I don’t realize I’m still holding her phone until it buzzes in my hand.
Landon Mitchell
We miss you on the team. Let me know if I can do anything to get you back
Wait,theLandon Mitchell? I don’t even know much about hockey and I know that name. Darcy’s on a texting basis with some major big deal hockey player, and she left that life behind? She had a whole life that I know so little about, because until yesterday, she was keeping it from me.
But when her phone buzzes again, I remember why she wouldn’t want to talk about it, and why she left.
Rob’s name pops up on the screen.
He took so much from her. A career she loved. Her self-confidence. Her power.
And that ends right now.
I swipe to answer the call and walk out the door of the Legion. “Hello?”
“Who the fuck is this?” comes a nasally voice on the other end.
“Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Darcy told you to leave her alone, and you’re still calling.”
“I asked who this is and you’re too chickenshit to tell me? Is this fucking Landon? I always knew you wanted her. Couldn’t be happy enough with your wife, could you? Had to go after mine.”
This is that jealousy Darcy was talking about—being paranoid she was somehow cheating with the players on the team they worked for.
“Man, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. This is Jake.”
“Who?” he demands. “Why are you answering my fiancée’s phone?”
First, my part didn’t come in. Then, Darcy’s dancing with Caleb. Now, this uncle fucker is coming after her. I snap.
“She’s not your fiancée, asshole,” I growl. “You hurt her, and you’ve lost the right to any of her time. Make this the last time you contact her, or you’re going to have a lot bigger problems than losing your fiancée. Got it?”
He’s still yammering when I hang up, go to his contact, and block his number. I brace my head in my hands and draw a deep breath before going back inside.
A humid blast of air conditioning prickles the back of my neck as I look to the dance floor, finding Darcy laughing at something Caleb said.
I guess nice guys do indeed finish last.
I return Darcy’s phone to the bar along with my hat and sit, flagging the bartender down for a Coke.
A gentle hand lands on my shoulder. “Hey, cowboy. You’re looking lonesome.”
Darcy plops herself down on the stool next to mine, her eyes bright.
I force a smile. “You having fun?”
“Well, I was. Then my favorite cowboy came in here looking all sexy but also like his dog just died.”
“Nah. Just kind of tired,” I say, and guilt rolls through me. I probably fucked up in talking to Rob, but Darcy needs some peace. I can’t watch him keep tormenting her.
I don’t want her life to turn out like my mom’s, where some guy makes all the decisions for her and she just goes along with it.
“Wanna go home?” she asks, her hand on my knee and looking concerned.
This woman cares about me, and I about her. I’m wasting time letting the people around us determine how things are going to be between us.
“I think I asked you to save me a dance,” I say, holding my hand out.
