Page 63 of The Grinder

Chapter Seven

Aly had too much work to do Tuesday to let herself be distracted.

That didn’t mean Riley didn’t creep into her thoughts at all.

He did. More than she would’ve liked. Or would admit to. Especially to her sister.

“He’s gone already.” Vivi snorted at the dinner table Monday night. “That didn’t take long.”

Taking a bite of the corn bread Vivi had made to go with her homemade chili gave Aly a few seconds to formulate a response. The sharp edge in Vivi’s voice made Aly want to jump to Riley’s defense. Which was ridiculous. He didn’t need to be defended.

“I’m really happy for him.” Aly nodded, deciding to ignore Vivi’s snark. “It’s what he’s been working toward for so many years. I hope they keep him. I can’t wait to watch the game tomorrow night. It’ll be amazing to see him on TV. I really hope he gets to play.”

Vivi gave her a sidelong glance. “Huh. Guess he wasn’t that good in bed. You don’t sound all that broken up over him leaving.”

Aly shrugged and spooned up chili, trying for nonchalant and probably ending up somewhere around pained wince. “We’ve known each other for four days. No one falls in love in four days.”

Vivi went quiet and they ate in silence for at least a minute. Aly thought her sister would let it go. She should’ve known better.

“No, you don’t. You’re too smart for that.”

Aly put her spoon down. “What does that mean?”

Vivi grimaced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that to sound…so bitchy. It’s just…I did. Fall in love in four days. Actually, it only took me one. And we both know how much disaster that ended in.”

Yeah, that had been a disaster. “But none of that was your fault, Viv. He was the asshole. Riley’s not an asshole.”

Vivi shrugged, her mouth twisting. “Maybe not. But athletes have this special power. They blind you to everything except what they want you to see. They draw you in and make you think you’re the most important thing in their world, when, really, it’s just all about how important they are to you. They see you as a reflection of themselves. And when they don’t see themselves being reflected back enough, they’re not interested anymore.”

Aly heard so much bitterness in her sister’s voice, she had to blink away the tears that popped into her eyes.

“Viv…”

Damn, Aly didn’t know what to say to that, wasn’t sure she could say anything to make her sister feel better.

If Aly ever saw Jamie Dunbar again, he better have his running shoes on because Aly would beat him to a pulp for making her sister hurt like this.

But of course that would never happen because the guy was now the star running back of the Dallas NFL franchise, who would probably sue her to hell and back if she dared lay a finger on the man. Which didn’t mean she hadn’t considered multiple ways to exact revenge.

Vivi rolled her eyes and shrugged, as if it didn’t matter anymore.

“At least the guy didn’t publicly humiliate you in front of his team when he dumped you. He gets points for that.”

No, Riley hadn’t dumped her at the first sign of stardom.

“He wanted me to be there.”

Vivi frowned. “What?”

“He offered to get me tickets for the game. But Wednesday’s my busy day. Meetings all day and I’ve got an evaluation after work and…”

“And?” Vivi looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“And I can’t imagine that he’d want some girl he just met there for the biggest night of his life.”

Vivi sat and blinked at her for several long seconds. “He actually said he wanted you there?”

She nodded. “I think he was disappointed when I said I couldn’t go.”

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