Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
EVAN
The visit with my parents last weekend was great and I was sad to see them go, but the time with Isaac after they left was nothing short of perfection.
Once I got past the initial shock of doing something to him that he had never experienced and got Mike out of my head, I felt damn proud of myself for teaching Isaac something new.
We’ve spent every night this week together and sometimes I wonder why we pay for two places. I’m not ready to bring that up to Isaac yet. We’ve only been together about six weeks.
Today, Isaac leaves for another away game and then next week, his family will be here.
Normally, I don’t come into the office on Saturday when the boys are away, but there’s a huge concert at the stadium tonight, so we need all hands on deck. Hope is here, too, and Isaac promised to stop by before the team leaves for the airport.
Carter walks in followed by Tyson and Isaac. It’s not quite the goodbye I was hoping for. Isaac isn’t going to kiss me with an audience. Good thing I took care of my boyfriend last night and again this morning.
Isaac speaks to Hope then walks over to me while Carter and Tyson talk to her.
All I want to do is jump into his arms, but I stay glued to my spot and wait for him to approach.
Keeping my features unreadable is almost impossible, but I will do anything for Isaac even if it means pretending he’s just a friend.
“I’m going to miss you,” he whispers, so no one else can hear.
“Me, too,” I choke out. It worries me every time he gets on a plane. I know the chances of something terrible happening are slim, but I worry until I get the text telling me they landed safely.
“Thank you for that amazing sendoff this morning.” He winks and shows me his sexiest smirk. Damn, him. All I can do is nod. Words refuse to form, so I stare deep into his dark-brown eyes.
“Isaac,” Tyson calls, breaking the trance. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll be right there,” Isaac growls.
I glance over his shoulder and see Tyson shake his head as he whispers something to Carter. They both laugh then leave the office.
“You better go,” I tell him.
“The bus won’t leave me.”
I laugh at his confidence. The bus might not leave him, but the coaches are going to have his ass if he holds them up.
“See ya,” he says with one more wink then turns to Hope. “Have a good weekend.”
“You two make such a cute couple.” Hope’s eyes go wide as soon as the words leave her mouth. Isaac freezes a few steps from the door and my stomach drops. Shit. Fuck. Damn. This is bad. Really bad. Worse than when she called me out a couple of weeks ago.
“What did you say?” Isaac asks in an eerily calm voice. His face is full of anger and rage, but his words quiet.
“Nothing. I’m sorry. Evan told me not to say anything. It slipped out,” she falls all over her words, trying to smooth it over, but only making it worse.
“Hope—,” I start, but Isaac cuts me off.
“You told her. You know how important it is to me for this,” he points between us, “to be kept between us and you fucking told her. Then had the audacity to tell her to lie to me.”
“That’s not what happened, Isaac.” I take a step toward him, but he takes three steps back.
“You’re a liar and a gossip.”
“It’s not gossip, and I didn’t lie about anything.” Tears burn my eyes. “Isaac, please listen.”
“No!” he barks. He shakes his head and rushes out the door.
I run after him, but when I reach the hallway, he’s already disappeared around the corner. I walk into my office and close the door, not bothering to acknowledge Hope when she tries to talk to me.
She shouldn’t have let it slip out, but Isaac’s reaction is not her fault. That doesn’t matter to me right now. All that matters is I might have lost the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
Even if Isaac is willing to speak to me, it will be Monday after work before I see him. By then, he will have had plenty of time to decide I’m not worth the hassle. He asked me to do one thing and I failed him.
It’s going to be a long, lonely weekend.