Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
Colton
Something had changed between Colton and Lucia since Thanksgiving, and he couldn’t be sure if he was the only one who felt it.
By the end of the evening, he’d known he was screwed, but he hadn’t known the extent.
Then, later, when Isa had told him he needed to leave Lucia alone because she deserved better than to be used as a pawn in his game against Clark, he’d snapped.
He’d confessed feelings he hadn’t even had an opportunity to work through on his own.
“Lucia has divided the timeline of my life in two: before she came to Charleston, and after,” he’d said.
“Nothing has been clearer to me than the fact that she deserves far better than I could ever give her.” He cringed at the memory, remembering how he’d quieted his words so Lucia wouldn’t overhear.
Who was he kidding? Isa had most definitely told her every ill-conceived word of his admission, and clearly, she didn’t feel the same way because she hadn’t made any mention of it since.
And that was okay. He was content with whatever she was willing to give him, even if the thought of their imminent breakup made his hands sweat and his heart splinter.
But they’d agreed to the break up because it was what was best for their careers, and he needed to get on board.
The Sabers had enough wins to go to the playoffs, and if he wanted another chance at the championship, he needed to prevent any and all distractions.
Especially beautiful, brunette ones who he would willingly give up football for so he could spend the rest of his lifetime worshiping at her feet.
Regardless of her feelings, to keep up appearances, they continued their outings together.
Cooper had invited them to double date, stating that he felt he hadn’t hung out with Colton as much as they usually did during the season.
Colton had given Lucia an out—many, actually, because he really didn’t want to go—but she’d convinced him it would be fun.
Unsurprisingly, Cooper had pulled out all the stops.
When he wanted to enjoy a night out, he truly made sure he did.
The restaurant he’d chosen was completely empty, and at Colton’s questioning look, his best friend admitted that he’d reserved it for the evening so they wouldn’t have to deal with any press or fans.
Colton refrained from reminding Cooper that the woman on his arm was, in fact, a fan. Colton had no idea where his friend found these women, but this one hardly spoke, eyes sparkling and grin wide like she’d won the lottery.
Lucia smiled over at her as they looked through the menu, their very excited server standing a few feet away. “Have you lived in Charleston long?”
The woman—whom Colton referred to in his mind as Bouncy because he’d been too busy watching Lucia smile when she’d introduced herself—clapped her hands together.
“Since college! I decided to stay when I got a job here.”
“Oh, what do you do?”
“I work in advertising.”
Lucia set her menu down, and Colton noticed the way her finger stayed pointed at what he assumed she wanted to order. He smiled.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s okay. It gets really fun around the championship when everybody wants ads with the Sabers.” She patted Cooper’s hand. “That’s how we first met, actually. My agency had a client who wanted Cooper here for an insurance ad.”
Cooper grinned at Lucia. “Not looking into a new profession, I hope. Colton won’t survive if you leave the Sabers. He needs his emotional support Lucia.”
Colton kicked his friend under the table. “Dick,” he muttered.
Lucia’s laugh was melodic, echoing around the empty restaurant.
She inched slightly closer to him, her leg resting against his in the booth.
“I don’t know why everybody says that. Colton is the most capable quarterback in the league right now, he doesn’t need me anymore.
I’m not sure he’s needed me since the third or fourth regular season game.
All he needs to remember is to scramble his feet a little better and not release the ball early. ”
Colton whipped his head to look at her, frowning.
“That’s ridiculous. You’ve helped me through every single game this season.
” He didn’t know how many times he’d told her so, not sure why she was selling herself short.
He’d tell her for as long as it took for her to understand that he was being honest.
Cooper all but guffawed. “See? I told you. This guy’s life just flashed before his eyes at the thought of you leaving.”
Colton was going to kill his best friend. For real.
Lucia rolled her eyes like she didn’t believe it, turning back to Bouncy.
“How fun about the ads, though! I bet they’re gonna have a lot of calls asking for them after the championship this year.
” Colton’s heart soared to hear she believed in him and his team enough to place them back in the championship.
