Page 33 of Flip the Field
Amerie
I first noticedhis reflection in the window. When I turned around and saw him in person, I knew that what my father had told me was true. I felt it more than saw it. It all made sense now –– the way he spoke about his past and the things he left out.
Nothing quite jelled. Matthews had mentioned that Brady was a four-star recruit in high school, but he took a year off and then ended up at a junior college.
He didn’t take a year to find himself.
He spent a year between high school and college in jail for assaulting a police officer.
It was all my father had been able to find out in the twenty-four hours since he had found out about us.
No doubt he’d find more in time.
It didn’t matter.
Brady had lied to me. I took a deep breath and dug my fingers into my palm to calm down.
I shuffled across the dining room and intercepted him before he entered the room. I grabbed his arm and pulled him down a hallway, away from the prying eyes of our host and my father.
“What are you doing here?” I let go of his arm.
“Baby,” He stepped toward me. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
I stepped back and flinched away from his touch. I pushed my hair behind my ear and crossed my arms over my chest. “You can’t be here,” I couldn’t meet his eyes. “Just go back to school. I’ll talk to you when I get back.”
His eyes narrowed and he stepped forward again and put his hands on my hips. He smelled so good. I dropped my hands and pushed him back.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” He bent down to catch my eye. I didn’t want to look in his eyes. I didn’t want to see the man who I was falling for and remember what we’d shared. Not now. Not before I could process it all.
“Please, just go,” My heart cracked.
“No, not until you tell me what’s wrong,” He grabbed my face.
I had no choice but to look into his eyes and it broke my heart. “You lied to me,” I blinked and it held the tears back for a minute. He dropped his arms and stepped back. I stepped forward. “About going to prison for assaulting a cop.”
He rubbed his face and turned away from me. I stepped in front of him. I waited for him to deny it or defend himself, but he didn’t. He pulled at his collar and stared at his feet.
“Amerie,” My father stood at the entrance of the hallway. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I wrung my hands.
“Dinner’s about to be served,” He nodded. “Say goodbye to the young man.” A woman stood behind my dad with Brady’s coat in her hand.
I turned back to Brady who wouldn’t meet my gaze. I leaned into him.
“I trusted you,” I bit my lip. “You didn’t trust me.”
He shuddered but gave me no other response. I wiped the tears from my eyes and ran. I stepped inside the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I was such an idiot to fall for him. We were so different. We didn’t have anything in common. We came from two completely different places.
He was the first guy who I felt comfortable being myself around. He didn’t believe the shit people said about me. But he couldn’t trust me with his secrets. We had talked about trust and being open and honest, and at any time, he could have told me.
How did he think it wouldn’t come out? My dad had the head of the FBI in his phone contacts list, for God’s sake.
I screamed and hit the door with my fist.
I blinked fiercely, but this time the tears did fall. I grabbed some paper towels and wiped my face. Thank God for waterproof mascara. I smoothed down my dress and ignored the sadness in my eyes and the pain in my heart.
For tonight, anyway.
