Chapter 23
Unknown
You motherfucking piece of shit. I should have known better than to trust a lowlife football player like you. I’m going to make your life miserable.
What the hell?
“You okay?” Troy asks as we’re taxiing down the runway at Denver’s Centennial Airport.
“I got a pretty threatening text from an unknown number,” I murmur, showing Troy my phone.
“Woah. You want me to track the person down?” he asks.
Another text comes through.
Unknown
She TRUSTED YOU. You got her to break down her walls, and then you took advantage. You. Will. PAY.
A foreboding sensation wafts over me, sending chills down my spine. Who trusted me?
I think back to any interactions I’ve had over the past six months that someone might misconstrue as misleading. Granted, my ability to recognize normal social cues is nonexistent, so I don’t come up with any winners.
“Jesus,” Troy says, reading the second text. “Who the fuck did you piss off?”
“I have no idea. The only woman I met recently was a woman from my night out with Jax, and then Audrey and her best friend. It can’t be the first woman.
I don’t even remember her name, so there were no walls to break down.
We didn’t even have sex, because she kicked me out beforehand.
So that leaves Audrey and her best friend. ”
“Who is Audrey? Oh, the vet.” His eyes narrow. “What the actual fuck, Jamie? You said it was nothing! She’s the one you’ve been with this entire time. Am I right? It was more serious than you’ve led on.”
I sigh, resting my head against the seat. “We made a deal to keep things private until after the event. I want to protect her as much as I can, Troy. I’ve never had a truly public relationship, and the fans are going to go nuts. She’s not ready for that.”
As the flight attendant motions for us that we’re able to get up, Troy grabs my arm.
“You should have told me. I have to protect you, which means her as well. I can’t get in front of things I don’t know about.
I should have asked more questions. I fucking knew you weren’t being completely truthful about this. ”
“I hate lying. You know that. But I’ll do anything for Audrey.” I look at Troy, then say the thing I’ve barely admitted to myself. “I’m in love with her, man. She’s the one.”
He nods, giving me a grin. “Okay. I’d like to meet her, and then we can all work out a plan to protect both of you.”
“I need to call her and tell her you know,” I say cheerfully, pulling out my phone. Bringing up her contact, I’m confused when it immediately goes to voicemail. “That’s odd. It’s going straight to voicemail.”
“Maybe she was making a call,” Troy suggests. “Text her so she knows to call you back.”
I fire off a “can’t wait to see you” text, which comes back as undeliverable. This can’t mean what I think it means, can it?
“What the fuck?” I breathe, my blood pressure rising.
I feel anger, terror, and hysteria beginning to boil in my stomach.
What happened? Is Audrey okay? Is this a mistake, or is it intentional?
How did the bottom drop out after a phenomenal night together?
“Isn’t this what happens when you’re blocked by someone?
Did she block me? Did my girlfriend fucking block me? ”
“Alright, buddy, I’m gonna need you to breathe,” Troy says, as I jump to my feet and begin stalking up and down the small aisle of the private plane.
It only takes a few strides to go from the front to the back, but my adrenaline is pumping too much for me to sit down.
“Give me your phone. I’ll see if I can call her from mine. ”
I watch as he copies Audrey’s number from my phone, then listen as it rings. He hangs up after two rings, then calls it again from my phone. Straight to voicemail. “What the fuck!”
Troy stands up, placing his hands on my shoulders.
Squeezing, he gives me a little bit of the pressure that I need to maintain a semblance of composure.
“Breathe. In-two-three-four-five. Hold it-two-three-four-five. And out-two-three-four-five. We’re going to get to the bottom of this, Jamie.
Repeat the breathing. Sit down for a moment. What’s Audrey’s friends name?”
“Chelsea,” I mutter, closing my eyes as I feel panic clawing at my chest. What the hell happened? I spoke to her last night, and things were fine. We talked about the event. Granted, I haven’t been as hands-on as I’d liked to have been, but Audrey didn’t seem to mind.
“To ensure you have plausible deniability, don’t ask how I tracked the unknown phone number down, but it’s a registered cell for Precious Paws Veterinary Clinic, owned by Doctor Audrey Carrington.”
My heart falls into my stomach, and I drop my head into my hands. What the hell happened? “You have any kind of tracking software that can track someone’s location without them knowing? Because I guarantee she’s nowhere I’d find her.”
