Page 83 of The Mistletoe Trap
Onscreen, Gavin continued…whatever this was. “I know I’ve never been the most forthcoming with my emotions. It’s not easy for me to say how I feel, or to show you how important you are to me. So I enlisted some help. I might never hear the end of it, but if this works—even if it’s just agreeing to speak to me again—it’ll be worth the embarrassment.” Sure enough, his skin flushed, and he couldn’t stop fidgeting.
The screen went dark for a moment, and then DeAndre Smitts beamed at her. “Hey, Julie,” he said in a deep voice that vibrated through her palms and up her arms. If it could have that big of an impact via video, she could only imagine the in-person effect. “You should know that our boy Gavin never shuts up about you. It’s Julie this and Julie that, and no matter how much shit we give him about it, he smiles and keeps on yammering on and on. Take it from me, he’s wild about you.”
Next up was one of the tight ends, Anthony Flores. “Hey, Julie. Did you know that after you call up Gavin, he sits there smiling like a goon for an hour or so? Once I asked him what he wanted to eat, and he told me a story about your cat—something about it knocking over a whole box of food, eating it, and then hacking it up on the floor.”
Julie huffed a laugh. Most cats ate until they were full, but sometimes Kylo ate himself sick and then complained about his empty food dish.
“I think he told that story five times that night at dinner. And trust me, we all begged him to stop.”
That made her laugh a little harder, and the tightness that’d claimed her lungs nearly two weeks ago eased, oxygen no longer so hard to come by.
Christian Hopkins flashed the camera the million-dollar smile he was famous for, and Julie’s insides went all melty. The star running back was the first openly gay player in the NFL, and he and his equally handsome partner set the internet on fire every time they posted pictures together. “As soon as I met you when Gavin brought you to tour the stadium, I could tell you two had a love that couldn’t be dimmed by distance or fame or whatever else life threw your way.”
A tight band formed around her chest and squeezed, squeezed, squeezed. She’d thought that as well, but then life gave her the reality check she’d never asked for. Then again, she still loved the frustrating man—that didn’t go away, and she knew it never would, which was why her life felt so empty without Gavin in it.
“The second he answers your call, we don’t even ask who he’s talking to,” Christian continued. “We already know by the way his smile and voice change. That’s probably why we crowd around to say hi. It’s too tempting to soak in some of that happiness, and it always reminds me to tell Dave how much I love and appreciate him when I get home. Now even he’s like ‘let me guess. Gavin talked to Julie today.’”
A cautious sort of hope attempted to bubble, and Julie couldn’t decide whether or not to let it. If she’d made any progress on healing her broken heart, it’d be one thing, but it still felt as shattered as it did on Christmas Day when she’d stormed out into the cold.
Shuffling noises sounded as the camera was passed, and she caught a flash of Gavin. He glanced to his right, gave a reluctant sigh, and then all she could see was ceiling.
Then Jason Holt’s face took up the entire screen. From a slightly up-the-nose angle, too. As he extended his arms, putting more of himself on display, the picture sharpened. “Hey, Julie. I’m sure you recognize my handsome mug. I’m afraid I have some bad news…”
Julie’s breath hitched, her concerns over Gavin poking through and robbing her of what little oxygen she had left. Then she told herself it was silly to worry something had happened to him in the handful of seconds since he’d handed off the iPad.
“I can’t flirt with you anymore,” Jason said, his voice suggesting he was doing his best to soften the blow…to her, if she wasn’t mistaken. “See, it’s not that I don’t think you’re smart and pretty, and honestly, those dimples slay me. Under other circumstances, I’d tell you all about how I’ve dreamed of lick—”
“Dude,” Gavin growled. “Fine line.”
Jason Holt chuckled, clearly getting a kick out of pushing Gavin’s buttons. He swung the camera away as Gavin lunged for it or him, and Julie experienced a swirl of carsickness before the image onscreen righted itself. “As I was saying, I can’t flirt with you anymore. I’ve suspected for a while that Frost had a thing for you. Not only is he overly protective, you should see the way he lights up every time you call. It’s like someone jammed a candle up his ass.”
The showboat put a hand on the center of his chest. “Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Do you remember how you scolded me for celebrating a few steps from the goal line? You said something about how grouchy Gavin gets when he loses, but until this week, I hadn’t seen much of that side of him. Then he lost you, and me and the rest of the guys, we can hardly stand him.”
Jason lifted the camera closer, until his face took up the entire screen. “So, I’m asking you—hell, I’ll get down on my knees and beg if I have to—to forgive him. Gavin Frost might be an asshole sometimes, but he’s our asshole.” A crooked smile spread across his face. “Ours and yours.”
Tears formed, and if her throat got any tighter it’d collapse completely. It was an oddly worded plea, that was for sure. As misguided as Gavin’s teammates were about his feelings for her, and how they skewed more romantic than friendship, the fact that he’d gone to so much trouble for their friendship thawed the thick wall of ice around her heart.
“My turn,” Gavin said, and the camera swung wildly again.
Then Jason whispered, “But if he’s ever an asshole again, just know you can always call m—”
Round and round the room spun, and then Gavin’s face appeared onscreen once again. “As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes I don’t see the truth, no matter how many people point it out, and even when it’s right in front of me.” He cleared his throat, and oh shit, the dam holding back her tears was about to crack. Once that happened, a whole gush of emotions would follow. “As messy as Jason’s speech was—”
Julie assumed the dirty look he fired offscreen was aimed at Holt.
“He wasn’t wrong. I’m yours, Jules. In whatever way you’ll have me. Whether you decide that friendship is the way to go, or whether you want more.”
Doyouwant more?She wanted to scream at the screen, in spite of this being a past recording and therefore he wouldn’t be able to hear her. While she knew he cared about her, now she wondered if he was mistaking his affection for her as more because he thought that’s whatshewanted.
Which, okay, was true. But she didn’t want him to agree to a relationship just to keep her in his life, not to mention there were still complications to work through, and maybe he’d been right. Perhaps the timing wasn’t right, and they’d ruin things now, when, if they’d taken their time, they might have had a better chance at success.
“I hope it’s more,” he said, and her entire body stilled, afraid moving would break the spell or block out his words. “I love you, Jules. I think that’s why I freaked out—it wasn’t in the plan, and I’ve worked so hard on this plan and my career that I was afraid to admit, even to myself, that I loved you.”
Gavin glanced down, and she could tell he’d gotten a lot of sun this past week by how the top of his curls were slightly lighter than they’d been two weeks ago. Then those whiskey-brown eyes lifted and snagged hold of her.
Could you drown without water? For once in her life, regardless of whether or not science claimed otherwise, she felt sure it was possible. Her lungs strained, and she couldn’t catch her breath, and his face caused her so much joy and pain that her internal organs rioted against themselves.
“It goes beyond that, though,” Gavin said. “That’s why I enlisted the help of the guys and made this video begging you to fly out here for the game. Please give me a chance to make things right. I…” His voice cracked, and a muscle in his jaw flexed as he fought his emotions. Despite clenching her jaw, her emotions erupted in the form of salt water. “If you’d asked me if soul mates existed a month ago, I would’ve said no. But that was before half of my soul was ripped away.”
