Page 160 of How to Lose at Love

“Anyway. During the summer after school ended, I moved to Texas to live with him so we could try dating during the preseason. Me in Illinois just wouldn’t have worked, so I lived with him when we started dating, which isn’t typically done, but it’s what we needed to do. You’re very fortunate you and Dallas live close to each other.”

Dallas.

Hearing his name makes my stomach flip and my heart race.

“I heard about what happened,” Posey admits, sounding bashful. “And I know it isn’t my place to interfere—especially since we haven’t met—but I love Duke and I love his brothers, and sometimes when we’re on the sidelines watching the action unfold, it’s hard to observe and say nothing.”

“I understand that.”

I would do the same for Winnie.

“The first time I went to one of Duke’s games, I rode with the wife of one of his teammates because he wanted me to wait for him in the family room, then we’d walk out together.” Posey is choosing her words one by one, slowly and deliberately. “Everything was fine. Normal. Until we walked outside and there was a woman waiting for him. Once she saw him, she removed her shirt and only had a bikini top on.”

“But…” I sputter. “Weren’t you with him?”

“That’s my point. It didn’t matter that I was with him. She had a one-track mind: she wanted his attention and barely noticed I was standing there with my mouth hanging open.”

But who wants to live like that?

“I like to think people have more respect for the players than that, but the truth is, they don’t. This is par for the course. It comes with the territory, as terrible as that sounds. The fact is, these guys are just trying to play a sport. It’s beyond their control what happens off the field when those cleats come off.”

That doesn’t sound great either.

“When you love someone the way I love Duke, you find a way to push through it.”

I open my lips. “I don’t love Dallas.”

“Not yet,” Posey says.

“We’ve only known each other a few weeks. It’s way too soon.”

“Probably. But you’ll never find out how strong it can be until you let yourself try.”

“I did let myself try.”

“Dallas has no involvement with that girl they had on the news. He is devastated by this entire situation.”

“Devastated?” I scoff. “Pissed off, sure, but devastated?” I laugh, knowing damn well Dallas isn’t sitting at home crying about any of this.

More like he’s getting his ass chewed out by his agent for ruining the entire scheme he cooked up with one careless mistake.

“All I’m saying is give it thought. Keep an open mind. Know that there are people in this world—like that blond girl—who aren’t happy until someone else is miserable.” She pauses. “You are a strong female. That’s why he’s drawn to you and you to him. You can both protect each other. He needs someone to have his back, and he will have yours. That’s what the Colter men do.”

That’s what the Colter men do.

“I appreciate your calling me. It’s been a rough few days,” I admit to this person I’ve never met. I will also admit she sounds lovely and like she’d be easy to talk to. Such a shame that everything is a chaotic mess.

“I know. If anyone can sympathize, it’s me. I’m not trying to sway you one way or another. You do what’s best for you. All I wanted to do was add a new perspective.”

“Thank you.”

forty-two

dallas

“I’m single because I don’t need anyone ruining my life. I’m perfectly capable of doing that on my own.”

–Drake Colter

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