my mind taking me back to the night of the accident and the days following.
The flashing lights. The media surrounding us.
The headlines. Dread spreads through me like wildfire, and yet my body chills.
Did something happen to Blair? No, it can’t have. Reed doesn’t know her.
He gestures for me to move away from the door and I follow as he speaks. “There’s a story about—”
“Zane!” D’Angelo cuts in, calling out from across the room, beckoning me over when I turn his way.
“What story?” I ask, ignoring the guy that calls the shots, too anxious to wait.
But of course, Reed doesn’t ignore him. “I’d say D’Angelo’s about to fill you in. You better go.”
Fuck. I throw my bag down and follow him into the hallway, my mood fading fast.
“What did I do this time?” I grate when we reach the end of the corridor, being a dick for no reason, and despite the fact that he could fire me on the spot, I don’t take it back.
Standing tall, I wait for Sal to argue, but he shocks me when he curses under his breath, his voice pained. “You don’t know?”
“No, what the hell is going on?”
“Why don’t you come to my office?”
I still for a beat, shaking my head. “No, fuck that. Tell me now. Have I been dropped? Is that it?”
“Definitely not,” Sal’s quick to reassure me. “You have our support, one hundred percent. But a story has come out… It’s about your past in Jacksonville and—”
“Goddammit. Blair.”
“Who?”
“Just a friend who doesn’t need my past coming back to haunt her. I thought we were done with this. What are they saying?”
With an agonizingly slow breath, Sal fills me in.
“Old reports from a Florida news outlet are resurfacing about you being involved in an accident a few years back. A collision that killed two young women.” His voice trails off as a ringing fills my ears, along with a deafening screech that makes my head ache.
My heart pounds to unbearable levels until Sal grabs my arm, his touch snapping me back to the present.
“There’s more.” He winces as though he hates breaking this news, but he needn’t worry—it’s not news if I’ve already heard it.
“The reporter says that while you weren’t driving, they believe you caused the crash. ” He pauses, his expression apologetic.
But it’s true.
“Did they name the driver?” I stiffen, my muscles tight.
“No.”
Thank God. The tension leaves my body as I sigh.
My sister was underage at the time of the accident, so her personal details and the specifics surrounding the accident were concealed from the general public. Only those that knew us know. I wasn’t sure if they’d still honor that now, years later. But thankfully they have.
“Is it big?” I ask, wondering if Reed and Sal only heard about it because they have alerts for the team, or if the world knows and I’m the only sucker here playing catch-up.
Sal cringes again and I have my answer. It’s big. Which means if Blair hasn’t heard yet, she soon will.
Fuck. I need to talk to her. No, I need to talk to Cade. Blair never wanted to talk about it back then, and I don’t think that’s changed.
Sal says something else, and I tune in enough to get the gist of him asking if I’m okay, or if I need anything, but I wave him off on both counts.
I’m fine. I’ve been through this before. I can handle it. It’s other people I’m worried about. Namely Blair. She doesn’t need a refresher of the shitty things that happened in her past.
All because that asshole is lying unconscious in the hospital. Taunting me. Making me question if I’m about to add another death to my list. Another one I got away with.
Straightening my posture, I pat D’Angelo on the arm and jog back to the locker room, walking in on a few of the guys talking about the headlines, with Luke telling them to shut up.
“Yeah, yeah. But what I don’t understand is how come this never came up when they were making the show?” one of the rookies asks. “They need season two.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Luke seethes. “You’re talking about your teammates’ lives.”
“So?” The rookie lifts his hands in the air. “I missed out. I want to be a part of it.”
“Wow. The irony,” Luke muses and I actually smile.
“What irony?” the rookie asks, cockiness gone, his brows pinched in confusion.
“He means that you’re just like me,” I cut in, answering for Luke. “Desperate for the spotlight. But to answer your question, they never found out what I did back then because I gave them enough to stop looking.”
The guys fall silent until someone curses behind me, and I don’t have to turn to guess who.
But I do, finding Easton with a scowl that could crush souls. “You little fucker,” he seethes. “You dragged me into the spotlight… No, actually, you dragged my son into the spotlight to protect yourself?”
“Yep,” I say confidently, only it’s not quite true. I didn’t do it for me. “I’m sorry about your son. But I’d do it all again if I had to.”
When our previous owner decided to produce a TV show about the team, I knew they were going to start digging, and I needed the attention to go elsewhere.
In the beginning, I managed to hold them off with just my cocky persona, because Amelia—Luke’s now wife and the director of the show—was a decent human being.
But after she left, the producers wanted more.
They needed the drama surrounding her departure to disappear, and to do that, they started looking for something bigger.
And I had the story of a lifetime.
Only, I wasn’t handing it over.
Instead, I took advantage of my situation with Easton.
I figured if I gave them all the juicy details about our fight, including me sleeping with his ex, they wouldn’t go digging.
I was right.
In a TV series showcasing the lives of a football team, what’s more dramatic than internal fighting?
Juicier than teammates fucking each other’s partners?
More shocking than the fact that said teammate’s partner knew who she was sleeping with, and did it to piss him off?
Easton’s ex, Macy, chose me to get back at him. On purpose.
