Chapter 20
Levi
Steve McNally: PICK UP YOUR GODDAMN PHONE!
What are the odds that the person Micah and I are discussing would be texting me?
Actually, it’s not that far out of the realm of possibility, considering I was supposed to film the last episode yesterday.
I turn my screen toward Micah, and his gaze narrows. “This about the show?”
I peek toward Tab’s bedroom to make sure she’s not within earshot. I never told her I ditched filming to hang out with her, and I don’t think she’d be that happy either. “Yep.”
“Fuck him.”
“No shit, but is there anything I can do? Like ask him or something? Get him to admit anything?”
“He’s not going to admit it. He’s not an idiot. It’s highly possible if he is involved that he hired someone to do it for him. He wouldn’t want to dirty his own hands.”
“Then how the fuck are we supposed to find out what happened? Tab thinks we should let the police handle it.”
Micah looks about as thrilled as I am on the subject. Not because I don’t trust them, but this is about Tab. The only person I trust to take care of her is me, and I’m sure that Micah thinks the same thing about Raeann.
“We’ll figure it out,” he says, rubbing his chin. “In the meantime, it couldn’t hurt for you to stay in his good graces.”
“Hate to say it, but I think we’re way past that. He’s already threatened to sue me, and that was before I skipped yesterday.”
Micah’s gaze narrows. “So Tab is the girl you’ve been talking about? The one that you’re serious about?”
I nod. “I wasn’t expecting it, but…” I pause. I don’t mind opening my heart up to Tab, but a teammate is a different story.
“Listen, if I find out that you fucked this up, I’m going to fuck you up.”
“I’ll let you,” I tell him. “There’s no way I’m going to. I already told you.”
“You love her.”
I peek toward the bedroom again. “I haven’t said anything to her yet.”
“It’s scary as fuck, isn’t it?”
I take a deep breath. “For real.”
My phone buzzes in my hand, and I stare down to find McNally’s number flashing across the screen. I tip my phone toward Micah right before answering. “Hey, sorry. Something came up yesterday.”
“Soucy—” He lets out a groan that’s more of a snarl. “Listen, we’re set up at the restaurant, and if you value your space on the team, I suggest you find your dumbass down here in ten minutes.”
I put him on speaker. “My space on the team?”
“Don’t push me, you selfish jackass. Get yourself to the restaurant now.”
He hangs up on me.
“He said if I value my space on the team, I’ll show up.”
Micah shakes his head. “Another thing he can be reported for. He can’t threaten your space on the team for anything but your play or serious misconduct. He’s overstepping.”
“Yeah, but the question is, how far is he willing to go?”
The restaurant lighting is moody. They have half of it secluded, surrounded by cameras and microphones and people standing around, all looking pretty pissed.
“Levi!” Andrea says. She bounces toward me when she sees me, and I dodge her advances by holding my hand out to shake hers.
“Over here,” McNally barks.
I give Andrea a smile, then head over to the man I suspect tried to take away my entire life before I realized she was mine.
“I’m here,” I tell him as cockily as I can.
His angry stare might scare me if I didn’t want to tear his head off. “This kind of behavior is unacceptable, Soucy. The amount of money you’ve lost me in the last twenty-four hours…” He shakes his head. “I can’t even think about it.”
“Well, I’m here now. Are you going to waste more sitting around talking about it?”
His lip curls up. “Get out there.” To everyone else, he claps his hands. “Let’s go.”
The girls sit at their places at the table. My stomach somersaults. The thing is, I should try to stay on McNally’s good side, but all I care about is staying true to Tab. She needs me right now, and I’m not about to let her down.
The producer waves me on, and I walk toward the table. The girls are both dressed to the nines, and here I am waltzing up in a shirt and jeans, the same thing I wore to the bar with Tab yesterday. I can still smell her on me.
“Hello, ladies.” I usually kiss them on the cheek, but instead, I just sit in the chair opposite them. Kris throws her hair back over her shoulders while Andrea looks a little hurt. Out of the two of them, Andrea is here for the right reasons, so she might really be hurting. Kris only wants a show.
Well, I’m about to give them one.
“Thanks for meeting me here,” I tell them. I can see that Kris wants to say so much more. Who knows, maybe she’s only here because she’s under contract, too.
“It’s good to see you, Levi,” Andrea says. She reaches over to put her hand on mine, but I pull away.
“Shall we eat?” she asks, staring at her empty hand.
On cue, the waitress comes over, and it makes me wonder how staged this whole thing really is.
It wouldn’t surprise me if she was supposed to say that.
