Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Bobby
“Hey, Bobby!” Coach waves me over as all of us file out of the locker room after practice.
Cappy gives me a wide eyed look of terror that does nothing to calm the butterflies that kick up whenever Coach singles me out. I haven’t been the recipient of his wrath recently, but you just never know.
“Yes, Coach?” I force my hands to relax by my sides. My instinct is to always bunch them into fists, a habit Ashley clued me into the other day. She told me that I need to retrain my body to not always be ready for a fight. Apparently being in fight-or-flight mode all the time isn’t healthy.
Coach claps me on the shoulder. “You’ve been stepping up lately. I’ve definitely noticed.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ve been trying my hardest to be the kind of teammate the Storm Chasers need.” Please don ’ t trade me, please don ’ t trade me. I’ve actually started to build a life here. That crazy list of Kaitlyn’s has turned my life around.
Coach dips his head once. “I’m not going to lie to you. I had some offers to trade you, but if you keep going in this direction, I can toss those offers in the trash.” He claps me on the shoulder again. “Good work, son.” Then he marches down the hallway, leaving me sagging against the wall once he’s out of sight.
I lean my head back and squeeze my eyes shut, doing that deep breathing shit Ashley always tells me to do. Thank fuck he’s not going to trade me. I imagine I’m not entirely out of the woods yet, but it has to be a good sign my head’s not actively on the chopping block. Good thing Molly never found out how close I was to being traded, or she never would have let me put an offer on the house.
When my heart rate comes back down, I head out to my truck, moving on to the next thing in my life that needs to be addressed. Molly. After a final walk-through yesterday, she handed me the keys to my new house. She didn’t have time to celebrate with me since she had one more night with Matthew before he went to his dad’s, so I didn’t bother staying there, either. The house would seem huge and lonely without her with me.
Which is why I have big plans for tonight. Richie actually helped me pack up my things in boxes last week, in exchange for free rein in my refrigerator and pantry. I’m headed back to my apartment now to load up Wolverine with the boxes and then start my night of seduction plan at the new house. Okay, it’s not all that elaborate, but I’ve got a shit ton of candles and blankets to set up in front of the fireplace. Food and champagne is being delivered a bit later, and Richie has strict instructions not to swing by.
As I go through the motions, my brain is spinning. I can’t quite put my finger on what’s bothering me, but there’s definitely something going on with Molly. We still see each other every single day I’m not on the road, and we text back and forth constantly, but there’s been some weird vibe between us. I even caught her studying me at the rink the other day, not in a I-can’t-wait-to-get-that-man-home-and-rip-his-clothes-off kind of way. More like she was studying me...and finding something lacking.
And I don’t fucking like lacking.
If there’s something in her head telling her that I’m not right for her, I want to know what it is so I can set the record straight. I’m most definitely right for her. Or at least she’s right for me. She’s the one I want. Forever. So if I need to change something to be what she wants, she just has to say the word. More counseling, less fighting, more dates, less sex...whatever it is.
Though I do hope it’s not less sex.
I barely have time to find the box of towels that Richie packed with the few picture frames I own. Why he put those together, I’ll never know. But I get a shower and take the time to put on my sexiest funderpants: the speedo pair with the picture of a bright red bow on the crotch. It’s not my normal boxers, but I hope they’ll get a smile out of Molly.
I top the funderpants with a pair of khaki slacks, a deep blue polo that she’s told me in the past she loves, and a spritz of cologne. The food and champagne has been delivered, and fresh red roses sit in two different vases, one on the picnic blankets and the other in my new bedroom. I light every single candle and then wonder if we might have a problem with the smoke alarms when I eventually blow them all out. Too late now, I guess. The doorbell rings and I spin toward it with a huge grin.
The door swings open on well-oiled hinges to show Molly in a sexy pencil skirt and blouse. The heels tell me she came straight from work. I pull her inside, take the heavy purse off her shoulder, and pull her into a kiss.
“Hey, baby,” I murmur against her lips. “I’ve missed you.”
Her hands slide up my chest. “You saw me yesterday.”
I sneak another kiss, my hands already busy feeling up her backside. I can’t help myself when she wears these damn skirts. “Yeah, but I had to sleep alone,” I pout.
Molly doesn’t laugh like she normally would. In fact, she pulls back a bit, like she needs space. Warning bells go off in my head. Feeling a rush of panic, I grab her hand and pull her into the house, walking toward the living room where I have the picnic all set up.
“I have a surprise for you,” I say, turning back around to her when we get to the living room. I catch a look of sadness on her face before her eyes go wide with surprise, taking in the surroundings. Candles flicker from every surface. Red rose petals are scattered over the blankets. Our food is set out under fancy silver domes.
“Oh Bobby,” she whispers, hand going to her mouth. Her eyes go shiny and something in my gut tells me they aren’t good tears.
I tug on her hand, telling myself to calm down and just talk to her. “Hey. Is everything okay?”
Molly swallows hard, staring up at me with eyes gone more brown than green today. She doesn’t seem to have an answer, so I plunge ahead, desperate to make everything okay.
“I want to celebrate this house with you. I want you to be comfortable here with me. You and Matthew both. I envision a lot of happy days and nights with you two here. We can start by getting a huge Christmas tree this weekend. If there’s something bothering you, just tell me. We can work it out.”
Molly swallows again. I stroke my thumb over the back of her hand. “I, uh, just feel bad.” She smiles, but drops her gaze to stare at the button on my polo shirt. “I can’t stay. Something came up with Matty and I have to go.”
If this were a gameshow, someone would be hammering the buzzer right now, indicating a blatant lie from one of the contestants. Molly slips her hand out of mine and hooks her thumb over her shoulder.
