Page 1 of You Found Me
Chapter 1
Emmaline
My tires screech against the pavement as I pull into the last remaining parking spot outside of Sunset Grille, Charleston’s favorite restaurant. And since it’s so busy, it means more than a dozen people witness me absolutely demolish the curb.
Feeling my face heat, I scan the lot for my fiancé’s car hoping that he isn’t here yet. We recently moved to my home state of South Carolina in March when Chance got traded to the Charleston Cougars.
The owners of the new NFL team are all retired players, making it a huge deal within the league. Chance was clear in his disdain with news of his trade, making the last couple of months difficult.
While he directs all of his attention to meetings and practices, I’ve been adjusting to a new work environment and unpacking box after box.
We haven’t had a moment to spend time together since we relocated. Thankfully, I noticed a gap in his schedule today and it worked out for us to meet for a lunch date. I’m a few minutes late, which hehates, but when I check in at the front, the hostess lets me know I’m the first to arrive. I follow her to the table inthe corner by the windows, making a mental note of when I got here.
Twenty-five minutes go by before Chance shows up. Shoving down my irritation, I stand to kiss him and instead of being met by his soft lips, I feel the roughness of his unshaven face.
“I was starting to think you forgot about me,” I say partly joking in an attempt to brush off his clear dismissal and partly hurt that he’s half an hour late.
He scoffs, “Don’t be dramatic Emma. I’m right on time.”
Ignoring the fact that he insists on calling me Emma when he knows I hate it, I plaster on a smile. “We said 12:30, but it’s no biggie. I had time to look over the menu so, I’m ready whenever you are.”
“No,yousaid 12:30, and I told you that I would try to be here by then. We had a team meeting this morning, and then I went with some of the guys to a brunch spot near the stadium. I got here when I could.”
Is he serious?
Why would he go to brunch knowing we had a lunch date scheduled?
“You could have called or texted to let me know that you were doing that,” I say, trying my best to hide the hurt in my voice. I start to pivot into our plans for the week, before I realize he’s completely engrossed in his phone.
“Chance, can you please put your phone down and talk to me? We’ve barely seen one another lately and I’ve missed you.”
Rolling his eyes, he locks his phone and places it face down on the table, pointedly looking at me. A waitress chooses that moment to walk up to our table. This is not the sweet older woman, named Cathy, who got my drink order. This waitress, Nina, is young, probably early twenties, and seemingly only has eyes for Chance. To her, I might as well be in the cafe across the street.
While this normally doesn’t faze me, I’ve grown irritated by her presence. She bats her lashes, tucks a stray hair behind her ear, and giggles at every word he says. And I’ll give it to her, Chance is handsome, but this isn’tmyChance she’s putting on a show for.
Gone are his long blond locks he’s had since college, now he sports a buzz cut. I mean, the new look does make his bright green eyes all the more striking, and he’s gained at least ten pounds of muscle—though the heavy bags under his eyes from lack of sleep are new.
But his appearance isn’t the only thing that’s changed. He’s become less attentive and distant with me—more than I’m used to. So much so that I can’t even recall the last time we were intimate, or for that matter, the last time we even kissed.
Nina turns her attention to me, albeit less enthused, takes my order and stalks off. With her gone, I finally ask Chance how brunch was, noting he only ordered a small salad to eat.
“It was good. Woulda been better if Hayes didn’t tag along.”
It takes me a second to think of who he's talking about, and when I do, I can’t hide my surprise. “You don’t like Grayson? I thought your new captain seemed really nice when we went to his place over Memorial Day weekend last month.”
His phone starts vibrating rapidly, causing him to turn it over and check it before putting it back. “You think everyone is nice, so long as they give you attention. You’ll just have to trust me when I say that he’s an ass.”
He clearly is in a mood after brunch, but I won’t pretend that hearing him say that didn’t sting. Blinking rapidly to hold back the tears that threaten to fall, I move on to a different topic. “Have you given any more thought to hiring someone to help us decorate the apartment?”
Chance huffs, “Why can’t you just do it?”
“I think someone who does this kind of thing for a living would be better. And you know, Mia is an interior decorator. Whenever she and Colette visited us in Atlanta back in March, she offered to help out since we’d be so close.”
“The only way I’ll letherdecorate our place, is if she does it for free. I’m not about to pay one of your little friends for anything,” Chance spits out, disdain for my friend evident.
This condescending tone of his is something he used to hide better. He’d make judgmental or rude comments but add in a chuckle to downplay his words.
“I thought you’d be okay with this? What am I supposed to tell her now, Chance?”
