Page 11 of The Comeback

Can I see Ava from a distance and not just as the woman who shattered my heart? Can I figure out exactly why I’m so angry, even all these years later? I have to try. Ava’s going to be underfoot whether I like it or not, planning this dumb, middle-of-the-season wedding distraction, and I can’t just pretend like we’re fine, as much as I’d like to.

The invite to Colby and Gabriella’s first-date anniversary party comes from Gabriella’s email address, but I already know from Colby that Ava is putting it together and that, as Colby’s friend, my attendance is mandatory.

“Governor Sutton thinks you’re the greatest Texan there is. You have to come,” Colby says as we head out to our cars after our workouts on Tuesday. It’s technically our day off, but most players like to come in and get workouts, training, and study in. Sunday was an easy win, something I was grateful for after a week of drama. I had to push my feelings about Ava being back in town aside and focus, which isn’t the processing Miss Maggie wanted me to do, but it’ll have to work for now. Finding time to work through this has been tough, especially with Claire pushing me to ask Hayden out and post more about my life on social media. I really have been meaning to ask Hayden out, but there’s still a part of me that’s resisting opening up my life to my fans, and dating someone as popular online as Hayden would be a big loss of the privacy I’ve been clinging to for personal things. How is Colby so chill with this happening with his wedding, something that should be one of the most special events of his life?

“So Ava will be there?” I say, more of a question than a statement. I haven’t figured out how to see the situation from a distance, and being up close with Ava again feels like a step in the wrong direction.

Colby sighs. “Of course. I don’t know how you missed that Gabriella and Ava are close, but with her here doing all the wedding stuff, you’re going to see her. So she’s an ex. What’s the big deal?”

“Nothing.” I shake it off. He’s right. I can’t start avoiding everything because Ava might be there. “Doesn’t it ever bother you that your wedding is a play in a long game?” I can’t help asking. It annoyed me when Colby announced that he and Gabriella were getting married in the middle of the season. I want to focus on winning a championship this year, and one of the key players in our offense has his attention split. Plus, bringing in Ava has proven to be more of a distraction than I want for myself. It’s getting further and further under my skin.

Colby shrugs. “Our wedding is just a day in the timeline of our relationship. Sure, it’s going to be special, and it can be, even if there are some things we’ll do for show. This is Gabriella’s dream, and if I have the power to lift that a little, I’m going to do it.”

I nod, but I don’t get it. I mean, I know Gabriella’s not marrying Colby for his notoriety. I just can’t quite get behind making such a special day about something so artificial.

Somehow Claire knows about the party too. An email from her shows up in my inbox on Wednesday morning. Colby’s party is the perfect opportunity to take Hayden out and be seen! Also, your plus-one to his wedding. Do you have another date lined up yet? Let’s use this to get people talking about you. This doesn’t help my feelings about this wedding if even I’m using it to promote my career. I wish it would all just go away.

I’m not ready to make Hayden my plus-one for the wedding. It’s already artificial to me, and I don’t need to add a fake relationship for publicity to the mix. I want to get to know Hayden more before I commit. Right now I’m thinking of taking Jenna’s younger sister, who I know would enjoy a night out among the “stars” of Houston and wouldn’t expect too much of me. An easy date and no relationship to take up space in the already limited area in my brain I have right now for things outside of football.

I put off Claire the same way I did with her texts a week ago, responding: I’ll think about it.

Facing Ava at the party is worse than I expect when I show up to Gabriella’s parents’ house on Friday night.

When Ava and I were together, we were busy college students. More often than not, we spent our evenings together at my tiny apartment in sweats and T-shirts, eating ramen or something I’d brought home from campus on my food allowance. That’s the Ava I remember, and that’s the Ava who’s been the target of my hurt since she left. She looked so vulnerable the night I saw her at Jenna’s that it didn’t really affect that picture of her in my head.

This Ava is a sophisticated professional. She’s wearing black wide-leg trousers with very high heels and a sleeveless top with lace edging. Instead of a ponytail or bun on top of her head, her hair is straight and parted deep on one side, a pearl clip holding back some of her strawberry blonde hair. She’s gorgeous, and I hate that I can’t take my eyes off her. This isn’t the same kind of attraction when I started noticing her back in high school or even the comfortable allure of her when we were in college—the way I wanted my arms around her whenever we were in the same room. There’s an uncomfortable zing to noticing her now, like she’s someone I don’t quite know and want to.

She looks up when I step into the living room of the Diaz home in West University. She stares before blinking and turning back to the woman next to her. She taps on the woman’s tablet and nods, and then the woman walks away. Ava turns completely away from where I’m standing, and at least I’m satisfied to know that she’s as shaken up as I am.

Jenna’s voice from seven years ago slips into my brain. “I think you should talk to her. Once you’re over the worst of the hurt, it’ll make things easier.”

I know what she means now. That I could walk up to Ava and greet her like a friend instead of skirting around all the feelings I haven’t dealt with, as Miss Maggie put it. I could take a picture with her and add it to the collection of smiling selfies I’ve posted the last few days.

I take a step toward Ava, even though I have no idea what I’ll say to her, but Gabriella approaches her first. I swallow and glance around the room. I need to find a teammate to talk to, to keep me from seeking out Ava. I can’t avoid her here, but what am I supposed to talk to her about?

“Jett!” It’s Colby who saves me from myself, calling me over to him. “You remember Governor Sutton,” he says.

I stick out my hand. Given that the governor’s a huge football fan, I’ve met him at more than a few events. “Hello, sir.”

The middle-aged man grins as he grips my hand. For a politician, he’s likable and friendly. “Great game,” he says. “I swear, some of those handoffs you made were pure magic.”

I chuckle, my chest already easing from my almost-encounter with Ava. “Thanks.” We settle into the kind of football conversation I have with my brother and dad, Colby and I ribbing each other for missed plays and the governor complimenting everything we both do.

I head in to dinner with Colby, almost relaxed even if there’s an awareness of Ava hovering around the edges of my brain. “Hey,” I say to Colby before we get into the dining room. “I need some image tips. Claire thinks I’m too grumpy. People seem to like you.”

He laughs. “Thanks, man. It’s all Gabriella.”

I put my hands in my pockets, irritated that he doesn’t have an easy answer. “She runs your social media?”

“No. She doesn’t even run her own.” He says this like that should be obvious. I guess it’s not surprising. One of Claire’s suggestions a few weeks ago was to hire someone to spruce up my accounts, but I’ve resisted. It’s more fakeness, someone else presenting my life to fans. It’s like the women at the charity game who didn’t bother with the small talk, as Hayden put it, and didn’t try to engage. If I’m going to give up privacy and let fans into my life, I want it to be genuine. “All my followers love to see pictures of her with me,” Colby continues. “That’s what they ask for if I ever post something by myself. ‘Where’s Gabriella?’” He shakes his head and laughs. “Get yourself a girlfriend.”

I groan. “Claire suggested that too. She thinks I should ask out that woman I met at the charity game. The influencer.”

Colby shrugs. “Is that so bad? I thought you liked her.”

“I do. I don’t know. I want to know her better, but the minute I ask her out, it will feel like everything in our relationship is for public consumption.”

Colby puts his hand on my shoulder. “Look, I know you prefer all this old-fashioned stuff like high school sweethearts and all that?—”

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