“I’ve got to go. Thank you for...” She looks around the room behind me, mouth dipping down at the corners. “Everything. I’m sorry.” Then she spins on her heel and walks back to the front door.
After a second of disbelief where I’m frozen to the spot, I follow after her. I barely catch her at the front door, my hand holding her forearm. “Hey. Call me later. I need to know everything’s okay with Matthew.”
She doesn’t turn back or look at me. Just dips her head in agreement and leaves. I watch her go, my insides an absolute mess.
What the fuck just happened?
And why is she lying to me? Blatantly closing me out. Pulling away when I thought everything was so good.
“Fuck!” I slam the door, hands going to my hips. I’m breathing hard and that rush of wind in my ears is enticing me to punch something.
Ashley’s advice runs through my head, and I try to take a deep breath. I take a physical step back. I count to ten. I make my fingers open wide instead of closing into fists. I pace the foyer, up and down, up and down.
I still want to fucking hit something. A huff of laughter explodes out of me. Where’s Richie when I need him? I lift my gaze to the ceiling and growl like an animal.
I don’t understand what’s happening. Plain and simple. I think about calling up Ashley, but we don’t have an appointment today. I could call one of my teammates, but those fuckheads don’t know dick about women. The only ones who do are married and I don’t want to hear about marital bliss when I can’t get my girlfriend to even talk to me. Plus, they’d give me shit for months if I talked about my feelings.
Then I think of one person who knows Molly better than anyone. Someone I don’t really want to talk to, but will, just for the sake of figuring out what’s going on here. I pull my phone out of my back pocket, scroll to the contact I added for emergencies, and hit call before I can talk myself out of it.
He answers right away, the noise level in the background quite high. “Bobby? Everything okay?”
“Hey, Blake. Molly and Matthew are fine.” I blow out a breath. “But I was hoping you’d chat with me anyway.”
There’s a long moment of silence. It’s no secret that Molly’s ex-husband and I aren’t besties. I can’t help feeling jealous that Molly gave so many years of her life to a guy who didn’t give her what she needed in return. Then again, those years together might give him the insight into Molly that I need right now.
“Please, Blake,” I add, not too proud to beg.
He sighs. “This is weird.”
“Yeah, I know. Believe me, I didn’t want to call you, but I’m desperate.”
I hear a door close, and it gets a lot quieter on his end of the line. “Okay, shoot. What’s going on?”
I rub the back of my neck, back to pacing my foyer. My footsteps echo off the naked walls. “I’m in love with Molly and she says she loves me too. I thought things were going good, but she’s been acting distant and won’t tell me why. Is there something I’m doing that makes her unsure of our future? Has she said anything to you?”
Blake’s deep chuckle makes me irritable as fuck. “You gotta understand that Molly’s the most practical human on the planet. She doesn’t fly by the seat of her emotional pants. It’s got to make sense in her head or she won’t budge.”
I’m nodding. “I know. She told me about her parents.”
“Yeah, they’re real pieces of work. She and I fought all the time about finances. There’s a reason I didn’t get to be with my band full time when we were married. Molly would have freaked if I didn’t have a regular nine-to-five. Being financially stable is very important to her. So is being able to trust someone completely. I fucked that up too.”
“Hope you don’t mind, but she told me what happened there. Congrats to you and Luke, by the way.”
Blake chuckles again. “Thanks. I have to admit, I wasn’t too high on you and Molly together. Seems like an age gap that large might be more than just a number. I can’t speak for Molly, but to me, it seems she needs to know that she’s it for you. If you’re just passing time with her, you should let her go.”
Well, that right there just pissed me off some more. “I’m not passing time with Molly! She’s everything to me. I have plans to ask her to marry me as soon as she looks like she won’t run away when I drop down to one knee.”
There’s silence again. So much so that I pull the phone from my ear and make sure the call didn’t drop.
“Well, hell, I didn’t know you felt that way about her.”
“How could I not? She’s fucking amazing! The best mother. The sweetest partner. A badass realtor. Fuck, she’s way too good for me, but I’m selfish enough to want her anyway.”
Noise in the background swells again. “Shit, I gotta go, Bobby, but for what it’s worth, I’m rooting for you two. Tell her how you feel. Make her believe you mean forever. She deserves that.”
“Thanks, man.”
And without another word, he hangs up. I stare at my phone and pace some more. I thought I’d been telling her how I felt. Sure, I haven’t said anything about proposing yet. Didn’t want to say anything until I had the ring made. Blake brought up a good point though. She needs financial stability and to know I want more with her than just sex and date nights every other week.
An idea pops into my head and I quit pacing. “Fucking genius!” My voice bounces off the walls. I pull up our text string. This isn’t the way I wanted to do this, but Molly walking out tonight has forced my hand.
Me: Hey, Sparkle. I know you have a thing with Matthew tonight, but I wanted to ask you a question. Would you and Matthew move in with me? I bought this house knowing you loved it too, envisioning us here together. What do you say? Will you think about it?
It doesn’t take long for the bubble to pop up that tells me she’s writing back. I start pacing yet again. This will be perfect. Without a house payment to make every month, she’ll be better off financially. We can be together all the time. Matthew will have a stable home here. And we’ll be one step closer to getting married.
Molly: Oh, Bobby. That’s a really sweet offer, but I don’t think that’s in Matthew’s best interest. In fact, I was going to suggest we take a step back. Really think about what we’re doing together long term.
A step back? I can’t believe my fucking eyes. A fucking step back?
“Fuck!”
Clearly, I shouldn’t text her back in this state. Instead of responding, I pull up Ashley’s number and hit call with a shaking finger. I’m going to need a marathon session not to take my frustration out on my new drywall.