We order, and Andrea starts talking about what’s been going on with her since the last time I saw her.
I try my best to keep up the conversation, when really I just wanted to come here, say my piece, and move on.
Kris, though, is all about acting nonchalant with a side of pissy.
She doesn’t participate in the conversation either, so when Andrea finishes, I stare at Kris and say, “What’s up with you? ”
“Me? Oh, I love being followed around and asked why the star of the show has decided not to fulfill his obligations.” She peers at the producer. “Can we get this over with?”
Clearly, she doesn’t think I’m going to pick her.
The food comes out then, interrupting the tension for a bit, and when the waiter walks away, Andrea says, “I just thought Levi was busy. He had a few games. Great plays, by the way. My friends all can’t believe I’m dating a pro football player!”
My stomach drops. This is the exact opposite of what I wanted. I can’t have her thinking that we’re actually dating when my heart lies somewhere else. It’s not fair to her, and it’s definitely not fair to Tab.
“I did want to talk to you two about that. I’ve had fun,” I start. To my left, Kris rolls her eyes. Andrea, though, looks excited. “It’s been great getting to know you both.”
“Just get to it,” Kris snarls.
“You’re being rude,” Andrea states, sticking up for me.
Who knows what she’ll think in a few seconds, however. I look at the dishes in front of me that are filled with pasta. This could go very badly.
“It’s okay,” I tell Andrea. “She has a right to feel whatever she wants. The reason I’ve been putting this off is because I was uncertain about what to do. Kris, Andrea, I haven’t met my match. I’m incredibly sorry.”
Kris stands abruptly, scraping her chair across the floor, and then spins and walks away. The producer motions for a separate cameraman to follow, and that leaves me with Andrea. She sniffles. “I’m sorry, Andrea.”
“I can understand why you didn’t pick her, but me?”
“You’re a sweet girl, and it really doesn’t have anything to do with you either. My heart was taken and I didn’t know it.”
“There’s someone else?”
I nod. “I didn’t realize the depth of my feelings when I agreed to do the show. When I figured it out, I wasn’t sure what to do.”
“She is a lucky girl,” she sniffs.
“I’m the lucky one.”
She gives me a watery smile. “I knew you were a good one, Levi.”
For some reason, her words mean a lot. “You too, Andrea.”
She gets up and bends over to kiss me on the cheek, then moves up to McNally, whispering something that looks like it’s laced with venom and then walks away.
I stand up, watching her. McNally straightens his tie, looking almost unfazed. Almost. But then he turns toward me, a monstrous look on his face.
“Levi, what the fuck are you doing?”
I don’t understand why, but I run to catch up with Andrea. She’s nearly at her car, a cameraman following her.
“Turn that off!” I order.
Andrea spins, wiping at her eyes.
“Hey, sorry. I was wondering what happened back there with Steve.”
“I…can’t tell you.”
“Come on,” I urge. “It looked tense.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“I won’t tell a soul.”
“I only did it for you,” she says, tears streaming down her cheeks.
I blink at her, my heart constricting. “What happened?”
She covers her mouth, her fingers trembling. “H-he told me that if I slept with him, he’d make sure you picked me.”
My mouth drops. “He didn’t.”
She nods. “I did it because I was so sure there was something between us, and now I just feel so stupid.” She pulls in a ragged breath. “Why didn’t you pick me?”
My heart hurts for her. I want to go to McNally and grab him by the balls and twist. Who would do that?
“He never told me to, Andrea. And even if he did, I couldn’t go against my heart like that.”
“I was so sure…”
She dissolves into tears and big hiccups. I put my arms around her. “I’m so sorry you went through that. I’ll be here for you. What he did wasn’t right. Maybe—.”
“N-no. I did it willingly. I just want to forget the whole thing ever happened.”
“But he coerced you into it.” My hands ball to fists.
“I don’t know,” she says. The tears keep coming. At one point, McNally walks out of the restaurant, and I give him the finger.
“Listen, Andrea, I’m going to check with a few people who will know if there’s anything that can be done, okay? I’ll call you with an update. Now, is there anyone who can come pick you up? Or I’ll order you a rideshare.”
She steps back, wiping at her nose. “No, I’m fine. I just want to forget this ever happened.”
“I’ll call you,” I promise. Regardless of whether I chose her or not, I feel for her. No one should make a girl feel like this. Ever.
She nods.
“Good luck, Andrea.”
I watch as she drives off, then I turn toward the cameraman who still has his camera pointed to the ground. “Any chance you had a microphone working?”