“Actually, yeah, I heard that after last season, there were a lot of calls asking for Cooper and Colton to shoot together.”
Their overzealous server walked over and asked for their orders. When he’d taken them down in his little pad, he grabbed their dinner menus and set a beverage and dessert menu in front of them.
Colton tensed when Lucia’s hand found his thigh, his dick shooting up to attention at her touch. She stifled a giggle when she noticed the way he shifted. He knew she loved torturing him, especially in public, and dinner with his best friend and his date was no different.
“So, is it true you guys got together in college?”
Lucia stiffened at Bouncy’s question. “Uh, what?”
Even Cooper seemed to have tensed. “You shouldn’t listen to everything you hear, Liv.”
“Where did you hear that?” Colton asked.
Bouncy—Liv—seemed less sure of herself as she responded to Colton. “Oh, people at the agency were talking about it. All of those silly news articles talk about how you guys both went to school in Los Angeles.”
Lucia shook her head, and Colton’s heart sank as she removed her hand from his leg. “Um, no. We didn’t know each other very well back then. Different colleges.”
Colton knew the topic was sensitive because she’d been with Clark in college, and obviously, those memories were still bothering her. But he wondered if there was more. If she was still upset about his accusations that Isa had slept with Vinny, used his friend to get information.
How miserable had he made her life back then? Everything he’d done and said in the name of school spirit and rivalry had been aimed at Max, but he wondered how much of it had affected her, too.
A hand reached inside him and squeezed his heart tightly. He’d have to talk to her about that, because the last thing he wanted was for him to still be the cause of any strife for her.
A few minutes of silence later, Lucia seemingly still inside of her head, Liv reached over to her. “I’m sorry I said anything. I’ll be sure to straighten out the story at work. How did you two get together, then?”
Colton jumped in, hoping to save Lucia. “We were spending a lot of time together for work, and we started to realize…” What had they started to realize?
That they didn’t actually have any reason to hate each other?
That they were uncontrollably attracted to each other?
He didn’t know how to end the sentence, but luckily, Lucia did.
“We liked each other. And then the media was all over it even though we wanted to keep it silent, and now here we are.”
Liv nodded somberly. “Yeah, unfortunately Colton and Cooper are far too important in this city for any gossip to fly under the radar.” That was an understatement.
Their food arrived quickly, and they remained mostly silent as they ate besides the occasional question from Lucia, who tried her hardest to make Cooper’s date feel welcome and included.
When their waiter came back to ask if they wanted dessert, Liv whispered to Cooper, who shook his head once. “I don’t know about y’all, but we’re gonna head out.”
Colton took in Lucia’s barely slumped shoulders and the sad look in her eyes which had lingered there since the topic of Max had come up, even as she did her best to smile at Cooper and his date. Colton shook his head as well. “No, we’re ready to head out too.”
The waiter deflated but smiled as he brought them the check and thanked them for the night.
The car ride from the restaurant to Lucia’s house was silent.
He wasn’t sure if she was thinking or angry with him, but he wanted to make sure they talked through it.
It wasn’t until they reached her porch, his body shielding her from the guy who seemed to stand outside of her house perpetually with a camera, that he spoke.
“Can we talk about what happened?”
Her eyes searched his face, and he hated the pained look in them. She nodded wordlessly, and he followed her inside her house for the first time.
He knew her house was a haven of sorts for her, which is why they were always at his, and he was thankful they were finally at the point where she trusted him enough to let him in.
It was decorated exactly the way he’d imagined it would be, whites and tans and browns with greens splashed here and there. It was very her, down to the wine bottle open on the counter and the blue-light glasses resting next to her tablet.
She sat on her couch, and the look she gave him seemed to ask him to join her. He sat beside her, giving her some room in case she wanted distance.
“Luc?” he asked uncertainly.
“I’m sorry that you…that you felt like we cheated you out of your senior season.
But sometimes, I remember how horrible you were to Max, and how he’d—” She sniffled, swiping at her face angrily.
“How he’d react to it. And I know he was just as bad, maybe worse, toward you.
And I know he probably deserved it. But I was always stuck dealing with the consequences. ”