It was the perfect story to tell.
I’m not proud of it, but it worked. And as I told Easton, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Easton huffs under his breath and I admit, I feel bad. But I couldn’t risk the accident making headlines again. For my sister. My family. And Blair.
But now that it has, the least I can do is help.
Blair came back into my life for a reason. Maybe this is it.
Imake it three quarters of the way home after practice before reluctantly calling Cade. I avoid talking to him at the best of times, but discussing his sister is even less appealing, so when he doesn’t answer, I consider it a win. Until he calls right back.
“You had to go and hurt someone else, didn’t you? You’re lucky he’s not dead.”
“The fuck, Cade. What kind of person says that?”
“The kind that’s just finished talking to his sister because her best friend’s all over the news again. Sort of. You know what I mean.”
“Yep.” Unfortunately, I do.
“Is that why you called?” he asks, already knowing the answer.
“It is. I wanted to ask if she was okay, but I can’t call her.”
“Why? Her number’s the same.”
“She blocked me.”
“No way.” Cade bursts out laughing and I wince. He hit a nerve.
“Way,” I respond, my voice dripping in sarcasm. God, I wish I was there to punch him.
Cade hums and I can picture his amused expression. “Good for her. Consider this a proud big brother moment. When did she do that?”
“Seven years ago.”
“What?” He pauses for a beat, and while the truth stings, the break gives me time to preemptively roll my eyes, despite the fact he can’t see me. “Wow,” he overexaggerates. “Well, there you go. I always thought she was upset over you leaving.”
Fuck. I wince again. “She was.” But that’s not the only reason she blocked me.
“I—” Cade starts to say more but I don’t let him. That’s not why I called.
“How’s she doing?”
“Not great, but she had a feeling it was coming, after you—”
“Put a guy on life support? Yeah, I get it. You know it was an accident, right?”
“Yep. That doesn’t make it any easier on Blair.”
“Fuck. I know. I should go and see her.”
“Nope.”
“Nope?”
“You need to let her deal with this herself. If she wants to speak to you, she’ll unblock you and make the call.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
“Then you’ve got your answer.”
I sigh. Loudly. Not bothering to hide it. “You’re a dick sometimes. You better be looking out for her.”
“Always. But you know what? She wants me to look out for you. And here I was thinking the two of you were only friends because of me.”
My chest tightens but I ignore it. “You’ve already admitted you didn’t believe that. I’m hanging up.”
“Wait. I love you, man. I’m worried about you too.”
“Don’t be. I’m fine.”
“Yeah, yeah. I knew you’d say that.”
“Then we’re good. Take care of Blair.” I hang up as he’s saying something else, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what. He will. Only he’s lying. Because Blair won’t let him. She proved that when she asked him to look after me.
Cade’s right though. I need to let her handle this the way she wants to. But fuck, it’s going to be hard.
Doing the right thing, I focus on football and not much else for the next couple of weeks. But when an opportunity presents itself, I struggle to be good.
“Zane?” Reed calls out on my way into practice and I laugh incredulously. He can’t help himself.
“You’re back?” I say excitedly, knowing that he’s not. “Congrats, man.” My lips pull into a smirk and he scoffs, jokingly rolling his eyes.
“You’re hilarious. I’m not here to practice; I’m here for you.”
“How many times do I have to tell you—”
“Hayley knows Jenna,” he interrupts my joking and I freeze, racking my brain for who the hell that is. Jenna. Jenna. Wait… My eyes widen in recognition.
“From LA?”
“Yeah. She said you might want her number, but I wasn’t…”
He trails off when I curse under my breath.
“Shit. Don’t tell me she’s fucking with us. Hayls said she was genuine and—”
“No, it’s okay. I know her. I do. I want her number.” I shouldn’t. I really fucking shouldn’t.
I promised myself I’d leave Blair alone. She has my number. All she has to do is unblock me and use it.
But now Jenna’s reaching out and I have to wonder why.
And she knows Hayley?
Is that some kind of kismet? Is that even the right word? Either way, there’s no way I can let this gift pass.
“Give it to me. I’ll get in touch.”
“Done. I’ll get Hayley to send it.”
“Thanks.” I turn to walk away until curiosity gets the better of me. “How does Hayley know her?” I ask, trying to figure out just how coincidental it is.
Reed’s genuine smile lights up his face. “They’re working together on a miniseries in LA. Would you believe they only have one scene together and still managed to figure out the connection?”
“Doesn’t surprise me. Girls can talk. They’re much better sleuths than we are.”
“You’re not wrong. But now that’s out of the way. How are you doing?” I inhale slowly, ready to tell him I’m fine until he continues on. “Have the media been hounding you?”
I pause, my breath caught in my throat. They haven’t. And I haven’t questioned it until now. “Surprisingly not,” I tell him, my mind in a spin. “Lucky me.” I force a smile and Reed laughs.
“Maybe they realized it was old news.”
“Here’s hoping.” I smile again, my cheeks hurting from the unnatural movement, when what I really want to do is scream.
Because…I seriously doubt the story has vanished.
And if it’s not me they’re hounding…
Who the fuck is it?