Page 61 of Fumbled Love

“Chad, it doesn’t matter if I’m with someone else or not. We were never going to be anything other than friends.”

He clenched his jaw and dropped his gaze to the floor. “So, you’re choosing him? He doesn’t deserve you, Kinley. Not to mention, you don’t belong in his world.”

It hurt having my own fears repeated back to me. “That may be true, but you’re wrong about one thing. I didn’t choose him, my heart did.”

“Your heart?” He braced his hands on his hips in irritation. “It’s a little early to be using those words, don’t you think?”

“No, we have a much deeper history that you don’t understand but that doesn’t matter.”

His eyebrows lifted slowly. “What kind of history and why is this the first time I’m hearing about it?”

I shook my head slightly because I wasn’t going to get into it with him. “It’s a long story,” I said with a slight warning and softened my voice. “What does matter is that I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”

He worked his jaw back and forth. “You’ll never lose me, Kinley. I just feel like a major idiot and need some time to lick my wounds in peace.”

“I understand.” I wrung my hands in my lap. I guess that was as good as I was going to get, and that was okay because it sounded more like a pause instead of an ending. Losing him as a friend would be devastating. I already had too much change and uncertainty in my life. I didn’t need to add to my already growing pile. Maybe a little distance would be good for us.

He walked toward the door and paused when his hand touched the knob. “I meant what I said. He doesn’t deserve you. Hell, I’m not sure there’s a man on the planet who is good enough for you. Just know that when he hurts you, I’ll be waiting. My arms will always be open and waiting for you.”

When the door clicked shut, I leaned against the wall and let out a slow breath. His parting words were echoing in my head.

Just know that when he hurts you, I’ll be waiting.

As much as I wanted to brush off his words, there was a niggling in my gut that I couldn’t ignore. I wanted to pretend that even though my relationship with Maverick was new, it was also strong and solid. But even the things that we believed were unbreakable could still destroy us in the end.

CHAPTER22

MAVERICK

I glancedat the calendar on my phone and rubbed my eyes, feeling exhausted from the back-to-back meetings I had to sit through today. There was a fundraiser this Saturday that slipped my mind, and it was something I couldn’t miss. Usually, I would bring a random date arranged by my publicist, but now that Kinley and I had made things official, she was the only woman I wanted on my arm.

This wasn’t going to be an easy sell. Her biggest hang-up wouldn’t be about the short notice but rather the media attention that would follow afterward.

I ran a hand over my stubbled jaw and decided to bite the bullet and call her.

“Hey.” Her soft voice filled the line. “You’ve got great timing. I was just getting ready for bed and was going to call you.”

I smiled. “You love hearing my voice before going to sleep, don’t you?”

“I love the sound of it better when you’re lying beside me,” she admitted.

That was good to know because I felt the same way.

I thought about easing her into this conversation but was afraid I’d turn into a total chickenshit if I put it off any longer. That thought made me laugh. On the field, I had no problem getting hit on my blindside and showed no fear when an opponent ran me down for a sack. I even kept my cool when players twice my size spit at me through their helmets or taunted me, saying they were going to screw my mother. Yet here I was, afraid to ask my girlfriend to accompany me to a freakin’ dinner.

“Listen,” I paused and stared out the window, working up the courage to ask her, “I hate to do this over the phone and I know it’s last minute, but I have a charity event on Saturday. Any chance you can fly down and be my date?”

The line went silent, and I could almost hear her mind scrambling for an excuse. Was it unfair to throw this at her at the last minute? Probably, but I was sick of hiding her. I needed her more than I cared to admit. Being eight hundred miles away from her was driving me crazy.

“Maverick.” She stopped and hesitated. I steeled myself for the let-down I knew was coming. “I’m sorry. I’m swamped with work. I’m still trying to play catch-up for the time I took off.”

My shoulders sagged in disappointment. I knew the rejection was coming, but it still sucked to hear her say no. This was bullshit.

“Kinley, I can book you a ticket for Friday after work and have you back at your desk on Monday morning.”

“Maverick, I can’t. I’m sorry.”

I gritted my teeth in agitation. She wasn’t even trying. She could have at least taken a damn day to think it over. Pretended to be upset about telling me no. Met me halfway, somewhere in the middle. Offer a compromise. Something. Anything. Instead, all I got was a simple “I can’t.”

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