Chapter 32 #2
“Annie, don’t even worry about it,” I say. “I bet if you ask Sienna where this came from it’s completely unfounded.”
She digs her teeth into her bottom lip, drawing my attention to its plumpness and reminding me how carried away I got with her last night. How fucking incredible it was to finally kiss her the way I’ve wanted to. “But what if it isn’t?”
That kills my wayward thoughts. Colton decides something is worth his attention more than the meat in front of him. “Has Auston said something to you?” he asks.
“I – I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
Why does it feel like the room just got smaller?
“You don’t think so or you know so?” Colton badgers.
“Lay off, Quinn,” I tell him, though I want to know, too. Is Annie back in touch with Auston? Since when? At the game last week, it seemed like they were done.
“It’s nothing. I’m overthinking. Putting two and two together and coming up with five.”
“Annie?” Colton presses.
“Last Sunday night after the game, Auston messaged me and said that he was going to prove to me that he’s ready to be back in my life. Or Nelson’s life. Ours but mostly Nelson’s.”
She glances my way, fleetingly, as if she’s hiding something. I don’t like it. “But after what you told me, Tanner, I didn’t think anything of it because this is what Auston does. He says things, clicks his fingers, makes me believe things and gives me hope and then never follows through.”
Sunday night. When she helped me out of my shirt, when she massaged me and we almost kissed. That same night, Auston gave her hope?
I bite down on my gums because I feel as if I’ve been punched in the gut.
“I’m going to get a waffle,” I say, my chair grating loudly across the tiled floor as I come up to stand. I need to get away from the table. From Annie and my own stupidity.
Is Auston right? If he clicks his fingers, if he gives her hope, will she go back to him?
I don’t give a crap about a social media post and some fictitious idea that Auston has requested a trade to the Bears. That’s insane.
But I care that Annie might hope he wants to move to San Antonio to be with her and Nelson.
Nothing puts me off my food. Nothing. Yet, with two waffles on my plate, I brace myself on the buffet cart and stare at the spread of fruit I don’t want.
I sense Darcy before she says, “It’s that bad, huh?”
I like Annie. Really like Annie.
I start spooning berries onto my plate. Darcy mirrors me.
“I’m twelve years older than her, Darce.
I’m on the cusp of retirement. Plus, she isn’t looking for a relationship.
Her focus is Nelson and school.” I set the cutlery in the bowl and move on to the dishes of nuts, thinking, Unless it’s with Auston?
“Even if she was looking for something, it wouldn’t be with a sports guy. ” Other than Auston?
She takes the spoon for the nuts from me and leans her head to one side.
Jesus, am I that obvious? Is everyone else seeing that I can’t get her out of my head? When she’s with me, I can’t stop looking at the way she just is, listening to everything she says from the sublime to the ridiculous and never boring of it. When she isn’t with me, I’m searching the room for her.
“Sorry,” Darcy says. “I didn’t appreciate the whole sibling thing was a barrier until literally just now.”
I nod, getting back to piling a plate with fruit. Darcy starts doing the same.
“It’s not a barrier. It’s one of many.”
“Auston?”
I can’t bring myself to admit it, so I shrug. “They have a kid together. In any event, Annie and I are friends.”
“Aha, yup, gotcha.” We move to the syrup station. “But for the record, when you were reeling off all the reasons Annie wouldn’t want to be with you, you didn’t mention one reason you don’t want to be with her.”
She fixes on me like we’re having a face-off, plates between us.
“All the reasons count for us both, Darce. If you want more, I don’t do relationships.
I don’t even date during season. It’s a distraction I don’t need, especially these days.
” Don’t I know it this morning. “All my focus needs to be on staying fit and healthy if I’m going to be able to compete like I want to for the rest of this season, and hopefully another.
Even if I thought about it, the guy sitting at that table is one of my best friends, he’s my teammate, he’s my best receiver, and Annie and me, if that ended badly…
Look, it’s not happening, it’s not worth it.
She’s a single mom and I see our own mom in her.
I want to be there for her, and Nelson, but that’s all this is. ”
Darcy nods. “Okay. If that’s how you think it needs to be.”
“It is.”
“Great. So if Auston is making a play for her, even though everyone can see he’s no good for her, you’d be cool with it.”
I drag in a breath. “If they want to be a family, then that trumps everything, right?”
She scoffs and I know what she’s thinking – we were better off without our dads. “Our dads never tried, Darce, and who knows, maybe Auston can take his head out of his ass long enough to turn things around.”
“Sure.” She squeezes enough syrup onto her plate to make a fruit soup, then she looks up to me. “But, Tanner, I know you, and I’ve never seen you look at a woman the way you look at Annie. She doesn’t need a man-child who can’t handle responsibility. She needs a man who’s lived a while.”
She leaves her words between us like a mic drop and heads back to the table.
Leaving me to stare across to the woman I am on real dangerous ground with and think, But she sent me to my own bed last night.
Back at the table, Sas offers to speak with Sienna and do some digging around the trade rumors. Annie’s response is, “Or I could call him and ask him straight.”
She’ll be speaking with Auston again. Great.