Page 10 of Undeniable Love

“Ice, I think.”

“I’ll be right back.” And two minutes later, she was placing a large ice pack on him. Sitting in the chair, she asked, “Anything else going on?”

“I was texting with Jax the other day,” he said casually, his eyes closed. “After seeing him and his teammates all over the news with the party scandal, I wanted to check on him.”

Lucy felt her entire face scrunch up with disgust. “Why?”

But her brother didn’t even flinch at her harsh, sarcastic tone. “Because he’s my friend and it seems like the whole thing got blown way out of proportion.”

She knew the proper thing to do was to ask if Jax was okay, but honestly, she didn’t care. Watching him look miserable on all the news reports had been the highlight of her week.

“He seems to be doing okay,” Ty went on. “They suspended them for three games—which Jax said they expected—but it just sucked. He had an excellent record on and off the field.”

“Yeah, poor baby,” she mumbled.

That tone got Ty’s attention. Turning his head toward her, he opened his eyes. “It wouldn’t kill you to show a little empathy. No one’s asking you to be his personal cheerleader, but what happened was a big deal to him.”

So many snarky comebacks were on the tip of her tongue, but she let them go.

Yet another topic that needed to be changed…

“Anyway…are you coming to dinner Sunday at Mom and Dad’s? Charlie and Bree are taking the girls to some indoor water park place, and I’m still afraid to be alone with Mom.” It killed her to admit that, but Tyler knew how tense things had been.

“You shouldn’t be afraid, Lucy. I get that Mom doesn’t quite seem to understand why you won’t simply kiss and make up with Blake…”

“Because she lacks empathy?” she mused, but her brother didn’t get the humor in her words.

Pushing up on his elbows, he studied her. “They’re from a different generation and even with that, she’s very old-fashioned. In her mind, Blake apologized and that should be enough.”

“Do you think that was enough?” she asked, and hated how defensive she sounded.

“Hell no! I’d still like to go and kick his ass.” He paused. “Or maybe I should say I’d love to stand back and watch someone else kick his ass. I still can’t believe you walked out of there that day without scratching the photographer’s eyes out.”

Slouching a bit, Lucy sighed. “It’s my biggest regret. I play that entire scene over and over in my head more times than I care to admit, and in each one, I do some serious damage to both of them and then trash her studio.”

He chuckled. “I could totally see that.” Another pause. “Have you heard from Blake anymore?”

“Last time was a few days ago.”

“And?”

“And…nothing. He was confirming the last of the cancelations—our honeymoon—and he gave me another token apology and said he regretted the whole thing, but…” She shrugged. “He didn’t ask me to take him back either. So…progress?”

“Did you want him to ask you to take him back?”

“No, but I guess I wanted him to keep groveling for a bit longer.” She snorted. “How twisted is that?”

“If you ask me, you dodged a bullet. You weren’t really in love with Blake, and you deserve to be with someone who treats you like a damn princess.”

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she smiled instead. “Don’t be a dork, Ty…” But secretly, she kind of loved that he thought that about her.

“Since I know you’re never getting back with him, I know I can tell you that I hated him. He was a smug, cocky, arrogant…”

“Those all mean the same thing…”

“He was the worst, okay? Totally not the guy for you.”

What she said next was out before she could stop it. “What if there isn’t a guy for me? What if…what if I’m not…you know…lovable? Or…or…”

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