Page 10 of The Long Game

The problem was that I knew these articles and occasional sports network comments were getting back to Lexi.

I could feel it in the few text messages when she would engage in the conversation. She felt further and further away from me.

That’s why I was surprised when her name lit up on my phone last night.

She was calling.

She never called.

"I need a timeline, Lexi," I finally say when there's a break in the conversation. "When am I supposed to know when it’s okay to sweep you off your feet again and ride into the sunset?"

Her hand stalls with her coffee cup up to her lips. I looked at her by surprise.

"Umm, I don’t know. Can we wait and see what happens this summer for the franchise? We know where I will be…we don’t know where you will," she says.

"I have the money and enough time off. I can live in two places at once, Lex."

Her eyes break from mine as she sets the coffee cup down.

"Say the word, Lexi. I’ll have my sister find me a condo in Chicago tomorrow."

Her fingers reach up to my lips and she smooths her fingers over them. The tenderness makes me angry I haven’t fought for this harder over the years.

"I know you would. I’m grateful for it. I don’t want to pull out of the gates with grand gestures and massive sacrifices—mostly on your part. And I don't think you've considered how my brother would take this news. Remember how he took it when he found out that you weren't going to Alabama with him? It's not something we can spring on him."

She has a point. Luca had sworn me off Lexi when we were eighteen. After I realized I had feelings for her when I saved her from drowning at the family lake house years ago. Those hours in the ER were when I realized I didn’t see Lexi as the younger tag-along anymore. She was a true contender for my attention, turning my football focus into something else.

I take her hand in mine. "It’s not a sacrifice for me to be with you. It’s just geography. Luca on the other hand…"

"Right," she interrupts.

"…is a grown ass adult. Just like we are. We’re not those kids at the lake house, messing around, anymore. He might not handle it well at first, but he’ll handle it."

Or at least I hope he will.

"Please, Tuck. Give it the summer at least? Then we can reassess the situation. I need to close this deal."

She’s pulling away from me, as always. I can’t let her go, not this time. "I won’t distract you from your work. I promise you."

"It’s not you I’m worried about. I’ll want your distraction. It wouldn’t be hard to put you above all else in my life. I could do it easily with zero hardship."

"I feel a ‘but’ …"

"But…" she laughs and pokes my chest. "I’m rarely in town during your off season. Summers are usually the best time to assess a resort's potential. See how they operate at max capacity. And if I land this next deal, it will be a huge boost to my resume when I try to go for the V.P. position. Word is going around that our current Vice President is retiring in three to four years. These next few years are the most crucial. The company has a lot of incredible talent that are qualified for the position. I have to stand out. Unfortunately, I don’t have a seasonal schedule like you. I won’t know from year-to-year where I might end up or how long I’ll be there."

If that was supposed to discourage me, she's going to have to do a better job because I just spent six years in the NFL to be right here with her.

"Perfect. In the off-season, I’ll come with you. We’ll make a long vacation out of it. I’ll test out all the spa treatments and food items on the room service menu and give you my honest opinion. At night, we’ll test out the strength of the beds." I smirk.

She laughs and swats at me but I know she’d enjoy that as much as I would.

"You don’t exactly blend in. It would be incredibly unprofessional of me to have my pro-football boyfriend following me around."

"Fuck…"

"What?"

"My dick just twitched at the word ‘boyfriend’. That’s never happened before." I rub my hand over my forehead, trying to grasp how hard I’ve fallen for a girl I’ve known all my life.

---