Page 54 of Dirty Player

When I woke up, there was a note on the pillow:

At the gym. What a goodbye. You are amazing. See you back in Philly. L x.

Wow.

Not that I expected a marriage proposal, but waiting for me to wake up, given our situation, would’ve been nice.

I’m not some one-night stand, but that’s how he’s treated me.

Is it more than I deserve?

Maybe.

But frankly, I’m getting over this self-hatred game. If he doesn’t want me, if he can’t forgive me, then he needs to stop with the flirting and eye-fucking.

Ugh.

I rip my eyes away from him and go find some people to sit with for the flight home.

“Hey, where did you disappear to last night, girl?” Jimmy Gage asks from a few seats away. He pats the seat beside him.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Levi lifting his head. It would’ve been easy to sit down, knowing it would irk Levi, but if that really was our last goodbye, then it’s time I accepted it.

Clearly he’s moved on.

Playing games isn’t going to help either of us move forward, so I point down toward the plane. “Early night. Needed to make some calls so...”

Jimmy shrugs.

I plug in my ear buds and close my eyes as the plane takes off, and I listen to my mom’s voice message from last night, updating me on how Dad is.

She’s been doing this a couple of times a week since he was rushed to hospital. Surprising all of us, Dad took the doctor’s orders seriously. He cut out processed foods, reduced his alcohol intake massively, and began doing walks with Mom in the evening.

I joined them once or twice, trying to get Dad to jog. It was kind of cute. I felt like a kid again hanging out with my parents like that.

“I could find you a good gym to join, Dad.”

“Don’t push it, kiddo. This is enough for me. I’m more of an armchair sports guy,” he said, so I left it.

The next message is from Steph.

“I saw the game on TV. Is Levi okay?” she asks. “Anyway, you need to call me. You know that guy at work I told you about? The new manager from England. He’s single. Gah, should I ask him out? You have to ring me as soon as you get back.”

Then I click into my messages and look at the photo.

Heishot.

But he also looks like he’s fully aware of just how handsome he is.

I type her a message.

If he’s not showing any signs of interest, wait for him to notice you. He could be a player.

Then I add:

You know half the guys on the team want to sleep with you, right?

Ten minutes later, my phone beeps with a reply.

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