Page 65 of Play Maker

I shook my head, feeling stupid for not asking before. I’d gotten distracted with finding the last bits of my costume and hadn’t thought twice when he’d texted he was still at Alex’s. What else had I missed?

Adam muttered something about gravy, and I let out a quiet laugh. He was a heavy sleeper, so I grabbed the fuzzy blanket off the lone recliner and covered him. Tomorrow would be soon enough to hash out my issues.

I hated the idea I might be a consolation prize. Adam had never made me feel anything but special, and still, I couldn’t shake the niggling doubt. I was secretly terrified the last few months had been too good to be true—that I’d lucked into the single best relationship of my life and my luck would change.

I was tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop…and I was tired of second-guessing myself. Adam hadn’t meant to stand me up, but the drive home from karaoke had been brutal. A stark reminder of how precarious my emotions were. A tiny mix-up sent me searching for ways Adam was pulling away—even when I knew he wasn’t.

Hewashiding things though. Loving someone sucked when the vulnerability came back to bite me in the butt. My whole life was wrapped up in Adam at the moment, but it didn’t have to be. I suddenly had other options for living arrangements which would make me feel a whole lot more stable and less dependent on someone keeping secrets from me.

I texted Mom’s colleague and told her I’d take the tiny house.

24

The sunlight streaming through the living room window told me everything I needed to know about how much I’d fucked up last night. Practice had been a bitch with Haskins needing extra work after, and I’d been wiped after staying up half the night before with Alex.

Last night was supposed to be a fun date with Blue, but judging from the sore spot in my shoulder, I hadn’t moved after I’d laid down to close my eyes for a second. I stretched with a groan and tossed the blanket covering me back onto the chair where Eva liked it.

It took a second for my groggy brain to remember Eva didn’t come over anymore. I scrubbed a hand down my face, trying to wake up. Shaw and RJ spent the night in Dallas for a charity event, so Blue must have put the blanket over me. Before or after I’d stood her up at karaoke?

Probably after or she’d have woken me up. I stumbled into my room, already prepping my apology, but I pulled up short. The bed was empty and neatly made.

“Blue?”

I could see into the empty bathroom from my spot by the door, but I checked anyway. Everything looked normal except for the absence of my girlfriend. A low level panic started churning in my gut.

Belatedly, I realized I could hear low music coming from somewhere. The walls in our complex weren’t particularly thick, but we’d never had a problem with noise crossing over before. I followed the sound across the hall and opened Noah’s door.

A couple of boxes sat on the bed, half stuffed with Blue’s things, and my girlfriend, who had spent the last countless nights in my room, in my bed, was carefully folding a pair of pants as she sang to the music. My heart tried to beat its way out of my throat.

I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Going somewhere?”

Blue started and spun around with a hand on her chest as the pants fell to the floor. “Adam, you surprised me.”

“I see that. Were you hoping to be gone before I woke up?” I hated the accusation in my tone, but dammit, she was packing.

“No.” She bent to pick up the pants and set them aside. “I just wanted to get a head start. We need to talk.”

Ah, the infamous phrase that usually marked the end of a relationship for me. Yes, I’d skipped out on our date the night before, but it was an accident and I’d thought she was happy.Iwas happy, up until ten seconds ago. Now I was having trouble pulling in a full breath. I’d thought I meant more to her than a missed date.

I hid the hurt with a smile. “Okay. You want to go first, or should I?”

She tilted her head to examine my face and her brows drew together. “Maybe you should go first.”

My first instinct was to demand she unpack, preferably in my room where she belonged, but I reined in the caveman urge. An apology would work better than throwing her over my shoulder.

“Sure. I’m sorry about last night. I must have been more tired than I thought, and I hated waking up without you this morning.”

I didn’t realize how tightly I was holding myself, until Blue walked over and laid her hand on my forearm, making the muscle twitch. “I’m not upset about the karaoke thing, but thank you for the apology.”

She tugged my arms apart so she could wrap them around her waist instead. The tight ball of anxiety in my chest loosened. I much preferred this position, especially when she locked her hands behind my neck, but I was definitely getting mixed signals. Was she leaving or not?

“What’s going on, Blue?”

“I’ll tell you, but first, I have a question. Were you ever going to tell me about your thing with Alex?”

The question felt like a test, and I knew I was going to fail. Dread spread through me like poison. “Yes. I just need a little more time. With football and Haskins and the shit with Eva, I didn’t have a lot of bandwidth left over to dedicate to worrying about my project with him. It has nothing to do with us. You still get all of me.”

“Have you considered how you’ll be able to give your all to football and music and your friends and me once the season starts when your all is a finite resource? Something’s going to give, and I’m afraid it will be me.”

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