“It seems like she doesn’t want to talk to you,” he says nonchalantly.
“Well, that’s not really an option,” I snap. “I deserve an explanation, and we have a major event in two weeks. She can’t just cut me out without telling me.”
He hands me my phone. “Then call her friend.”
I scoff. “She probably won’t answer the phone.”
Troy shrugs. “You don’t know unless you try. Call the number. If she won’t help, then we’ll come up with some other kind of plan.”
The unknown number stares at me, daunting me.
I hate confrontations. It’s partially the reason why I’m so even-keeled in press conferences, and I let reporters speak to me however they want.
The thought of Chelsea yelling at me makes me feel like puking.
But I can’t give up on Audrey. I need any information Chelsea is willing to give to me.
I call the number, and Chelsea answers after one ring. “You have a lot of nerve calling me, asshole.”
“Chelsea, what the hell happened? Is she okay? Where is she? I don’t understand. I spoke to her last night and things were fine. Perfect, even.”
“Well, isn’t that the way you set it up to be?” she sneers. “Keeping Audrey safe at home, doing all your bidding, taking care of your pets, and warming your bed, while you’re out there doing who the hell knows what.”
“That’s not — that’s not how it is at all,” I sputter. “Doing who the hell knows what? That’s not me. She knows me.”
“She doesn’t know you at all. Actually, forget that. She knew who you painted yourself to be, but now she knows the real you.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I yell. “She does know the real me! She knows me better than anyone on this planet!”
“She knows you’re cheating on her, you philandering asshat. So fucking typical! The athlete getting his kicks while his woman is at home. You disgust me,” she snaps.
I feel sick. “I am not cheating on Audrey. I would never do that. I can’t stand cheaters. I haven’t spoken to my mom in years because she had an affair with my married college coach, and broke up a marriage. I would never do that to Audrey.”
“Then why did you admit it to your agent, Jamie? She literally heard it straight from your mouth. You can say all you want to me, but the only one to blame here is you. You lost the best thing that’s ever happened to you.
Don’t call this number again, and don’t even think about showing up at the clinic.
Audrey took the week off anyway, and she’s out of town, so don’t sit outside her place like a lovesick puppy either. ”
The call ends without a response from me. Confused, I pull up my call log. “Chelsea said Audrey heard me say I was cheating on her. The only time I’ve even insinuated that was during our conversation this morning, and — oh, my God. There’s a call from her. It was a couple of minutes long.”
“So she overheard our conversation, and you said something about how you’d fucked Audrey a few times, but the real woman you wanted was … how did you put it? Same timeline, different girl.”
Nausea overtakes me. “There’s no other girl, Troy. I swear. Audrey is it. She’s the only woman that has ever mattered to me.”
“Fucking hell, man.” Troy sighs, leaning back against the seat and propping his foot on a table. “I’m at a loss here. Let’s meet in the morning and we’ll figure out a plan.”
“Chelsea said Audrey went out of town for the week,” I murmur sullenly, dropping my face into my hands. It’s remarkable how much a mood can change in twenty minutes.
“Well, we can concoct a plan for the event. She has to be there. We’ll get your girl back, Jamie. I know we will,” Troy says assuredly, but I don’t get my hopes up. If Audrey overhead me lying to Troy, then she had every reason to block me. I would have done the same thing.
An hour later, I slowly walk into my empty house, knowing it’s devoid of the only person I want to see.
I knew she wouldn’t be here, but it was still like a knife to the heart when I saw her empty garage spot.
Walking through the house, I see she’s cleared everything out.
Not even a hair on the shower wall has been left behind.
Back in the kitchen, I spot a paper on the counter, next to her garage opener and my spare key. Fuck.
Jameson,
I should have known better. Shame on me, I guess. Same timeline, different girl. I should have known a guy like you would never go for a girl like me.
All future event correspondence will go through the foundation board. At the event, do not speak to me. I want nothing to do with you. Congratulations on breaking my heart. I hope the event will be worth it to you.
Doctor Audrey Carrington
She called me Jameson.
The handwritten note gives me an immediate migraine.
I don’t deserve her. To know that I’ve hurt her this way?
God. I feel like such a fucking failure.
I wish I wasn’t blocked, so I could tell her how sorry I am.
How I’ll never forgive myself for causing her even a moment of pain.
And that I’d do whatever she asked for if she’d give me another chance.